Wills/Power of Attorney/Personal Directives

Service Information

With Mark Idler Law, the preparation and execution of a Last Will and Testament, Enduring Power of Attorney, and Personal Directive PACKAGE for a single individual starts at $420.00 plus GST, and we are pleased to offer a Couples’ discount, where the preparation of Two Last Wills and Testaments, Two Enduring Powers of Attorney and Two Personal Directives starts at $780.00 plus GST. 

It likely goes without saying that a professionally prepared Last Will and Testament is legally binding document that outlines an individual’s instructions as to how to divide, transfer, and deliver their property, the value they hold in their financial accounts, and personal possessions after their death. This bundle of property rights are referred to as the testator’s Estate

In the event that you pass away without a legally binding Last Will and Testament, you are said to have died “intestate.” As a result, Alberta’s Wills and Succession Act will determine how your assets will get distributed. It may also determine which of your family members become the legal guardians of your dependent children, if you have children under the age of majority.

The popular companion documents to a Last Will and Testament are often referred to as “Living Wills”, because they are structured to legally appoint your most trusted loved ones to help you with all important life choices, in the event that you were to suffer a disabling medical setback in the future.

In Alberta, these living will documents are called Personal Directives and Enduring Powers of Attorney.

A Personal Directive prepared by my office will typically outline guidance and / or mandatory rules for my client’s nominated loved ones, who are given the title of “Agent”, by the Personal Directives Act of Alberta, on the following areas of life choices:

a. the defining moment as to when their Personal Directive will take effect in the future, typically after examination by a Family Physician that my client has some degree of a relationship with through annual checkups, flu shots and prescription refills, OR two Medical Doctors that my client has no prior relationship with, in the event of a serious automobile accident, while travelling out of town, for example;

b. a direction to subscribe to homecare services that will allow my client to continue to live in their own home, after they have suffered a disabling medical setback;

c. active consultation with my client in the choice of any future residential care accommodations, in the event that my client can no longer live independently in their own home;

d. a potential direction to canvass whether my client is eligible to receive a subsidy to pay some or all of the costs associated with hiring live-in caregiver(s) through Alberta Health Services’ Self Managed Care Program, for those of my clients who are intent on simply not moving into an extended care centre, despite labouring with significantly poor health;

e. a defined timeline for highest level medical care after events like a serious car accident, heart attack or stroke;

f. potential directions on the administration of intravenous hydration and/or a feeding tube in certain circumstances;

g. end-of-life directions in the event that my client’s attending physicians come to the conclusion that there is no known hope in medical science of recovery;

h. potential directions on an individual’s tissue or organs being made available for living human transplant and/or medical research after their death, OR a direction that no organs or tissues are to be removed from their body after their death, for any reason;

i. directions on appropriate pain management, and clearly defined legal authority for my client’s Agent(s) to have the right to advocate on my client’s behalf for a second (or third) medical opinion, in the event that my client exhibits symptoms being over-medicated or under-medicated;

j. potential direction that no heroic, extraordinary, or invasive measures shall be taken to stabilize one’s condition, nor resuscitate them in a medical emergency; and

k. potential directions on cremation, burial, or Eco-Burial methods.

A Enduring Power of Attorney prepared by my office will typically outline guidance and / or mandatory rules for my client’s nominated loved ones, who are given the title of “Attorney”, by the Powers of Attorney Act of Alberta, on the following areas of financial and tax choices:

a. the defining moment as to when the Enduring Power of Attorney will take effect, being either immediately upon the signing of the Power of Attorney by my client, OR in the future after examination by a Family Physician that my client has some degree of a relationship with, or two Medical Doctors that my client has no prior relationship with, in the event of a serious automobile accident that takes place while travelling out of town, for example;

b. a direction to subscribe to homecare services to allow my client to continue to live in their own home, after they have suffered a disabling medical setback;

c. active consultation with my client in the choice of any future residential care accommodations, in the event that my client can no longer live independently in their own home;

d. a potential direction to canvass whether my client is eligible to receive a subsidy to pay some or all of the costs associated with hiring live-in caregiver(s) through Alberta Health Services’ Self Managed Care Program, for those who are intent on not moving into an extended care centre, despite labouring with significantly poor health;

e. a direction to actively monitor my client’s investments to ensure they are they earning a competitive rate of interest or return on investment accounts;

f. potential directions that one’s Attorney shall not invest my client’s resources in any speculative investment vehicle with an associated risk of loss on the original principal investment, such as Bitcoin, “hot stock market picks” and / or small business enterprises; and

g. potential directions for reimbursement of an Attorney’s out-of-pocket expenses that they incur on behalf of my client and / or compensation for the time that they spend actively assisting my client.

