Frequently Asked Questions
Looking for more information? These are our most commonly asked Estate Planning questions:
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If your Will is like a rule book, your executor is the person who follows the rules in the rule book to create your desired end result.
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When you Estate Plan, you do it now but it is for the future. With your Will, the things that you own may have changed and so unless you have really specific gifts, we try to keep the terms of the Will non-specific, for example in percentages or parts. With some other documents such as your Power of Attorney, it is good to get detailed, but don't worry, we will help you through it. Detailed doesn't mean difficult.
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Testamentary Trusts protect assets from attack, so yes, almost everyone should have a Will that gives the option of creating a Testamentary Trust. However, we are creating your Estate Plan so the final decision is yours.
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Put simply, this is a trust created by a Will and upon the death of the Will-maker.
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This is the document that you create in which you appoint the person to make decisions about your health and well-being if you are not able to do so.
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Mostly, you come across the term “joint tenants” when buying a house, apartment, or land with another person, or when opening a bank account.
Joint tenants means that, upon the death of one tenant, the entire asset belongs to the surviving tenant or tenants.
The trap here is that the asset, or what you thought was your share of the asset, can’t be gifted in a Will because when you die, you don’t own it anymore.
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An Enduring Guardian is the person you nominate in a properly drafted document who makes decisions about your medical treatment, living arrangements, lifestyle decisions, and the care you receive if you can’t make these decisions for yourself. You can use this document to express your wishes regarding future health care, limit the powers of your appointed Guardian, and provide specific health care directives.
However, drafted incorrectly, this document can be problematic. It is better to seek proper legal advice for appointing an Enduring Guardian.
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Your Attorney is the person you appoint to make decisions on legal and financial matters when you can’t do this yourself. You appoint your Attorney by a signed Power of Attorney appointment document, which also specifies the actions and decisions your Attorney can take, such as running your business but not selling your house.
As with all Estate Planning documents, if not drafted with care and noting your wishes, it can be problematic.
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A blended family is a family where one or both parents have children from a previous relationship, and the parents have combined households. Without proper Estate Planning, the children of one parent may end up with everything while the children of the other parent end up with little or no assets. This often leads to Family Provisions Claims which can cost the estate lots of money and delay. Including Testamentary trusts in your Estate Plan and creating a well worded Will suited to Blended Families can alleviate stress, financial loss and disharmony.
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Each state and territory in Australia has a Family Provisions Law. In NSW, certain persons can expect to benefit from your Will. These persons are called eligible beneficiaries and include your spouse, de facto partner, children, dependants, persons with whom you live in a close personal relationship, and former spouses. An eligible beneficiary left out of a Will or insufficiently benefited from a Will can claim against the Estate. Win or lose, these claims can drain the estate of substantial funds.
Your Estate Plan should consider all eligible beneficiaries.
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We have designed a number of questionnaires to make Estate Planning an easier process to follow.
Here’s a plan:get your fixed price cost
book a free 15–min consultation
download and scroll through our eBook. It is free and written in simple English.
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Most Estate Plans, even complex ones are completed and ready to sign within 1-2 weeks after we have all of the information we need. Information comes from you through our questionnaire and your accountant and/or financial advisor (where relevant).
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Super can be gifted in a Will but requires a nomination and special clauses in the Will. Even then, there are specific rules about super. A comprehensive Estate Plan includes looking at your super and working out the best way to manage it.
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A Binding Death Benefits Nomination is like a Will for the money and assets in your super.
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This really depends on who is the nominated beneficiary of your life insurance and what you want it to achieve. The best way to manage Life Insurance is to understand your wishes. A comprehensive Estate Plan includes reviewing your life insurance.
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Estate Planning done properly is a complex and time–consuming process. Our costs are transparent. We promise you an upfront fixed cost based entirely on your circumstances (not your job description).
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Your Will is your instruction book that tells who you want to give your belongings to and what each person should receive. The terms of the will should accommodate life changes such as the buying and selling of real estate, changes in personal belongings, and the best way to protect your assets from family provision claims.
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In your Will, you can gift anything that you own when you die. This means anything in your legal name, such as property, cars, jewelry, shares, and money. BUT, you can’t gift any possessions that you sell or give away before you die. You also can’t gift anything that you own as a joint tenant with someone else, as this automatically goes to any surviving joint tenants.
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A protective trust is a trust created by a will to provide for vulnerable beneficiaries in a way that protects the assets, so they are used purely to provide for the intended beneficiary. Vulnerable beneficiaries include minor children, persons with a disability or mental illness, persons with addictions to including gambling, and person with an inability to manage finances.
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An Estate Plan is the mechanism that turns your wishes into legal documents. These documents should include a simple will or a will with testamentary trusts, an enduring power of attorney, appointment of enduring guardianship, a binding superannuation death benefit nomination, clear instructions for executors, and all the right tools for estate administration. The purpose of the Estate Planning documents is to appoint the people you need to carry out your wishes and give them the tools to do so. If you have a business, company or trusts, these need special attention to make sure the assets held by these entities follow your wishes.