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The Deep Flow of a Kind and Generous Heart

August 28, 2023 admin Planned Giving

Marsha Manolescu was an amazing mother, grandmother, daughter, and sister. She was a seasoned lawyer, faithful friend, and dedicated supporter of YESS. We are delighted and so blessed by Marsha’s children, Stacey, Julie, Trisha, and Chris, as they lovingly share with us the most beautiful swathes of sweeping colour that imbued the life of a greatly beloved mother.

 

 

Marsha displayed a lifelong passion for giving to and serving others. Her formative years as the oldest of six children most definitely had something to do with that. Caring for five younger brothers and then four children of her own helped shape her into a brave and independent woman. She was a role model to those around her, willing to try almost anything. She loved to cook, read, and garden. She was a seamstress, a baker, a tutor, and a caregiver. Marsha was a literal “Jill of all trades,” a powerful force.

Marsha: A Loving Grandma | Photo courtesy of Stacey Manolescu

Marsha loved to give gifts. She bought things she loved for herself and for others. Her gifts were thoughtful and generous and, occasionally, a little zany and over the top. She could also be quite practical with her gift-giving. She loved stocking up on necessities like soaps, toothbrushes, t-shirts, and hoodies; buying for those she’d never met before but heard had a need. She and her grandchildren loved filling “birthday bags” with party supplies and snacks and donating them to the local food bank.  She was always thinking of others.

Marsha had a huge heart for the community at large. She spent copious hours volunteering her time and resources, a trait she inherited from her parents. She invited and included her children and grandchildren in many of her volunteer opportunities. Twice a year, her grandkids loved to help Grandma fill and deliver backpacks stuffed with personal care items, school supplies, snacks, and warm clothing for the youth at YESS. Marsha had a soft spot in her heart for troubled youth. She felt it necessary for them to have good quality basics and to feel cared for in their time of need. She felt that by supporting YESS, she was able to let her actions do the talking. Always choosing the highest quality goods to donate in the hopes that her gifts would say, “You are important. No matter what you are going through, we see you and we care.”

Marsha with daughters Julie and Stacey | Photo courtesy of Stacey Manolescu

Through the Blatchford chapter of Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (IODE), Marsha, along with her chapter members, spent hours filling backpacks for youth, making personal property bags for local women’s shelter WIN House, and buying books for adopted school classrooms across the city.

To Marsha, giving to those in need was a part of her routine and it truly filled her cup. When she passed away this past December 2022, it was only fitting to ask those who knew her to give a gift in her name to YESS. A gift that would help continue the great work being done through the support and programs they offer. Marsha wanted people to see that youth in trouble didn’t automatically mean youth who would cause trouble. She wanted to support and supply a safe landing place for youth in hopes it could become a launch pad for their happier and healthier future.

Our mother’s legacy of community support was one to be admired, one we would love to see continue. We hope her story of compassion and generosity will encourage others to support the wonderful programs of YESS.

 

To learn more about making a legacy gift, please contact Eileen Papulkas by phone at 780.468.7070 x298 or by email at eileen.papulkas@yess.org

 

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Do I Need a Will?

August 28, 2023 admin Community, Planned Giving

This article was originally published as part of the 2021 Planned Giving Newsletter. It has been updated for the 2023 edition.

 

A will is one of the most profound and consequential documents that you can ever create and, for many, an emotional but deeply fulfilling process. The questions it presents are numerous and the conversations inspired amongst family and loved ones are a gift in and of themselves. Shelly Chamaschuk provides valuable information on wills in Alberta and answers the most basic and often-heard estate planning question: do I need a will?

 

 

The answer is YES. I believe that every person who is eligible to make a Will, should have a Will. The reasons are many, but here are a few of the most important ones:

 

  1. People often assume that their immediate family (spouse, common-law partner, adult children) will be able to look after their estate if they pass away. This is incorrect. No person, not even a spouse, has the legal authority to deal with your estate when you pass away. Having a Will makes the process of estate administration much easier because the person you name as your executor (now called your Personal Representative) takes authority from the Will immediately upon your death, and can begin administering certain aspects of your estate right away. Without a Will, no steps can be taken until a grant of administration is obtained from the Court. Even with a Will, your Personal Representative may have to apply for a Grant of Probate in order to deal with some of your assets, but institutions like banks and investment companies are much more cooperative and willing to provide information to the person named in a Will as the Personal Representative than they are to a person making inquiries that has no Will to rely on. By making a Will, you make the process of settling your estate much easier and less stressful for your family and friends who may are left to sort out your estate without any guidance from you and without knowing your wishes.

