Parents and guardians of minors or adults with disabilities have
extra considerations when developing their estate plans. It is
important that additional care is taken in order to ensure that
government benefits and inheritance from the estate are both
maximized for the benefit of the disabled person. There are many
strategies and tools that estate planners can use to assist parents
and guardians of people with disabilities.
It is important to note that the Alberta Wills and
Succession Act states that every parent has a duty to
adequately provide for any children of theirs who are unable to
earn a livelihood due to a mental or physical disability. This
means that those parents must leave sufficient inheritance to their
disabled children, whether or not the parent financially supports
that child during the parent's lifetime. If the parent does not
adequately provide for the disabled child in their will, then that
child, whether it is a minor or adult at the time of
