WILLS
Your will is an integral part of your estate plan. It is the document that operates when you die.
By making a will, you are making important decisions about life after life:-
- who administers your estate (the executor)
- your wishes about whether you want to be cremated or buried
- you can appoint a testamentary guardian for your minor children
- who will receive your property (your beneficiaries)
- you can include a testamentary trust for tax advantages and asset protection for your beneficiaries' inheritance
- you can provide for beneficiaries with special needs by including a special disability trust
We will assist you through the process to ensure you receive a quality will that properly records your wishes and reduces the risk of unnecessary stress at a time of emotional distress for your family.
01
Your initial instructions - the online will questionnaire
We provide a handy online wills questionnaire to enable you to start your will in the comfort of your own home.
You can proceed through the questionnaire at your own pace so you can collate the information/documents you will need for our initial appointment.
(You can skip this step and go straight to the appointment booking if you are not comfortable with technology)
Once you have completed the online will questionnaire, you can book your initial appointment online by clicking this button.
or you can contact us through our contact page:
02
Our initial appointment
We will review the information and documents you have provided in the online will questionnaire before our initial appointment.
Our initial appointment will be by telephone of video-conference for 60 – 90 minutes.
At our initial appointment, we will get to know you and your personal circumstances so we can cone up with a will and estate plan that is right for you.
03
Preparing your advice and draft documents
We will consider all of the information and documents you have provided to draft your will (and other estate planning documents).
If we haven’t already scheduled a follow-up appointment, we will contact you to make arrangements for our next appointment.
04
Final appointment
We will travel to you (or a convenient location) for our final appointment. At our final appointment, we will discuss the contents of your will (and other estate planning documents) to ensure they are correct.
We will witness your will and other documents at this final appointment.
Following our appointment, we will provide you with an electronic copy and hard copy of your documents. You may keep your original documents or we can store them for you.
Use our online wills & estate administration questionnaire to help you know what lies ahead, and to help us to get to know about your matter before we meet. It’s free and obligation free!
Providing as much information as you can in the questionnaire before we meet helps us to provide our reasonable fixed fees.
You can start the questionnaire now, in the comfort of your home, and add information to it later.
If you struggle with technology, that’s ok too. Just call us for a free 15 minute telephone call to discuss your matter and we will book you in for an initial appointment.
You are getting married
You are having a baby
You have separated
You are divorced
You have been living with a partner for over 2 years
You have a blended family
You have property
You don't know what happens when you don't have a will
You don't want your ex controlling your children's inheritance
You have minor children
It is important to know how your estate will be distributed if you die without a will.
There are two popular myths about what happens to your property when you die without a will:
Myth 1 – your estate will go to the government
Myth 2 – for a couple with children, 100% of estate will automatically pass to your spouse.
Both of these statements are two common misconceptions.
When you die without a will, your estate is distributed in accordance with the intestacy provisions of the Succession Act 1981. It isn’t easy trying to explain the intestacy provisions in a post but essentially:-
- If you have a spouse, your spouse gets the household chattels, the first $150,000 and a percentage of the residue (depending on how many children you have). If you have one child, your spouse receives 50% of the residue. If you have more than one child, your spouse will receive one third of the residue. Not ideal for a young family.
- If you have a spouse and one child, the child gets 50% of your estate (excluding the household chattels and the first $150,000)
- If you have a spouse and more than one child, the children split two-thirds of your estate equally (excluding the household chattles and the first $150,000)
- If you don’t have a spouse, the children get your estate.
There are various complicating factors about children who die before you taking the share their parent would have taken.
There are then further provisions if you are not survived by a spouse or child.
As we said, not an easy thing to explain in 10,000 words or less!
Our online will platform will walk you some of the things you will need to consider before our appointment.
The validity of a will may be challenged after you die if, for example:-
- The willmaker lacked testamentary capacity at the time they made the will
- The willmaker did not know and approve of the contents of the will
- There were suspicious circumstances, undue influence, coercion or fraud when the willmaker made the will.
