Well welcome everybody. We're here on Sunny afternoon in Burlington and we have the pleasure of having Devon Miller, who's the director of Clear Estate with us.
Clear Estate is a company that provide executive services help people with like meal planning and all that kind of stuff. IA Private Wealth has formed a formal relationship with them in January of, of 2023.
And we have used them on a few occasions already with a couple of our clients. So we're gonna spend a little bit of time here and get to know what Clear Estate is, who they are and how they work. So Devin, thanks very much for taking the time out for us today. That's a good place to start. Who is clear at State?
Thanks, thanks for having me out here, Dave. So I'd actually tell you we are, we are Canadian grown founded in Montreal actually. So the Okay. Came across Canada a few years ago there now. So we're, we're servicing all of Canada and throughout the US a good number of states mostly in the south, so California, Texas, Arizona, Florida.
So for for those of you that are snowbirds out there, we've got you covered there too. And you know, we, we mainly do two things here. We provide at need settlement services for individuals that find themselves an executor that that need some assistance along the way in settling a estate. And, you know, we help you get a grasp on that beforehand to, to take that burden off of, off of your family, your children, your friends, in, in helping people plan their estates.
In conjunction with, with Dave's guidance there at IA Private Wealth all the way up to us serving as a professional trustee and executor through our trust partner so that, You can take that load off of someone way down the road and, you know, and make a difficult time that much easier for them.
Great.
Well, I know just in my practice I've always had that question of, you know, do we have our kids be the executors? Do we have our friends be the executors? It's amazing to me the number of times that I get state settlement issues that I have to deal with from what I do for a living. And I'm talking to people who a, didn't know they were an executor.
The Pearson who elected them to be an executor, never told them, they didn't understand their responsibilities as an executor. And certainly over the last couple of years from the federal government standpoint, they've, they've increased the responsibilities and, and potential liabilities back on an executor if they don't do something correctly when it comes to the valuation of the estate.
So, you know, may, it may seem like an obvious question, but you know what? What created the marketplace for a clear state in, in Canada and United
States today? Yeah, I mean initially it it actually spurred from one of the company founders that actually went through the estate administration of his own mother.
And it was an uninspected loss that, you know, wasn't plan as well as it perhaps could have been advanced. But in working through that process himself, you know, this individual found, you know, himself very lost at an already difficult time for his family was. Was trying to seek out an attorney and then seek out an accountant.
And, you know, beyond those separate entities and the difficulties dealing there, there were a lot of steps along the way where there, there was no help. And amongst all that he was, you know, dealing with siblings as well as, you know, what's taking so long? Why are you doing this? Why aren't you doing this?
And. You know, it's a job that nobody usually signs up for, or like you said, people have been, been signed up for without their knowledge. And, you know, there isn't, there isn't really training for, for everyone to do this. You know, this is something that most people can go through their entire lives without having to do it.
And those that find themselves having to do it once, maybe twice. So it's, it's a really unfamiliar area. Yeah. I mean, I,
I could remember A situation that I had some involvement with indirectly, and there was two children involved in the, in the estate and, and mom had passed away. Dad was, was deceased earlier.
And our client was, was one of the siblings that was not involved in the actual executorship. And they kept asking me questions and I could, they were kind of leading the way to. Answer questions, but they weren't really outwardly coming to me and asking questions. And, and finally I said to, to them, I said, why, what are you asking all these questions for?
So they, they relayed to me that the, one of the siblings that was executor it was over two years since the, since the mother passed away. And there was still no settlement and no communication and, and it was just a, not a very good situation and, and no accountability. I know in my my wife's parents were killed in a car accident, and the first thing I said to them, I wasn't involved in the state either, but I said to me, well, you need, the first thing that this needs to be done is in accounting.
You know, do a balance sheet to see what's what, you know, what are there any debts in any assets and whatnot. Again, very, very seldom is that ever done, and in this situation, like the timeframe for being executing estate in a reasonable time, like a long past. In fact, I think they're now going on three years and it's still not done.
