2020 Season – Due to the pandemic, our planned in-person events were replaced with webinar options on June 3rd and September 24th. Please see below for recorded options, if you would like to review the Introductory session, or take a deeper-dive into the parts of the plan.
Most recent event: “Targeting Tax webinar” with estate lawyer Peter Lillico on Thursday, September 24, 2020 – This digital event was free to FOCA members and supporters. Slides were shared with attendees. The recording is available to purchase, along with the other talks in the series, using the links below.
Recordings of Peter’s talks are available to purchase:
Talk #1 – Keeping the ‘Family’ in the Family Cottage – this is the recommended introductory session, with an overview of considerations for starting your cottage succession plan (recorded 2014)
Talk #2 – Cottage Sharing Agreements – an in-depth look at considerations for creating the Cottage Sharing Agreement, one important step in your cottage succession process (recorded 2016)
Talk #3 – Targeting Tax – an in-depth session explaining capital gains tax, and tips to reduce or defer it (recorded 2020)
About the FOCA Cottage Succession Seminar Series
How will your family manage the generational transfer of the cottage ownership? Learn what you need to do NOW, to protect the family cottage for the future. Each session includes valuable information about parts of the process:
- KEEPING THE ‘FAMILY ‘IN THE FAMILY COTTAGE (this is the recommended introductory/overview session) – Cottage succession planning intro, with an overview of the legal, tax and family issues that need to be addressed.
- AVOIDING ADVERSITY – Why a Cottage Sharing Agreement is the crucial first foundation for shared future family cottage ownership; what protections and provisions they must include; and how best to develop one for your family.
- TARGETING TAX – How capital gains tax works; how to avoid it; techniques to reduce or defer it; planning approaches to fund it.
- TRUSTING THE COTTAGE – How a combination of trust techniques can combine to: retain control of the cottage by the parents for their lifetimes; ensure that the cottage passes to their children after their death without probate tax; provide protections for the cottage against children’s creditors or divorcing spouses. Peter’s advice on trusts was referred to by Penny Caldwell in the early summer 2018 Cottage Life Magazine as “sweet and innovative.”
- COTTAGES AT THE CROSSROADS: Choosing the Path – This session assumes the cottagers want to keep the cottage in the family and explains the pros and cons of different succession vehicles: Direct personal ownership by children; corporate ownership; or trust ownership.
Get additional notes from estate lawyer Peter Lillico about leaving the cottage to the kids, online here: http://www.lbghlaw.com/cottages.php
To contact Peter at his Peterborough office (remember to tell him FOCA sent you!):
plillico@lbghlaw.com 705-743-3577
2019 Seminars took place at:
Balsam Lake Association – June 1st, 2019 in Coboconk
North Mara Beach Residents Association – June 22nd, 2019 in Ramara
Cavendish Community Ratepayers Association Inc. – July 6th, 2019
Lake Networking Group – July 7th, 2019 in Perth
Kennisis Lake Cottage Owners Association – July 27th, 2019
Soyers Lake Ratepayers Association Inc. – September 21st, 2019
Related News:
- August 22, 2020 –Navigating the often rough waters of cottage ownership (Peterborough This Week)
- Peter Lillico is quoted in this article about “What happens to our joint-owned cottage after we pass?” from Cottage Life.
- June 2018 – Peter Lillico is quoted in this article: “What to know about owning a cottage with friends or family,” Times Colonist.
- Peter is also the backbone of this article: “How to hand down your cottage while keeping the peace and saving money,” Cottage Life, by Penny Caldwell.
- “4 different ways families approached cottage succession,” Cottage Life, by Penny Caldwell.
- Sept.2015 – Read this article about FOCA’s Cottage Succession Seminar series with estate lawyer Peter Lillico (source: My Kawartha)
Additional info for our American friends with cottages in Ontario:
In early June 2016, FOCA met up with the American Friends of Canadian Land Trusts (AF) to discuss the connection between conservation and cottage succession planning for American owners of property in Ontario’s cottage country. AF helps U.S. taxpayers learn about and address the challenges of Canadian capital gains, and explore how they can create a conservation strategy for their lands that will meet their financial goals.