Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

A business contingency plan is a documented plan that explains how your business actually works — your accounts, your clients, your operations, your key contacts — so that someone else could step in and keep things running if you suddenly couldn't.

It's different from a will because it doesn't deal with who inherits what. It deals with how your business survives a crisis, whether that's a planned absence, an illness, or something more permanent.

These terms are often used interchangeably, and in practice they overlap a lot.

Generally, business continuity planning refers to a business's ability to keep operating through any disruption — a cyberattack, a supply chain issue, a natural disaster, an economic downturn.

Business contingency planning, especially in the context of a sole owner or small business, focuses specifically on what happens if the owner themselves becomes unavailable — through illness, incapacity, or death.

For a solo entrepreneur, the two are closely connected because the biggest risk to "continuity" usually is the owner.

Succession planning is about the long-term, intentional transition of your business — retirement, selling the business, passing it to a family member, or stepping back from leadership over time. It's planned and proactive.

Business contingency planning is about the short-term and unplanned scenarios — what happens if you're suddenly unavailable tomorrow, whether for two weeks or permanently.

Most business owners need both, but they answer different questions.

Legacy planning is a broader term that includes both the financial and personal dimensions of what you leave behind — your business, your assets, your values, and how you want to be remembered.

It often overlaps with estate planning and succession planning, but it tends to focus more on the personal and emotional side: what matters to you, what you want your family or community to carry forward, and how your wealth or business reflects that.

In Ontario, these terms mean the same thing.

"Executor" is the term most people are familiar with — it's the person named in a will to carry out your wishes after you die.

"Estate trustee" is the official legal term used in Ontario law.

So if your will says "executor" or if a lawyer refers to your "estate trustee," they're talking about the same role and the same person.

This is one of the most common points of confusion, and it matters a lot.

A Power of Attorney (POA) only has authority while you are alive. If you become incapable of managing your own affairs — due to illness, injury, or cognitive decline — your Power of Attorney can step in and act on your behalf, including for your business.

The moment you pass away, your Power of Attorney's authority ends completely.

From that point forward, only your executor (estate trustee) has legal authority to manage your estate, including your business.

You need both roles covered, and they are often — but not always — the same person.

If you die without a will in Ontario, you are considered to have died "intestate," and Ontario's Succession Law Reform Act decides how your estate — including your business — is distributed.

Under Ontario's Estates Act, the court generally gives priority to the spouse of the deceased to apply to become the estate trustee, followed by the deceased's closest relatives.

Priority is given first to the surviving spouse, then to the deceased's closest living relative, and common-law spouses are included in this definition for the purposes of priority.

But here's what surprises most business owners: without a will, there is no one automatically appointed to manage your estate.

A family member — usually the surviving spouse or an adult child — must apply to the court to be appointed as the estate trustee, and this process is far more complicated than the probate process for an estate that has a will.

In the meantime, your business accounts may be inaccessible, your clients won't know what's happening, and the people closest to you are left waiting on a court process during one of the hardest moments of their lives.

Ontario law sets out who is entitled to apply for a Certificate of Appointment when there's no named executor, and while the court has discretion, there is a clear order of priority that guides the process.

Ontario law sets a clear order of who may apply to serve, and if multiple parties qualify with equal priority, they must either apply jointly or the court will resolve who is most suitable.

Importantly, the priority list isn't absolute — the Estates Act allows the court to depart from the usual order if it believes someone else is better suited, for example if the spouse isn't capable due to illness or age, if beneficiaries raise concerns about conflict of interest, or if there's evidence of family hostility that would complicate administration.

This means even the "default" person may not end up being appointed — adding more time, more legal cost, and more uncertainty for your family and your business.

Not automatically — and this is one of the most important things business owners don't realize.

If your spouse works in your business but their name isn't on the corporation, the business bank account, or your registration documents, they have no legal authority over the business just because they're your spouse or because they've been doing the work.

If you become incapacitated, they would need a valid Power of Attorney naming them specifically.

If you pass away, they would need to be appointed as your estate trustee — which, if you have no will, requires a court application, even though they may have been running the books and supporting your operations for years.

Being involved in a business and having legal authority over it are two very different things in the eyes of Ontario law.

A personal will can cover your business if it's written properly and specifically addresses your business interests — but most personal wills don't.

Many people write a will before they start a business, or write a general will that talks about "all my assets" without addressing what should specifically happen to the business, who should run it temporarily, or how shares and ownership should transfer.

Some business owners — particularly those who are incorporated — choose to create a secondary or "dual" will that deals specifically with their business and corporate assets, in addition to their primary personal will.

Whether you need a separate document depends on your structure and your goals — this is exactly the kind of question to bring to an Ontario estate lawyer.

Probate is the court process that confirms a will is valid and gives the named estate trustee the legal authority to act — officially called a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee in Ontario.

For most first-time estate trustees, this is one of the first and most intimidating hurdles in administering an estate.

Whether your business specifically requires probate depends on factors like how it's structured, what accounts and assets are involved, and whether banks or other institutions require it before releasing funds or transferring ownership.

In many cases, having documented operational information — beyond just the legal will — can reduce delays even while the probate process is underway.

Your lawyer drafts your will and your Powers of Attorney.

Your accountant manages your taxes and your financial filings.

These are essential — but they are legal and financial frameworks, not operational ones.

A Business Contingency Plan is the practical, documented layer underneath those legal documents:

• How does someone access your accounts?

• Who are your clients are and how to reach them?

• What do your day-to-day operations actually look like?

• Where are your key documents stored?

• Who is equipped to step in?

Think of it as the instructions that make your legal and financial plans actually usable in a real crisis.

Yes — in some ways, sole proprietors are more exposed, not less.

A sole proprietorship has no separate legal existence from you. If you become incapacitated or pass away, the business itself doesn't continue automatically; only certain assets can be transferred, and your business name registration does not transfer to anyone else.

Without documentation, your family may not even know what client relationships exist, what's owed to you, or what subscriptions and accounts need to be cancelled.

Being unincorporated doesn't reduce the need for a plan — it often increases it.

A "what if I die" plan is a practical, organized document — not a legal one — that brings together everything your family or estate trustee would need if something happened to you.

It includes your business operations, your account details and credentials, your key contacts, your legal documents' locations, and your personal wishes.

It complements your will and your Powers of Attorney rather than replacing them.

Some people find the traditional language of "estate planning" or "succession planning" abstract and easy to put off.

Calling it a "what if I die" plan tends to make the urgency — and the relief of finally doing it — much more real.

Start small.

You don't need to document everything at once.

Begin by writing down the three to five things that absolutely cannot be missed if you were suddenly unavailable for a week — recurring bills, client check-ins, critical deadlines.

Then, identify who would need to know your business bank account and CRA My Business Account details.

From there, build outward: your key documents, your client list, your legal paperwork.

A guided framework — like a preparedness consultation or a structured workbook — can help you avoid missing the most critical pieces, but the most important step is simply starting.