Implementing a Will may be on your ‘to-do list’, in fact, it may have been on the list for some time. Your hesitation in tackling this task may be due to uncertainty about whether a Will is something you can prepare yourself with a Will Kit or downloadable template or something you need to see a solicitor about. Adding to the confusion, the difference in costs, even between solicitor’s fees, may make no sense.
It is helpful if you understand what a Will can and cannot do and we encourage you to familiarise yourself with our Estate Planning Resources – we wrote them for you!
In short, we recommend against using template resources for preparing your Will. You may have seen our article about Will Kits and be thinking that perhaps an online Will may be a safer option. It isn’t. Preparing a Will without consulting a lawyer comes with a lot of risks.
All the issues we identified about Will Kits still apply, but some other issues we have with downloadable templates include:
- The form can give you a false sense of security. An online Will is often a standardised template with limited options. You may be unable to include important directions that ultimately makes the administration of your estate much more expensive or in the worst case scenario lead to disputes.
- The reason the document is so cheap is that there is no personalised guidance, even if it is ‘reviewed’ by a lawyer and it is certainly not supported by their professional indemnity insurance. By contrast, we consider your circumstances, any potential claims against your estate and any practical difficulties there may be with what you had in mind.
If you would like to call us on 1300 654 590 or email us to discuss your estate planning, you can expect us to follow best practices – we meet with you for about an hour to discuss your estate planning objectives and follow this up with written advice and a fixed price quote. During that meeting we can also identify other documents you might need to put in place to deal with assets and interests that do not pass through your Will, for example, superannuation, trust assets and jointly owned assets.
- Online Wills provide limited flexibility and customisation. It can be difficult to provide for everything you want in an online form that is essentially ‘one size fits all’. For example, you may want to put conditions on your gifts, appoint guardians for your children or set up arrangements to care for your pets – this is not always possible in an online Will.
- An online Will also involves putting sensitive data on the internet. This means you lose control over it. Some of the answers to some of the most common security questions may be in your Will – for example, you mother may still use her maiden name, or your parents may still live on the street you grew up in! Personal information shared online is always vulnerable to cyber and identity threats.
- The Probate Registry may ask the executors how a person knew and understood the contents of their online Will. This is common if the person was elderly or very unwell. The online form cannot assess whether the Will maker understood the document. It cannot confirm who has prepared the document or whether there was undue influence or fraud. Evidentiary deficits may lead to the Will being challenged or rendered invalid.
These are just some of the problems with an online Will, there is still more that can go wrong. The convenience of doing your Will one night at home while you watch Netflix, might increase costs and frustration to your loved ones when you pass away.
If you have already prepared your Will using an online form, then bring it in to us so we review it in the context of your unique circumstances. We can use your online Will as a starting point to assist you to put in place a Will that achieves what you need it to achieve. We can also make sure that it is tax efficient, protective, and effective. We can also advise you about any potential issues we see, to ensure your estate is distributed in the way that you want.
How we can help
If you would like to put in place a Will and other estate planning documents call us on1300 654 590 or email us and make an appointment. We can answer your questions, correct erroneous assumptions, and give you the assurance that these documents which pass on hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars’ worth of assets, do so effectively and to the people and in the manner, you intend.
The information contained in this post is current at the date of editing – 4 July 2023.