The other way a will may be “challenged” is by an applicant in a family provision claim. An eligible person who has been left out of a will, or left inadequate provision by a will, may apply to the court for further provision from the estate.
Here is list of things to bring to your appointment:
- current driver licence
- full names and addresses of your spouse (and full name of ex-spouse), children (and dates of birth), potential executors, potential guardians of minor children, beneficiaries, potential attorneys
- a copy of your current estate planning documents (will, powers of attorney, superannuation death benefit nominations)
- a summary your assets, including banks, account numbers and whether accounts are in joint names
- your latest vehicle registration certificate
- your latest company share statement(s)
- your latest superannuation member statement(s)
- any self-managed superannuation fund trust deed and recent financial statements
- your latest statement showing the nominated beneficiary of any life insurance policy
- details of any other assets (purchase information showing the name of ownership)
- if you have a business, your business name and ABN, name and address of your business partner(s), a copy of any business agreement, partnership agreement
- contact details for your bookkeeper, accountant and/or financial planner
- a copy of any family trust deed and any variations
- a copy of the company constitution and recent financial statements
- contact details of your accountant and financial planner
- if have dementia or your capacity to make a will / power of attorney is questionable, the contact details of your general practitioner, geriatrician or other medical specialist.
1 How many?
You may appoint up to four executors to act at anyone time, however, although the more executors you appoint, the more complicated it is for them to get the job done.
You do not have to appoint all of your children to show them you love them equally.
A “pair and a spare” is a good rule of thumb.
2 Where do they live?
Your executors are required to sign many documents during the course of the administration of the estate. This process may be cumbersome if they do not reside in the one location.
Appointing a sole foreign person as your executor may have adverse tax consequences for your estate.
3 Do your potential executors get along?
Executors are required to act jointly. If your potential executors do not get along, conflicts may arise causing delay, stress and possibly litigation to have them removed.
If there is already conflict in the family, you may wish to consider appointing an independent person.
4 Do they get along with your beneficiaries?
If your potential executors do not get along with your beneficiaries, conflicts may arise causing costly disputes.
5 Their age and health
If your potential executor is older than you and/or has health issues, they may die before you or lose capacity to act as your executor.
6 Are they an undischarged bankrupt or have a criminal conviction?
If your executor is an undischarged bankrupt or has criminal convictions, they will need to disclose these matters to the Supreme Court when they apply for a grant of probate. Depending on the circumstances, the court may decide to appoint someone else to administer your estate.
7 Are they willing to act?
A person named as an executor may renounce the role if they do not wish to act as your executor. It is preferable to speak with your potential executor prior to the appointment To ensure they are willing to act.
8 Do they have the skills required?
If your affairs are complex, you should appoint an executor with the necessary skills to administer the estate. This will involve meetings with solicitors and accountants and providing them with instructions In relation to financial matters and possible litigation.
9 Are they likely to claim executors commission?
Executors commission is an amount of money payable from your estate to compensate the executor for the “pains and troubles” associated with acting in the role. Often, family and close friends of the deceased do not claim executors commission.
If any of your beneficiaries currently live overseas or may live overseas in the future, you should be aware that there may be foreign ownership consequences, stamp duty and land tax surcharges payable because of their status as a “foreign person”.
A “foreign person” is defined as an individual not ordinarily resident in Australia.
Gifts of certain types of assets, including residential property, by will directly to a beneficiary who is a foreign person, will require that beneficiary to seek Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval before the asset can be transferred.
For example, if a residential property is gifted to a beneficiary who is not living in Australia, the beneficiary will need to seek FIRB approval before the land can be transferred to them. The application fee for FIRB approval alone is $1,000s!
There may also be a foreign surcharge on the total taxable value of the taxable land transferred directly to a beneficiary or owned by a trustee (including a testamentary discretionary trust) that has a foreign person as a potential beneficiary.
The impact of legislation on non-resident beneficiaries may be significant. Your estate planning will need to implement strategies to minimise the impact of these laws.
Peace of mind
With your will and estate planning completed, you can walk away with peace of mind … but don’t forget to review your documents every year or when your circumstances change!
