Leading Wills, Estates & Succession Lawyers

With our Estate and Succession Planning services, we work closely with you, your accountants, financial planners and other trusted advisers, to understand your situation and the needs of your beneficiaries. With a clear picture of your needs, we help you determine the best way of passing your wealth onto your loved ones through an effective estate planning strategy.

While end-of-life care and death may be uncomfortable to think about, having the necessary legal documents in place can help make this difficult life stage less distressing.

With a professionally prepared will, your estate can smoothly pass on to your beneficiaries with legal responsibility seamlessly transitioning to your executors.

Your Will comes into effect when you die. An Enduring Power of Attorney applies while you are alive and appoints a trusted person or persons to take care of your financial affairs and make health and personal decisions for you in the event that you lose capacity and can’t make those decisions for yourself.

Choosing a trusted person to be appointed under an Advance Health Directive can give you peace of mind that they will look out for your best interests regarding your medical treatment, home life and matters not covered under an Enduring Power of Attorney.

Testamentary trusts are set up within a Will as a way to provide greater control and flexibility to your executors and beneficiaries regarding the distribution of an Estate and income on inheritances.

Testamentary discretionary trusts may provide:

• A tax-effective solution for distributing the deceased estate and income earned on assets to beneficiaries through family trusts.

• Asset protection from creditors and ex-spouses.

• More choice and flexibility regarding how and when the assets are distributed.

Many people don't realise that your superannuation is held in trust for you by your super fund trustee. You don't directly own your super account; therefore, it doesn't automatically form part of your estate. The trustee of your super fund is ultimately responsible for deciding where to pay your superannuation death benefit when you die.

You can provide different types of death benefit nominations to your super fund to detail where you would like them to pay your super death benefit. We help you understand the difference between the death benefit nominations, and help you put the right one in place.

It is essential to review your death benefit nominations periodically to make sure the right people are listed as your beneficiaries, and to ensure a nomination remains in place.

Your Final Will and Testament might be the most important document you sign in your life. For this reason, it's essential to keep it safe. We provide document storage so you can rest assured your Will is in safe hands for when your loved ones need to access it.

When a loved one passes away, managing their estate can be an overwhelming task. We can manage deceased estates on your behalf, so you can take some space to go through the grieving process without added stress.

We assist by:

• Identifying whether your loved one left a Will.

• Checking the validity of the Will and helping with interpretation and the transfer of assets and personal effects to ensure all beneficiaries receive their entitlements.

• Obtaining a death certificate.

• Advising whether the Will has effectively transferred all assets.

• Carefully explaining and guiding you through your obligations as Executor.

• Preparing an application for a Grant of Probate.

• Ensuring all debts are settled and lifetime tax affairs are dealt with.

• Identifying any risk of claims against the estate, or claims the estate could make against a third party.

• Applying for Letters of Administration for the appropriate people if the Will is invalid or doesn't exist.

It's an extremely difficult time when a loved one passes away. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for tension to be high and issues to arise between beneficiaries, administrators and executors.

We assist by:

• Informing those involved of their rights and obligations so they are in a position to carry out the role they have been appointed.

• Outlining time-critical components and deadlines.

• Managing Estate Litigation and supporting beneficiaries to defend any claims.

• Professionally navigating disputes in a systematic way.

Probate is Supreme Court recognition of the last Will of the deceased and the Executors appointed by that Will. You may need a Grant of Probate before you can carry out your obligations as executor.

We advise you as to whether you should apply for Probate and help you make the application so you can focus on being with your loved ones.

When someone dies intestate (without a valid Will) the administration of the deceased’s estate cannot begin until someone obtains Letters of Administration of the estate.

The Court Rules provide for who can apply for Letters of Administration (and in what order of priority).

We can help you apply for Letters of Administration if a loved one has died without making a Will.