Here we provide you with a treasure-trove of resources to get your estate planning in order.
We start with some material covering the basic issues, and then delve into some of the more complex issues towards the end.
If you find all of this information overwhelming, and you just want us to sort it out for you, then call us now on 1300 654 590 or email us and speak with one of our experienced estate planning lawyers.
An introduction to estate planning
Read these articles to get a grounding on the key issues you need to think about when getting your estate planning in order:
- Why you must keep your estate planning up-to-date
- Getting your estate planning up-to-date. Part 1: Ownership of Assets
- Getting your estate planning up-to-date. Part 2: Who gets what?
- Getting your estate planning up-to-date. Part 3: What happens if you’re incapacitated for a period of time?
- Solution Brief: Why you need to think about Estate Planning
- EP FAQ Part 1: What is Estate Planning and what do you need to consider?
- Solution Brief: Reviewing your Estate Planning
- Navigating the future: key changes in South Australia’s Succession Act 2023
- Avoiding ambiguity in your Will
- What’s wrong with a Will Kit?
- So, you’ve warned me about Will Kits. What about online Wills?
- I’m young, I’m single, why do I need a Will?
- Do expats need to have an Australian Will?
What happens if you can’t make decisions for yourself?
These articles are about documents you can put in place so people can make legal, financial, business and health decisions for you if you become incapacitated:
- How effective is your Enduring Power of Attorney? You may be surprised!
- Who will make decisions about your health and welfare when you can’t? (Advance Care Directives, SA)
- Solution Brief: Enduring Powers
- Solution Brief: Powers of Attorney (SA)
- Solution Brief: Powers of Attorney (NSW)
- Solution Brief: Powers of Attorney (VIC)
- Solution Brief: Advance Care Directive (SA)
- How to make a legally valid Advance Care Directive (SA)
- How do you appoint someone to make health or medical treatment decisions on your behalf in NSW?
- Solution Brief: Legal Capacity to make a Will and Enduring Power of Attorney
- When can you benefit other people under an Enduring Power of Attorney?
- What to do if you suspect misuse of an enduring power of attorney
- Essential things you need to know about SMSFs with only 1 member
- Who can witness an affidavit in South Australia?
- Who can witness an Enduring Power of Attorney in NSW?
Why should you use ‘testamentary trusts’ in your Will?
Most people need to seriously consider using testamentary trusts in their Wills. This is because they help protect the assets you are giving to the next generation, and can save them a significant amount of tax:
- What is a Testamentary Trust and why would I need one?
- Why use a testamentary trust in your Will?
- Find out what you can do with a ‘testamentary trust’ in your Will
- Yes, you do need a testamentary trust
- Solution Brief: Incorporating Testamentary Trusts into your Will
- Solution Brief: Testamentary Trust Options
- Solution Brief: Trust Wills
- Education Testamentary Trusts
- Are you paying for your grandchildren’s school fees?
Effective estate planning for blended families and step-children
Blended families present particular challenges for estate planning. But there are great strategies you can put in place to balance the legitimate interests of both your partner and your children:
- Can your partner change their Will after you die?
- Mutual Wills
- Solution Brief: Mutual Wills
- Blended families & superannuation: getting your BDBN right
- Can my stepchildren challenge my Will?
- Step-children and family provision claims: what step-parents in SA need to know
- Excluded from a step-parent’s Will? What step-children should know in South Australia
- Estate planning considerations if your Christmas went pear-shaped
- Binding Financial Agreements
- Separation and your estate planning (family law)
Dealing with your super when you die
More and more of our wealth is ending up in super. Making sure the right people end up with your super should you die before being able to use it all yourself is an increasingly important part of estate planning:
- It’s official. Super isn’t part of your estate.
- Getting creative with your super nominations
- Podcast: What will happen to your super when you die?
- Why do I need to think about what happens to my super when I die?
