All About Estates

Grateful…


This blog was written by Teresa Acs – Director, Professional Development & Process Excellence

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, which nicely slides into the season of gift giving, I thought I would selfishly use this Blog to thank my colleagues.

I got this idea at my local Starbucks (thank you awesome Scotia Plaza Starbucks team), where they invite patrons to jot down what they are thankful for. They even provide nice quality paper, a pen and a small wooden box to collect the notes. I took a wee look as I was waiting for my special blend coffee and along with notes of gratitude and thanks for friends, family, food and of course coffee, some people wrote how thankful they were for their colleagues.

I am very fortunate to work in the complex area of estates and trusts.  The stories are rich, the clients complex, the assets varied, and the solutions are personal.

Thankful to all of you who help make our jobs rich, complex and personal and, to our clients who trust us, who share their stories and their legacy goals.

I am grateful to the Advisors – They care deeply for their clients.  They know and appreciate the importance of a fulsome wealth plan which is much more than a balance sheet.  Advisors help clients to meet their goals for life with solutions that are personal, respecting risk, legacy and incapacity planning.

I am grateful for the Wealth Planning Lawyers – There’s no replacement for lawyers who take the time to draft high quality estate and trust plans, which are based on today factors for tomorrow’s key life events.  You take such time and care and know the importance of tying a great client discovery with an excellently drafted document.  Will kit(s), be dammed!

I am thankful to the Litigation Lawyers –   Estate litigation is multi-faceted, often intense (okay, most litigation is intense) and can be all-consuming for the clients.  There are countless issues which may lead to conflict, resulting in estate litigation. Few issues are more challenging than family taking advantage of vulnerable love ones or, dealing with the stressful parent-child or sibling rivalry.  “Mommy loved you best” or, “Daddy never understood me” might be deeply routed in one’s soul and sometimes, litigation is the only way to get it all out on the table.  Our litigators, are creative, thinking outside of the box and redefining ‘winning’.

Our Tax Partners & Accountants – Who isn’t thankful for our tax advisors and preparers?  Anyone that understands CRA and knows current tax rules and regulations has superhero status!

And last, but not least, I am ever so grateful to our Estate Consultants, Trust Officers and Trust Associates – the quiet Heroes!  These teams have experience in estate laws, real estate, accounting, planning, tax, valuations, and client relationships. They have enriched client conversations, they are the conductors who roll up their sleeves and look after clients, their legacy goals and plans.  They take their roles seriously because they understand the uniqueness of their jobs and the privilege of working in this area.  Thank you!

I mentioned at the top of this blog, the slide from Thanksgiving into the holiday gift giving season so, in closing, my three wishes for you, readers of this blog, our clients, family, friends and colleagues

  1. Have future-focused deep conversations with those who you love,
  2. The advisors you go to for advice, ask yourself if you trust them enough to share your long-term plans, including incapacity and legacy and if you don’t, let them know, so that they can address your concerns, or not (and then it’s decision-time for you)
  3. Think about what you are grateful for and then share it with others

 

With gratitude,

Teresa Acs

Tagged in:
About Scotiatrust

4 Comments

  1. Maria

    October 10, 2019 - 1:11 pm
    Reply

    Thank you Teresa for reminding everyone to be grateful. We live in a past pace environment and always on the go. Thanksgiving weekend is one of my favourite not only we see the beautiful change of fall colours and always take the time to pause and be grateful to people around us (work and personal) and things that happen for a reason.

  2. Charlene Taylor

    October 10, 2019 - 3:07 pm
    Reply

    this is super! could not agree more……! thank you for taking the time to articulate this so well…..warmest wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving……Charlene Taylor

  3. Veronique Thomas-Ewen

    October 10, 2019 - 5:41 pm
    Reply

    It is true that this is a time of year when we remember to give thanks and be grateful for all that we have. Thank you for reminding me to not forget to extend that thanks to my incredible colleagues and partners! Perhaps we should start a box of our own…

  4. Steffanie Eckford

    October 11, 2019 - 1:33 pm
    Reply

    Thank you Teresa. Though provoking and well timed!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.