 

  1. A Will allows you to choose who will act as your Personal Representative and administer your estate. You can choose a person(s) whom you trust and you know will follow your wishes as you have set them out in your Will. If you die without a Will, legislation in Alberta provides a list of the people who have the first right to apply to administer your estate, but that may not be who you would choose to do this job for you.

 

  1. A Will allows you to choose who will receive the proceeds of your estate. Although you have a legal obligation to support your dependents (spouse, common-law partner, minor children, adult children who are unable to earn a livelihood due to a physical or mental disability), you can otherwise make gifts as you choose. If you die without a Will, again there is legislation in Alberta that determines which family members will receive your estate.

 

  1. A Will allows you to leave gifts to a charity or charities in the amounts or proportions you decide. Without a Will, there is no provision for any of your estate to be given to the charities you supported during your lifetime. For many people it is important to them that some of their estate be left to their favorite charities. There are also some income tax benefits to your estate to making charitable gifts in your Will.

 

Making a Will is much easier than most people think. I often have clients comment when they are leaving my office having signed their Wills about how simple and easy the process was, and had they known, they would have done a Will much sooner.

I encourage everyone to make a Will to make it easier for your loved ones to take care of your estate during a sad and stressful time for them, to prevent unnecessary family disputes, and to ensure that your estate is given to those that you want to receive it.

 

This article was written by Shelly K. Chamaschuk, a Barrister & Solicitor with Reynolds Mirth Richards & Farmer LLP. Her practice focuses on corporate/commercial matters, business and succession planning, estate planning, including wills, enduring powers of attorney, personal directives, family trusts, and estate administration. She is the firm’s Wills, Estates & Trusts Team Lead.

Prior to entering law, Shelly worked for the Capital Health Authority and was the Regional Coordinator for the Department of Laboratory Medicine. She also worked overseas as a medical laboratory technologist in Saudi Arabia and with a humanitarian aid project in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Shelly is a regular presenter for the Edmonton Community Foundation and lecturer for the Legal Education Society of Alberta.

 

 

Impact the Future

Youth rely on valued and trusted sources of support and are inspired to look to the future with hope, purpose, and the courage to strive for a better tomorrow.

Will you consider including YESS in your estate plans? Every legacy gift to YESS is a thoughtful gift from the heart, a meaningful part of your life story, and a way to help YESS thrive in its commitment to champion youth who reach out in their need for healing, relief, and guidance.

Leaving a legacy gift is as easy as 1-2-3! To make your legacy gift, consider the following:

 

  1. Adding a codicil (a supplement) to your current will,
  2. Creating a new will, or
  3. Adding YESS as a beneficiary to an investment or life insurance policy

 

We’d be happy to work with you, your family and your advisors on a confidential basis to ensure that your gift meets your philanthropic goals.

If you have already provided for a legacy gift to YESS in your estate plans, we’d be delighted to learn in confidence about your future plans. Thank you for your life-changing gift! It will surely help to enable young people in crisis to heal, improve their well-being, find connection and stability, and to create healthy futures.

To learn more about making a legacy gift, please contact Eileen Papulkas by phone at 780.468.7070 x298 or by email at eileen.papulkas@yess.org

 

What you need to know if you wish to leave a gift to YESS in your will:
YESS’s legal name:

Y.E.S.S.: Youth Emergency Shelter Society of Edmonton o/a (YESS) Youth Empowerment and Support Services

CRA Registered Charitable No.: 12953-7437 RR 0001

Full mailing address:
9310 82 Ave NW Edmonton AB T6C 0Z6

 

Sample wording for a Specific gift in your Will:

“I give to currently of Y.E.S.S.: Youth Emergency Shelter Society of Edmonton o/a (YESS) Youth Empowerment and Support Services currently of 9310 82 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB, T6C 0Z6, the sum of $______ to be used at the discretion of the organization.”

