One of the necessary challenges of aging is planning for eventual life transitions.
This may include downsizing from a house to a condo, hiring a home care provider, moving to an assisted living facility and planning for who manages your affairs during your lifetime and when you die.
You may want to talk with an elder care specialist to prepare yourself for whatever life brings. One Vancouver business helping people navigate life transitions is Munro & Crawford Trust and Estate Services.
Ken Friesen is a lawyer who specializes in estate litigation and works closely with Munro & Crawford Trust Services.
“Munro & Crawford offers estate property services and can fulfil the role of executor and trustee for clients,” said Friesen, whose office overlooks Munro & Crawford’s Yew street office. “They will handle day to day physical management and trustee management.”
If you are contemplating a life transition or would like to see how Munro & Crawford might be able to help you in the future, call to arrange an introductory meeting.
“The first step is for Munro & Crawford to determine what your long-term goals are. Who’s going to help me when I make a transition? How will my affairs be handled? Do I want to age in place and if so how can I do this successfully?”
Friesen says trust companies like traditional wealth management/trust companies differ from what Munro & Crawford offers because of the personalized and local support provided, and most signficantly, a trust client doesn’t have to have Munro & Crawford control their investments.
“The goal of businesses like trust companies is to facilitate financial services. They make money by providing financial services. You can come to Munro & Crawford for estate services and they won’t interfere with your existing financial managers. They don’t want to be your broker. If your have money under management with a trusted financial advisor, that can, and likely should, stay in place.”
“Most people with assets probably already have a manager of those assets. If you have money under management, Munro & Crawford can still help you with trust services and managing your affairs without managing your investments.”
Munro & Crawford can act as your trustee, power of attorney and the executor for your estate, or provide a supporting agent role to help family or friends in those roles.
“Munro & Crawford Trust and Estate Services can liaise with your financial advisors, manage your personal care and household matters as you age in place or make life transitions, and act as executor after your death much more efficiently than a friend or family member you might name as executor.”
Friesen says he enjoys the technical aspect of estate law and pursued it after enjoying early success in estate litigation matters. Friesen specializes in trust and estate litigation with more than 20 years of practice.
“My father was a family therapist and I find that this area of law certainly touches on a lot family dynamics and personality, with interesting and often challenging legal questions arising.”
He says estate law and property services is a growing area because there is more awareness and more being done to counter elder abuse, and because the aging baby boomers tend to have more money and more involved care expectations and issues than previous generations.
“Most people growing old and facing life transitions want to make plans so things are taken care of when that sort of planning may become difficult for them. Whether it’s hiring a company like Munro & Crawford Trust and Estate Services to facilitate landscaping and home maintenance and further manage financial affairs and eventually administer their estate, people want to know things are taken care of for themselves and their families.”
For more information about Munro & Crawford, visit www.munrocrawford.ca or call 604-266-7174. You can also visit the office at 5670 Yew Street.
