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There are numerous estimates predicting that the transfer of wealth from baby boomers to the next generations — mainly millennials or gen-Xers — will be in the range of $1 trillion to $2 trillion in Canada within the next 10 to 20 years. The taxman, of course, is poised to take a significant bite of that wealth.

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Given this looming transfer, the estate planning business has been thriving. Estate planning involves the planned transfer of wealth in an orderly fashion and requires a multitude of disciplines, including tax, legal, accounting, investment planning, insurance, trust administration and philanthropy.

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Many of these professions offer courses on estate planning, but there are few organizations that encompass the multitude of disciplines required to plan and implement a good estate plan. The designation granted by the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) is one of them. It offers numerous courses, conferences, articles and other expertise to help practitioners plan their clients’ affairs with the multidisciplinary approach that is a must. STEP’s rigorous training equips practitioners with great tools.

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There are no cookie-cutter approaches to estate planning. You might expect that your local accountant, insurance adviser, investment adviser or lawyer will have all the answers. They probably don’t.

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I recall reading a full-page newspaper article about estate planning while vacationing more than 25 years ago in Saskatchewan. It was written by a local insurance adviser who espoused a method of estate planning that advocated having “mom and dad” sit down with all their ultimate beneficiaries around the “kitchen table” in a planned meeting facilitated by him where the ultimate estate plan would be laid out. If there were any problems or issues, they would be dealt with right then and there.

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I was happy that approach worked for him, but I knew that taking that kind of approach with most of my clients would be a disaster. For Seinfeld fans, it reminded me of Festivus, where everyone gathers around a pole at dinner for an “airing of the grievances.”

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Estate planning can involve highly-charged emotions that are not usually resolved by simply sitting around a table and having it out or airing one’s grievances. It involves careful coordinated planning with the various disciplines and an appreciation of the complex emotions and psychology that are often at play.

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It also involves aggressively keeping up to date since laws and government administrative procedures can quickly change and materially affect an estate plan. For example, you have to consider if another country has jurisdiction over some of your assets that you wish to pass along. Many countries will charge a tax — in some form or fashion — on the transfer of those assets, such as real estate, either during your lifetime or on death.

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The most obvious example is the estate tax in the United States that applies to its citizens and U.S. domiciles. Americans can take advantage of an exemption, but the amount has been a political football over the years.

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For 2025, the amount is US$13.99 million, but it was scheduled to decline to approximately US$7 million at the end of this year. However, President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act has erased that possibility by making the exemption amount US$15 million for 2026 and indexing it to inflation for every year after.