 

Sample wording for a Residual gift in your Will:

“I give to Y.E.S.S.: Youth Emergency Shelter Society of Edmonton o/a (YESS) Youth Empowerment and Support Services currently of 9310 82 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB, T6C 0Z6, all (or ______%) of the residue of my estate, to be used at the discretion of the organization.”
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Making an Impact with Strategic Charitable Giving

August 28, 2023 admin Planned Giving

This article was originally published in the 2021 Planned Giving Newsletter.

Charitable giving is a deeply rewarding experience that benefits our communities and the causes that are dear to us. The government encourages giving by providing a variety of tax incentives for individuals looking to give back. There are many types of charitable gifts, each with its own advantages and tax implications. It is important to review and understand the basic features of each type of gift so that you may choose the option that best suits your needs and financial circumstances.

Donation Tax Credit

All donations by individuals to a registered charity in Canada are eligible for the donation tax credit. In Alberta donations up to $200 receive a combined (provincial and federal) tax credit of $50 (15% federally and 10% provincially).

When donating more than $200 in Alberta, the provincial tax credit jumps from 10% to 21% and depending on your income tax bracket, the federal tax credit jumps from 15% to 29% (or 33% if your income exceeds $210,371).

In-Kind Donations

In addition to the donation tax credit, in-kind donations of property, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or segregated funds that have increased significantly in value are perfect candidates for tax incentivized giving. Gifting these securities directly to a registered charity in-kind provides a special tax treatment and exemption from capital gains that cannot be taken advantage of by selling the security and donating the proceeds.

To understand the impact of donating securities in-kind, assume “Etta” owns a mutual fund that has a fair market value of $100,000 that she purchased many years ago for $20,000. She is considering donating the mutual fund to charity.

If Etta sells the mutual fund first and donates the sale proceeds, she would realize a capital gain of $80,000 and pay tax on half of that capital gain. In this case she would be looking at approximately $18,000 in capital gains and a tax benefit of approximately $32,000. Instead, Etta could avoid selling the mutual fund by donating the fund in-kind and the capital gains tax would be eliminated. She would be entitled to the full tax receipt of $100,000, a net tax benefit of $50,000 on her gift. Her decision to donate in-kind saved her $18,000 in tax!

If we consider that some of Etta’s investments have not performed as anticipated, she can also donate any depreciated securities to charity and claim the capital loss to be used against either capital gains realized in the current year or carried back and used against any gains she may have realized in the prior three years. The capital loss may also be carried forward indefinitely to future years.

Charitable giving has a real and positive impact on our communities, the organizations we support, and ourselves as individuals. The government has recognized the value that giving has on society and provided incentives that we can all use to gain the maximum value for our dollars. In-kind donations are a fantastic example of these incentives. If giving is a priority to you, reach out to YESS and the tax experts in your life to fully explore tax incentivized strategies for giving.

 

Donating a gift of publicly traded securities or mutual funds to YESS is a simple, cost-effective, and tax-efficient way to make a charitable donation during your lifetime or through your will, and YESS receives the full value of the gift.

How to donate stock from a non-registered account during your lifetime

It is important to know that the ownership of the shares must be transferred in-kind to realize a tax benefit. Have your broker transfer your shares in-kind directly to YESS through our CIBC Investor’s Edge account using a Letter of Authorization/Direction to Transfer Securities.

How to donate stock from a non-registered account through your will

If you plan to make a gift of publicly traded securities through your will to YESS, the correct legal name to include is:

Y.E.S.S.: Youth Emergency Shelter Society of Edmonton o/a (YESS) Youth Empowerment and Support Services
9310 82 Ave NW, Edmonton AB T6C 0Z6

CRA Registered Charitable No.: 12953-7437 RR 0001

 

Ayden is an Investment Advisor with the Harty Investment Group at CIBC Wood Gundy. He has a passion for finance and portfolio management and has enjoyed every moment of his 8 years of experience in the financial services industry.

The Harty Investment Group provides wholistic wealth management through customized portfolio management, estate and trust planning, tax planning, charitable giving, intergenerational wealth transfer strategies and business succession planning.

Outside of the office, Ayden enjoys spraying golf balls, wrestling his daughter Colette, and sharing a glass of wine and a meal on the patio with his wife Brittany. Ayden is a former member of the YESS Board of Directors.

 

 

 

 

To learn more about making a legacy gift, please contact Eileen Papulkas by phone at 780.468.7070 x298 or by email at eileen.papulkas@yess.org

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