When Dora died on August 1, 2018, most of her assets passed by Will to her adult children and were therefore subject to probate. $250,000 was in GICs and a fairly rapid transfer of this money to her heirs was expected. But that was not the case. They had to wait until March 2020 for it. That’s right, almost two years.

Not only did the GICs attract legal and probate fees in excess of $10,000, but while they were waiting for their share, her kids had to pay income tax on interest earned on the money held in trust. This proved to be a hardship for some of them who were of limited means or single parents.