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LEGAL REPORT: WILLS AND ESTATES Cheap real estate COMES WITH STRINGS Buying a house or condo down south requires some tax and estate planning so there are no nasty surprises when the owner passes away. BY HEL EN BURNE T T ing good deals, Canadians are heading south to buy vacation homes in greater numbers than ever. This can mean cross- border estate tax implications when in- dividuals own property and U.S. securi- ties, say lawyers who specialize in estate planning. According to the recently released RE/ W 62 A UGUST 2008 www. ith the dollar hovering around par for the last year or so, and the U.S. housing market offer- MAX recreational property report, the dollar, as well as the American housing market meltdown, created serious in- vestment opportunities for Canadians to buy secondary properties south of the border. "Many Canadians are capitalizing on market conditions in major American centres," noted Michael Polzler, executive vice president and regional director, RE/ MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada. "For some purchasers, the move is strictly a Law ye rmag.com short-term investment strategy with a payoff at the end of the day, while for others, retirement is the main objective." Elaine Reynolds, a tax and estate plan- ning lawyer with Legacy Tax & Trust Lawyers in Vancouver, says as the dollar improves she has also seen a lot more Canadians investing in vacation homes in the U.S. "Now, they're almost on par, so the cost of the Palm Springs or Flor- ida or Arizona condo has dramatically ILLUSTRATION: MICK COULAS