How should Canadian business owners plan for their company in a will?

Whether you are a sole proprietor, a freelancer running a registered business, or the shareholder of an incorporated company, your business interests form part of your estate on death. They can be dealt with in a single conventional will, or — where tax planning warrants it — through a multi-will arrangement that separates business assets from personal assets to reduce probate exposure in provinces where that strategy is available.

A well-drafted owner-manager will typically includes a "carry-on-business" authority empowering the executor to continue, wind down, restructure, sell, or distribute the business in kind, subject to the articles, unanimous shareholder agreements, and any buy-sell provisions. Where restrictions on transfer exist, the will should direct the executor to comply with them and treat the proceeds — not the shares themselves — as the testamentary asset routed to the chosen beneficiary.

Legalify's questionnaire captures simple ownership scenarios (sole proprietorships and straightforward share holdings). If your estate involves multiple corporations, holding companies, family trusts, discretionary dividends, estate freezes, or material cross-border tax exposure, commission a lawyer-drafted will — the additional cost is small relative to the tax and administration savings at death.