So the thing that I, what I liked so much about clear estate, and you can lend some, some information on it, is. You know, you don't have to worry about that. It's, you know, you sign up with Clear State, they're gonna be looking after your wills. If, if you need to, they'll be updating your wills. And, and the process is, is from a professional standpoint, it's not, you know, the emotional part of it is, is not involved in it whatsoever because it's a professional service that you offer.
So anything, just kind lend a little bit of insight out as to what happens and what you guys do. And, you know,
practically. Absolutely. So, I mean, and when working with you and your clients, you know, we, we believe that as you do that, the estate plan is an important part of the, the financial plan. But from an emotional standpoint, you know, we make sure that, you know, we're professionals, but we're able to, to do a whole bunch of the things for families beyond that.
Right. You know, appointing a professional executor in advance one, it ensures you have the expertise dealing with this that are able to, you know all of you out here, you've, you've engaged David to help you with your financial plan. You, you may have an attorney that's incorporated a business for you or an accountant that's helping you with, with taxation needs.
But, you know, at the time when it comes to, to unwind these things when you're a, a state is really happening when you're gone. You know, who's, who's left there to deal with that. You know, a lot of times it's conventionally been, you know, a sibling or a child, but you know, they may not possess, you know, and often don't the professional expertise to do it.
Right. They also have their own life, their own careers, their own children of, of things they're already dealing with. And similar to Dave's point there with, with the beneficiary asking lots of questions. I mean, we never want to think about something like this happening, but. You know, a state settlement has damaged family relationships, you know, sometimes irreparably over time, and, and doing this as a way to have a, you know, a somewhat neutral party look after things here in a way that's going to be fiduciarily responsible.
But also ensure that everyone else involved in the estate is, is equally involved and no one feels like they have more or less control or, you know, something is, is being influenced by someone else that they may not want. Yeah,
I mean, I, I came across another example of the necessity for this. It's, it comes up a lot when we do our normal processing, you know, we, we call it more of the intergenerational wealth transfer.
And who takes care of it. And it's amazing how many people don't have someone to actually look after the executorship for their affairs, or they're not, you know, maybe they've got a distant relationship with, with one of their children, and, and that children is the one that's the closest in terms of proximity that can, you know, take care of that.
But this the, you know, in one case that we, that we are dealing with, The parent doesn't want that individual, that individual's going through some other shit, you know, stuff of its own problem. So that to me is the beauty of clear estate is that now I'm, I'm thinking of another situation that we've recently come across where, you know, the, the lady is, she doesn't have any children.
She was never married and you know, unfortunately she's had some of her siblings predeceased her. So she has really nobody look after anything. Nobody looked after her affairs. Nobody looked after her executorship. Nobody to quite honestly leave the money to. So I've, I've suggested to her maybe she wants to create a charitable foundation or something, but again, we need to engage clear estate to be that, that professional executive.
Cause literally in her situation, there is nobody, absolutely nobody.
And Dave, I mean, we've, we can and have worked with individuals like that. You know, I've, I've helped a, a similar individual out in Alberta actually where the entire estate went to Hospital Foundation. Right. And, you know, that was something that was a very positive experience in that we could do something like that.
That her, her legacy was still a benefit to so many people. And even in the case where you do have someone, I mean, this makes your, your legacy just that at a, at a time, that's already difficult. I mean, loo losing a loved one is, is obviously gonna be a, a huge emotional impact without adding, you know, concern about, Am I, am I fulfilling my fiduciary role properly?
What, what do I do with the house? How do I file for, like, what are all these things I'm unaware of at this point? You know, individuals are left to support each other knowing that that's already been taken care of. Yeah.
You know, I, I guess one of the questions that. I could see coming up with clients is, you know, I've got three kids.
