CBC Maritimes

When should you make your first will ?

Talk about opening a can of worms. On the September 22nd phone-in (see entry) we dialed up a discussion about cellphone plans - that befuddling mix of feature options, pay-as-you-go packages, usage rates and roaming charges - not to mention other dubious fees (system access ?).
During the phone-in, you called with horror stories, cautionary tales and advice of your own, and afterwards, you kept on communicating. Producer Deb Woolway and I read through some of the e-mails and played an interesting call from our answering machine.

For years, we've heard about shortages of health care professionals in Maritime communities. The PEI government website alone lists 50 vacancies for nurses.
David Olitan travelled more than 12,000 kilometres in the hopes of filling one of those jobs. But so far, no luck. Now David is one several foreign-trained medical professionals getting help through the PEI Association for Newcomers, in the hope that they will someday be able to work in Canada. Kerry Campbell brought us some of their stories.

"Why" people don't get around to making a will is probably a question for psychologists. But we do tend to pussyfoot around issues related to death, which can make things very difficult for family members who survive us.
Matters such as Power of Attorney, executor's responsibilities, and probate can seem daunting. Julia Cornish, a partner with the legal firm Sealy Cornish in Dartmouth, answered questions related to making a will or updating it when circumstances change.