Wills: Dreaded conversation brings comfort

Talking about wills can feel morbid or bring on feelings of dread and anxiety. After all, wills are most commonly associated with death and worst-case scenarios.  

But people who’ve crossed this threshold resoundingly feel that talking about wills actually brings comfort. Two couples, Emma Lewzey and Ingrid Randoja, and Samantha Luc and Lars Bogglid, discuss why they had the talk sooner rather than later, why it brought feelings of relief and where charity comes in.  

What inspired your decision to leave a gift through your will?

Samantha: Both of us have known people who have died quite early. That pushed us to get wills done when we're young.  

Lars: We have explicit intentions, goals and structure that guide our giving while we’re living and our legacy. We're more focused on giving now, but feel that if we're lucky to have a material residual estate or resources, that we want that same intention to carry through. 

Ingrid: My first thought was: “Why not?” I can't take the money with me, so why not leave some behind to help somebody else? And it's just so simple. It just makes so much sense. 

Emma: We're privileged to contribute to causes that we care about and I want that to continue after I'm gone.  

What might surprise people about this process?

Emma: I think there’s a misconception that wills are scary and about death, but they can spark important conversations and bring people closer together. 

Ingrid: People are afraid that talking about wills is inviting something bad to happen. But it's the opposite: lightening the load for whomever will be handling it.

Samantha: Taking the time to put your intentions down on paper doesn't have to be expensive nor something morbid, but gives you and your loved ones peace of mind. Having a will is sharing a brief letter with the rest of the world, declaring what matters to you most. 

How is Toronto Foundation helpful?

Emma: Toronto Foundation helped us clarify how we want to direct our giving. We've been specific that we want to support organizations serving LGBTQ2S+ communities, but beyond that we've kept it quite broad.  We’ve centralized our giving through Toronto Foundation, but continue support a lot of charities that we care about.