- The hidden tax trap in your estate plan: why super needs special treatment
- Solution Brief: Super and your estate planning
- Solution Brief: Making a Binding Death Benefit Nomination
- Solution Brief: Super Death Benefit Nominations
- EP FAQ Part 6: Superannuation
Some resources aimed at Self-Managed Super Funds (SMSFs)
Self-managed super funds are a great way to hold wealth in super – mainly because you get so much control. However, with this control comes responsibility, including making sure your SMSF keeps working for your family if you lose capacity or die:
- How to keep control of your Super
- How to direct particular super assets to particular beneficiaries
- Essential things you need to know about SMSFs with only 1 member
- Why you need a succession plan for your SMSF
- Solution Brief: Why you need an enduring attorney for your SMSF
- How do I use superannuation to minimise taxes, protect and build wealth and provide tax-effective benefits for me and my family in my retirement and on my death?
- Business succession and your super fund
Who will control your family trust when you die?
Family trusts are another great way to hold and protect family wealth, but you need to put in place a deliberate strategy to ensure that the control of your trust passes to the right people when you die:
- Download our comprehensive guide on controlling your family trust when you die
- Booklet: Controlling a Family Trust When You Die (read it online, chapter by chapter)
- How to make sure the wealth in your family trust ends up where you intend
- Protecting your trust: planning for trustee incapacity before it happens
- Should trust succession be part of my Will?
- Can you gift trust assets in your Will? What every farmer and family business owner needs to know
- How to safeguard family trusts for the next generation
- Special disability trust – Briefing Note
Protecting your estate from challenges
A good estate plan anticipates the people who may be unhappy with it. These articles explain how Will challenges and family provision claims work, who pays for them, and what you can do now to reduce the risk:
- A rant on challenging Wills
- EP FAQ Part 3: Challenges to a Will
- Who pays when someone challenges a Will? A guide for Will-makers and executors in South Australia
- Worried about legal costs for challenging a Will? A guide for claimants in South Australia
- Protect your estate from potential claims (how we can help)
Some other issues to think about
Here are some other resources that may be relevant to your situation, particularly if you are a farmer, have lent money to family members, or hold assets in a company or online:
- Who gets the farm?
- How to successfully pass on your farm to your children
- Farm Trusts | Stamp duty relief on farm transfers in South Australia
- ‘UPEs’ and ‘FMDs’, and your estate planning
- Lending to family members: How to avoid the pitfalls
- In-house loans and estate planning – not as simple as it seems
- The clock is ticking: why your estate plan could be undermined by forgotten loans
- Guaranteeing a child’s loan: an obligation that can outlive you
- Can you gift company assets in your Will?
- Can I leave my holiday house to future generations?
- Preparing for your ‘digital afterlife’: our 5-step approach
- Digital assets, cryptocurrency, and probate: don’t let your wealth disappear
- Leaving a lasting legacy: how to gift money to charity in your Will
- How to look after your pets after you’re gone
What your family will face after you die
Choosing the right executors, and understanding what they will have to do, is part of good estate planning. These resources show what the job involves:
- Solution Brief: Choosing your Executors and Trustees
- Why do I need more than one Executor for my Will?
- Help! I am the Executor of a Will
- Executors beware: you can be personally liable for the deceased’s debts
- Solution brief: Guide to probate in South Australia
- Probate delays: why it takes so long to finalise an estate
- Booklet: What to do when someone dies (Chapter 1 – What to do within hours)
How to prepare for a meeting with us
When you have done a bit of reading and are ready to get on with it, here are a couple more issues to consider:
- 4 key things to think about before you start your estate planning
- Solution Brief: Four Key Things to Consider Before You Start Your Estate Planning
- Solution Brief: Guardianship Plan Checklist
- Solution Brief: Phone Wills – The Process
- Are you looking for a professional executor, trustee or attorney? ADLV Law acting as your general or enduring attorney
What is the next step?
Call us on 1300 654 590 or email us and speak directly with one of our experienced and friendly lawyers.
We will help you understand what you need to do, and then guide you through the process. You can also read about how we approach estate planning and Wills and incapacity planning.