Why would I hire a clear estate to look after my affairs when I've got children that are, you know, and a lot of times, quite honestly, I'll say, well, I guess someone just tell me, he says you know, one of my daughters is a lawyer. Or, or, you know, my son is an accountant. I still see the need for clear estate.
How, how would you respond to someone with those kind of issues going on?
Absolutely. I've, I've engaged clients with children as, as attorneys that I know of. And for example, one of them lived outta province in British Columbia had absolutely no, you know, no desire to be flying back and forth to, to deal with affairs outta province let alone the expense to do so to the estate.
It, it simply didn't make sense. Right. You know, they may be an attorney, but they may not practice in the area of a state settlement. Right. And, and part of what we do, just go beyond creating a, a will is more of a plan. You know, I've, we'll often hear a lot, well, it's simple. It's simple. It's all gonna go to my spouse, or it's all gonna go to the kids equally.
And the reality is, it's only simple if you really have a thorough plan. To prepare to make it that way. You know, we have worked with the states where someone, yeah, they, they left it all to their spouse, but the way it was arranged beforehand had those assets locked up in probate for over a year. Right.
And their spouse left themselves scrambling for liquidity of how, how do I pay the bills? This account is locked out now I know it's there, but like the bank has frozen things on me. So, yeah. Yes, it was intended to be simple. Just give it all to them. But the, the foundation wasn't laid to make it that way.
Yeah.
We had one that we, that, that an individual it was actually a son-in-law that was appointed the executor and. We did a lot of work here giving him direction cuz he didn't know what to do and he was getting frustrated because we wouldn't release money. You know, we didn't, we didn't have money to release for the, for the taxes.
We didn't have money released for the final funeral expenses and whatnot. And, and it's been in stages. And the, the client of ours, she passed away back in the fall and literally just yesterday we finished up providing the estate department at IA Private Wealth. With the documentation that they needed and required to be able to send him that last trench of money.
They just said, we're not doing it cuz there's this not done, this not done. So again, it's, you know, there's no, there's no, there's no course, there's no training ground for this stuff and it's complicated. I, I have this sort of you know, kind of an understanding that I expressed to clients that, you know, if you've got a couple hundred thousand.
It's a different situation, but once you get to a million dollars or more, I really try to get people to go through the professional side of it. But of course, most people are dealing, like 93% of Canadians deal with Canadian banks. And you and I know when you're dealing with Canadian bank, all that is, is just money for them.
And they can charge up to 5%. And in a lot of cases they, they do charge 5%. So I'm, I'm saying a lot of clients, you know, You don't wanna hire a professional executor because they're gonna charge 5%. Or you, or you, or you wanna have your children do it because they're your children. And then the other thing I get quite often, which is kind of silly, but, well, I didn't wanna name my one child, the executor, because the other two would've been upset.
They were left out. If I've named all three and I'm going, oh, now you've just compounded the problem. So, I see where clear estate comes up right through the middle there and they've got a big hole in the running back's, got the ball and he's going for the touchdown. And that's cuz clear estate doesn't charge that 5%.
How do you guys work and how do you get paid?
So clear estate, I mean, we, we work with you, you know, upfront to create that estate plan. So, you know, there's an initial fee for the wills, the power of attorney, and any complex planning you may needs you have as well. So, for example, if, if any of you out there have a, a dependent with you know, some special needs that they may be receiving, government support, you know, we can help you with planning mechanisms.
Something called a Henson Trust, for example, that will ensure that, you know, Your heirs and beneficiaries don't lose that support. They're getting over time due to their inheritance. It's a, it's a special consideration to make right now upon settlement. Clear estate charges a minimum of $7,200 or 1% of the estate value.
Right. And the way we are able to operate so efficiently is by being part of your plan upfront, right? Just like the bank would be, or you know, often cases an executor that was not known to be an executor, they're going in blind. Right. They don't know what your plan was. They don't know what your financial picture was.
