“These are provincially imposed fees that can also be mitigated by appropriate strategies,” explained Kutner. “Probate fees are basically imposed when your will has to be probated. For example, if you have investments that are just in the deceased’s name, then RBC Dominion Securities won’t be able to transfer the asset until it confirms the status of the will. So, in order to get that comfort, the will has to be probated, and you have to pay a fee to the Ontario government to probate the will.
“There are a lot of strategies to mitigate the requirements to probate a will and avoid what I consider to be an unnecessary extra tax. It’s not technically a tax, but there are lots of things to consider and typically, the more money a family has, the more complicated their estate planning is going to be.”
Kutner went on to explain that ultra-high-net clients may have several properties around the world. So, they may not have to consider just paying Canadian taxes, but also the taxes that non-residents must pay in the other jurisdiction. That then triggers the question: does Canada also have a tax treaty with that country?
“There’s lots to consider, and you can’t really undertake this type of planning too late because the process may take several months, or even longer, depending on how complicated the asset mix is,” he said.
That’s why Northwood’s advisory teams include tax advisors for every one of its high-net-worth families – so they can work out all of the salient details well before those need to be executed.
