Estate and Incapacity Planning

We like to think executing a Will and Incapacity Documents (i.e. a Power of Attorney and a Health Care Representative Agreement) is a favour for your family. Without your written consent, it can become burdensome for your family to ‘take-over’ your affairs, both after your death or if you’ve suffered an accident.

Our standard Estate and Incapacity Planning Package takes care of your family while they’re already grieving, and includes a Will, Incapacity Documents and a Property Transfer. A Will provides your instructions as to everything you own and care for after you have passed away. Incapacity Documents delegate important decision-making powers to those you trust. While a Property Transfer assists with transferring real estate in BC to a Canadian trustee of the property or recipient (in Canada) of your choosing. This package includes up to 1 hour of consultation with us, as well as our attendance to the execution or signing of your documents.

If you do not live in Whistler or Squamish, we offer the above services without our attendance at the execution/signing of your documents, but with our instructions as to hiring any Notary Public to assist.

Incorporations and Business Organization

The hardest part about incorporating a new company is deciding when it’s right to do so. We’re happy to speak with you about whether this time is right. The main reasons to incorporate include:

1) Avoiding liability and protecting personal assets;
2) Additional tax deferral and tax reduction strategies; and
3) Increased ownership options, employee incentives and investment opportunity

The biggest risk of self-incorporating is correcting costly errors or mistakes. A lawyer can incorporate your company correctly from the start and will ensure the company is compliant with the B.C. Corporations Act. One of those compliance requirements is to maintain a Company Record Book or sometimes called a Company Minute Book. Kong Law makes incorporating a company in B.C. entirely digital by maintaining a digital or paperless Company Minute Book and collecting all required signatures over email. You’ll have 24/7 access to your corporate records with the ability to print anything on demand. All of this at no extra cost and from the comfort of your living room! Our fee varies depending on if you wish to reserve a company name or require other legal services in tandem with incorporating, such as drafting a shareholder’s agreement or an asset purchase agreement to transfer your sole proprietorship assets to your new company.

Drafting and Review Business Agreements

Running a business involves taking risks and navigating unchartered territory with parties we often don’t know well in both ability, integrity or both. A diligent business owner uses written agreements to express their best intentions and expectations to avoid disputes. However, often through no fault or ill-will of anyone involved; plans go awry. Our lawyers have sat on both sides of business transactions and have seen and heard first-hand what can go wrong with poorly written contracts or no contracts at all.

Writing good legal contracts is a service that the lawyers at Kong Law take special pride in. We believe that the exercise of creating a great contract introduces important questions every business owner should reflect on (for the contract itself and beyond!). We view contracts as a critical communication piece that sets the stage for success. It’s about more than words on a page; it’s one of the most important steps you can take today to save you from potentially exorbitant costs tomorrow. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. In other words, it’s easier to prevent damage today than to repair damage after its happened!

Our lawyers will scrutinize your business and relationships from all angles knowing full-well that a great contract is about expecting the unexpected and the real actions born of the words on paper.

The world of the web is a unique one and especially that it allows businesses to offer services remotely or at least collect and retain sensitive data in the digital space. Gone are the days of downloading programs off  computer disks, where all data was stored on a local computer drive. Web Agreements deal specifically with services offered over the web and/or information collected through a website. Just like a physical product has its representations and warranties, so too do the services offered over the internet. It’s important for these business owners to be clear about the boundaries and restrictions of the services they offer, what happens if their relied-upon service goes offline unexpectedly, and their legal obligations in maintaining the privacy of personal information that they must retain. Additionally, web services are considered intellectual property, and unless they’re ‘open source’ these products can be licensed or sold out entirely. The concept of intellectual creations as intangible property necessitates the importance of software licensing or buy and sell software agreements.

Tanya held the position of Legal Counsel for a reputable software company before embarking on Kong Law and so continues to offer her unique experience in this industry to new and existing web service developers or providers, or to anyone concerned about privacy obligations in retaining personal data collected through a website.

A Notarization is the act of a neutral and trusted third party (a Notary) witnessing the signature of a verified person (through the screening of IDs) to a document of which its contents must be relied upon by a party that is unable to do the above directly. Notarizations deter fraudulent signatures and ensures that a document is authentic and can be trusted. All lawyers in B.C. are qualified notaries.

I am available for Notarizations at #205-1410 Alpha Lake Road in Whistler, British Columbia.
Please book in advance by making an appointment through the Kong Law Calendar or if the request is urgent by calling 604-600-8394.

Thank you!