If an individual doesn’t have their Personal Directive and Enduring Power of Attorney in place, and in the passage of time they go on to suffer a head injury in a work accident, or that person suffers a stroke earlier in life than anybody would have ordinarily predicted, the only remedy is a loved one of that disabled individual to apply in Court for the granting of a Guardianship Order and Trusteeship Order for their disabled loved one. A law office’s fees for advancing these applications in Court will typically range from $3,000.00 to $6,000.00, however, that is not the end of the matter. There will be ongoing mandatory reporting to the Court with the help of a lawyer, with an associated hourly rate of between $350.00 to $500.00 Per Hour, and ongoing audits by an accountant of the transactions that were done on behalf of the disabled individual, at approximately $180.00 to $220.00 Per Hour. My new clients will avoid these awful expenses by having my office assist them in the preparation of their Personal Directive and Enduring Power of Attorney.

The harsh reality of life is that none of us are immune from car crashes, workplace accidents, cardiovascular attacks, and the like. Both of my parents passed away over the last number of years, and the fact that they had a lawyer friend of mine prepare their Last Wills and Testaments, Personal Directives and Enduring Powers of Attorney, when they were both in good health, saved me a World of Trouble, Expense, Uncertainty and Frustration.

With Mark Idler Law, the preparation and execution of a Last Will and Testament, including the mandatory Government of Alberta GA8 Affidavit of Execution to a Will; Enduring Power of Attorney, and Personal Directive (All 4 documents) starts at $420.00 plus GST for an individual and starts at $780.00 plus GST for a couple.

The quotes above typically govern unless:

a. an individual has disabled or addicted loved ones and my client sees the benefits of setting up a long-term family trust for them to metre out their share of the family wealth gradually (as long as 21 years after the testator’s passing);

b. others have a long list of all the small items of personal property, such as art, furniture, jewelry, automobiles and Royal Dalton figurines that they did they wish to go to all the members of their extended family. If it’s an inordinately long list, we sometimes will charge a bit more for that;

c. some clients wish to provide for their surviving loved one to enjoy a life estate in their residential home, for the duration of that beneficiary’s life, provided that their surviving loved one pays some or all of the expenses associated with their occupation of the home, OR some individuals will give their surviving loved one a lease estate in their family home, with a defined end date after their passing, at which time the title to the home in question will revert to and form part of the residue of the testator’s estate;

d. some individuals enjoy a blended family dynamic, and they want markedly different terms for each of the parties’ Last Wills and Testaments, and depending on the level of differentiation, that can incur some modest extra cost;

e. my client needs me to attend at their home, hospital or extended care residence to both receive their instructions on the preparation of these documents; attend with an independent witness for the execution of my client’s documents; swear the Affidavits of Execution to these documents with one of my office’s Commissioner for Oaths; and thereafter deliver the fully executed documents back to my client.

I actively seek out quotes from other law offices for the preparation of these documents, to ensure that I always have the most competitive quotes to offer my new clients, and I am routinely quoted Double or even Triple than what my law office charges for these services.

If you have property, a spouse or partner, and / or children of any age, it is High Time to get your Last Will and Testament, Personal Directive and Enduring Power of Attorney professionally prepared and executed with my office.

With more than 21 years of experience in drafting Wills, Powers of Attorney and Personal Directives, my new clients can rest assured that I will do an Excellent Job for them through my attentive and precisely detailed drafting of these Vitally Important documents. Please consider reaching out to my office today, for us to work together to ensure that your family enjoys as much security and peace of mind into the future, as you are able to provide them.

FOR NEW CLIENTS: I personally prefer talking with new clients on a telephone call rather than trading a number of emails about preliminary issues. My experience is that considerably more important information about your matter can be exchanged between us if we are able to have instantaneous communication on the telephone. However, please don't hesitate to send me an email if you prefer, but do please include your best telephone number(s) in your email, for the quickest possible response from me.