Can I avoid probate? + MORE Sep 15th

The Financial Post’s Jonathan Ratner looks at some of the day’s top business and financial stories.

LISBON, Portugal – The Bank of Portugal says it is postponing the sale of Novo Banco, the so-called good bank salvaged from last year’s collapse of major lender Banco Espirito Santo, explaining that the offers it received were too low.
The country’s central bank said Tuesday that European bank stress tests due in November also added uncertainty to the sale, as Novo Banco may require a hefty capital increase. It said the sale process will resume at a date to be decided.
Novo Banco received 4.9 billion euros ($5.5 billion) from a so-called bank resolution fund, a mechanism adopted during the eurozone debt crisis to support the financial sector. The Portuguese Treasury provided 3.9 billion euros of that, with other Portuguese banks providing the rest, and they want to recoup the full amount.
The post Portugal postpones sale of rescued bank after offers fall short of amount needed by debtors appeared first on Canadian Business – Your Source For Business News.

James Dunham provided sales information to analyst

Q: Do I have to probate cash if that is all there is in an estate? The estimate is $90,000 in a bank. Do I have to probate the estimated $120,000 in Canadian stocks? There are three siblings that will all sign off on a decision according to the only will ever prepared (equal split).
-Spike
A: Benjamin Franklin once said: “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Probate brings these two certainties together, as it is essentially a death tax. Technically, it is an administrative court procedure to validate a will and each province levies different flat or percentage rate ranging from a low of $0 in Quebec (for notarial wills) to 1.5% in Ontario.
Probate is derived from the Latin word “probare,” which means “to prove.” It is generally required in the event that someone dies intestate, with no will, or if required by third parties–namely financial institutions or lawyers–to “prove” the eligibility to transfer certain assets. Each province has different legislation about how to arrive at the value of one’s estate for probate purposes and the province in which the assets are located designates the calculation of the probate fees ultimately payable…

Most investors prefer using ETFs that are bought and sold frequently. Although thinly traded ETFs are not always less liquid, experienced investors will tell you that they do tend to have wider bid-ask spreads. A healthy trading volume also suggests there’s a lot of interest in the ETF, which makes it less likely to be shut down.
You can get an idea of an ETF’s trading volume by looking at a quote from your discount brokerage or from free online services such as Google Finance. But you’re probably not getting the whole story: you may be surprised to learn that your ETFs are trading more often than you’ve been led to believe.
Here’s why: when you get a quote from these sources, chances are the data is coming only from the Toronto Stock Exchange. But although the TSX gets all the attention, it’s not the only ETF marketplace in Canada: there are several so-called alternative trading systems (ATS) that match buyers and sellers behind the scenes. These include Alpha, Chi-X, Omega, and many others—even some that aren’t named for a letter in the Greek alphabet…