They don't know who all of your beneficiaries were or where they are. We make sure we work with you to have that information for a comprehensive plan, and in doing so, we can do that administration for you at a much lower cost, but also do it much more promptly for your beneficiaries. So that's such a process that, you know, we have seen drag out to periods of two and three years, doesn't happen and, and gives them that closure much faster with, without the burden.
Yeah. You know, I, I taught a course at Sheridan College and it was retirement planning course. And what was impressed upon me is it didn't matter if the client had a million dollars or 30 million. The the lack of financial wherewithal, the lack of knowledge about financial matters. It shocked me. And again, I'm looking, you know, back in my, in my time when I taught at Sheridan, and I remember this one gentleman who just got a buyout from his company for 30 million and we spent several hours together and he, he knew, he knew what he did for a living better than most, but if you took him one degree outside of what he did for a living and got into.
Retirement planning, wealth planning, intergenerational wealth transfer, foundations, charitable donations. It shocked me the lack of insight and knowledge that he had. So the, the point I'm trying to make is it doesn't matter how sophisticated you are, you, in my opinion, need professional services that can, the big thing you just said to me is the most creative thing, which what we do in our office is, is, is planning.
If you don't plan it, all of a sudden it's like, you know, you're driving down the highway at a hundred miles an hour and you don't realize that the road's coming to an end and you just keep right on going over the cliff cuz no one has actually sat down and tried to plan this stuff out. So for me, the reason that I liked our relationship with Clear Estate and we've started to open up several files with you is cause of the planning work.
It's, there's no guesswork to it. Your, your services are with professional lawyers that only work for clear estate. And for all you clients out there that, that are looking for professional executive services, I think this is the only show in, in Canada that, that provides you with incredible planning work at an extremely well priced format.
So anything else you'd like to add to that, Devin?
I mean, we, we kind of talk about estate planning, you know, jokingly internally as this is the grown up equivalent of eat your vegetables and you, you know, you're supposed to do it, you know it's good for you. You've heard all about the importance of it through various things.
And at the end of the day, you still don't really want to do it. Right. It's work. It's a tough conversation, but it, it's gotta happen. Right? And, you know, doing it in a scenario where, you know, you work with Dave, he's there and it's someone you're comfortable with and knows the pitcher can, can make it that much easier and, and taking control of this decision when you're not under pressure.
Right? When you're calm to do so. Because I can tell you, Almost, you know, some executors will say no if you approach them, but almost everyone will say yes because they feel obligated. Yeah, right. It's a big thing to be trusted with, and I can tell you just last week I engaged with a gentleman administering his mother's estate and his probate application had been rejected twice.
Wow. Cause of small mistakes. And when in speaking with him, I said, you know what's, what's got you ready at this point beyond that? And he said, my sister's the only other beneficiary. And as, as hard as this is for us losing our mom, my sister told me when this is done, she can retire. This is Wow. When we get this settlement done, she can quit work.
She's done. And I've been trying for almost a year and I can't do it. Yeah. Right. And he says, I can't. Hold this up for her anymore. Yeah. I need the help. Right? Yeah. And, you know, that was nice to be able to help, but it's one of those things also, if we do ahead of time, it's, it's taken care of. It's not a whole, you, you're confident it's, it's ready to go.
Well
first I'd like to say to any of our clients that are in Washington, this Clear Estates is a very, very, very top end service. And, and I wholeheartedly en endorse these guys. We, we are involved in the planning work. In fact, when you have an interview with Clear State the, the meeting is sent to me and I'm actually there with you with the lawyer so I can help out if there's some questions that you may not have answers to, I'm there to help you with.
And I think it's a great service. So you know, I would like to once again, thank Devin for coming and sharing this little bit of time with us and Give us a call. It's clear estate. They're fantastic. And thanks very much, Devin, for your time.
Hey, very happy to be invited. Thanks, David. All right.
Have a good day.