Comprehensive estate planning is a challenge because of an increasingly complex legal environment. Effective estate planning requires consideration of the effects of your testamentry intentions from the perspective of the law of wills and estates, family provision legislation, family law, superannuation, property, taxation, social security and in some cases international law. The combination of all of the factors that must be considered is so complicated that the only advisable course of action for the preparation of a will and the other estate planning documents such as powers of attorney, guardianships and advance care directives is to employ a professional versed in the application of the law to estates and in their administration. Our lawyers are highly experienced in this area.

In the modern estate planning environment, it is basically essential to have in place three important documents which are wills, powers of attorney and guardianships. Some also chose to have an advance care directive prepared. Most people are familiar with the concept of a will. However, a less familiar idea is the necessity of a power of attorney or a guardianship. The reason that these documents are necessary is that without them, as a person grows older and falls into a position where they are no longer able to manage their own affairs, if there is no power of attorney or guardianship in place and decisions must be made about where a person must live or what medical treatment they should receive it will be necessary for a power of attorney and guardianship to be in place. The power of attorney allows the attorney to deal in the financial and property affairs of the donee of the power. The guardianship allows the guardian to make decisions about the medical care that the person is to receive.

The reason that a will is necessary is that there a number of pieces of legislation that can affect how your testamentary freedom is exercised if you don’t have a will. For instance, without a will that makes your testamentary intentions clear, a former defacto partner or spouse could make a claim against your estate which would disinherit the people that you truly wish to see your inheritance distributed to. Or if you are estranged from your siblings or other family members, they could make a similar claim. Also, without adequately considering your will, you may incur additional taxes such as capital gains tax on certain assets which you own. This could reduce the amount available to your estate to supply for your beneficiaries. Also, ironically, if you bequest an particular amount to a loved one, you may inadvertently remove their eligibility for an age pension or other social security benefit.

If you want to develop a comprehensive estate plan, we have lawyers available that specialise in this area and can assist you with this.