We focus on the following services:
Each service below can stand on its own, but they often connect. Many owners begin with estate tax exposure mapping, then move into structural review, funding strategy, and succession coordination.
Estate Tax Exposure Assessment
Most Ontario incorporated business owners have never seen their estate tax bill as an actual number. This engagement maps your capital gains exposure, retained earnings, real estate, and registered assets into a single, specific figure — so you know what you’re dealing with before it’s too late to act.
- Your exact capital gains tax liability at death — not a range, a number
- Liquidity gap analysis — what cash exists versus what CRA will demand
- Exposure mapped across shares, retained earnings, real estate, and RRSPs —
- A prioritized roadmap — of the planning options that apply to your specific situation
HoldCo / OpCo Structure Review
Your corporate structure either supports your estate and succession plan — or it quietly works against it. This review examines whether your HoldCo and OpCo are set up to protect assets, defer tax, and position ownership for an efficient transfer.
- Assessment of whether your structure is limiting your planning options —
- Review of retained earnings placement — and what the current setup costs at death
- Analysis of insurance ownership, share classes, and estate freeze readiness —
- Coordination recommendations — for your accountant and corporate lawyer
Corporate-Owned Life Insurance
Corporate-owned life insurance is not a product — it is the funding mechanism that makes every other part of the plan actually work. We design, source, and structure coverage from 8 carriers to match your specific exposure, retained earnings, and Capital Dividend Account strategy.
- Assessment of whether your structure is limiting your planning options —
- Review of retained earnings placement — and what the current setup costs at death
- Analysis of insurance ownership, share classes, and estate freeze readiness —
- Coordination recommendations — for your accountant and corporate lawyer
Second-Generation Succession Planning
Passing a business to the next generation involves three decisions most families never make explicitly: who controls the operating company, how children outside the business are treated fairly, and how the tax gets funded. We work through all three — with the numbers, the structure, and the family alignment required to make the transfer work.
- Clarity on control, ownership, and economic interest — across all family members
- Insurance equalization strategy — for children active and not active in the business
- Estate freeze evaluation — to cap today’s value and shift future growth to the next generation
- Coordination with your estate lawyer — on wills, trusts, and shareholder agreements
Shareholder Buy-Sell Funding
A shareholder agreement without funded insurance behind it is a legal document that cannot execute at the only moment it matters. We review existing agreements, identify funding gaps against current valuations, and design the corporate-owned insurance that makes the buy-sell mechanism work.
- Review of your shareholder agreement — against current business valuation — not the number from when it was signed
- Identification of the funding gap — between what the agreement requires and what currently exists
- Insurance design for both death and disability — not just the scenario everyone prefers to plan around
- Structured to minimize tax on proceeds — through proper CDA coordination
Critical Illness & Disability Planning
For an incorporated Ontario business owner, disability is often more financially disruptive than death — because the tax bill doesn’t arrive, but the income stops and the obligations don’t. We design coverage that protects personal income, funds business continuity, and addresses what the shareholder agreement requires if you cannot work.
- Corporate and personal disability coverage — structured specifically for incorporated Ontario owners
- Critical illness protection — that creates liquidity during your lifetime, not only at death
- Review of how your shareholder agreement handles disability — most agreements don’t adequately
Estate Freeze Planning
An estate freeze locks in your capital gains liability at today’s value and shifts future corporate growth to the next generation. Done at the right time and properly funded with insurance, it is one of the most effective tools available to Ontario incorporated business owners. Done without funding, it creates a known liability with no solution.
- Evaluation of whether now is the right time and value to freeze — before a major growth event, not after
- Share reorganization coordinated with your corporate lawyer — executed correctly under the Income Tax Act
- Insurance funding sized to the frozen value — so the liability is solved, not just deferred
- Annual review process — to recalibrate coverage as the business grows past the frozen amount
