Key things We Offer
- We don’t just do “Wills and Powers of Attorney” – we look at your estate planning with a broad perspective, including consideration of issues such as family relationships, entities and structuring, superannuation, and asset protection
- It is critical to ensure that you have up-to-date estate planning documents. Failure to have the correct documentation in place can result in your wishes not being carried out in the event of your passing.
- We understand that estate planning can be an unpleasant topic to consider. Our aim is to provide you with solutions as painlessly as possible so that you can move forward with peace of mind.
- Where required, we will take a collaborative approach with your accountant and financial advisor to ensure that your estate plan is effective not only from a legal perspective, but also from a financial and tax perspective.
Wills & Powers of Attorney: Service Details
For all adults, having a legally binding Will is the most prudent way to look after your loved ones when you pass and to minimise the risk of family disputes over your assets.
A Power of Attorney is also essential to ensure that there is no ambiguity over the person or persons that are to make important life decisions (including personal/health and financial) on your behalf if you ever lose the ability to make and communicate decisions of that nature.
When assisting you to prepare a new Will and Power of Attorney, we will consider your current position, health issues, family disputes, business arrangements, potential future life events and where you ultimately wish for your assets to go.
Contact us for more information or to arrange an appointment.
Estate planning, business succession and asset protection advice
Our team will provide you with assistance on estate planning and asset protection matters, as well as related revenue and superannuation issues.
The estate experts at Dorrian Law provide commercially focused advice on estate planning, business succession and asset protection matters.
Our estates team works alongside our tax, superannuation and estate administration and disputes team to provide our clients and their advisers with expert advice in all legal aspects of their estate planning.
Commercially focused estate planning
Our philosophy is to work together with our clients and their accountants, financial planners and other advisers to create an estate planning strategy.
We provide innovative, commercially focused estate planning advice and documentation, including:
- Wills with testamentary trusts
- Enduring Powers of Attorney
- risk management advice and strategies to protect estate assets from potential disputes
- strategies to minimise estate assets
- succession of estate assets in blended families
- protection for children with special needs
- strategies to deal with superannuation assets in the event of death
- succession planning for rural landholders
- business succession and shareholder arrangements
- strategies to transfer control of trustee and trading companies independently of a Will
- use of generational and direct descendant trusts to ‘lock in’ control of a trust after death
- trust planning strategies (for duty exemptions)
- gift and loan back strategies to shift value out of clients’ estates to related trusts.
Things to consider
1. Executors
The executor’s role is to administer your assets in accordance with your Will.
2. Guardians
These are the people who will look after your children who are under 18.
3. Distribution of assets
Who do you want to leave your assets to if you are:
- survived by your spouse;
- not survived by your spouse but you are survived by children;
- not survived by your spouse or any children or grandchildren?
4. Testamentary trust Will
A testamentary trust is a discretionary trust established in your Will and takes effect on your death. There may be asset protection and income tax advantages in using this kind of trust. In our meeting we will discuss whether testamentary trusts are appropriate in your circumstances.
5. Superannuation
Do you have a self-managed superannuation fund? If so, we will ask to see a copy of the trust deed and recent financial statements.
Have you made a binding or non-binding death benefit nomination for your superannuation?
We will also ask you to bring your latest member statement and a copy of your binding or non-binding death benefit nomination form of any other superannuation fund of which you are a member.
6. Do you have life insurance?
If so, who is the nominated beneficiary of your life insurance policies?
7. Do you have a family trust or company?
The assets in a family trust or company will not actually form part of your estate as the assets are not owned by you and will continue to be owned by the company or trust when you die. Therefore, you have to plan for the transfer of the control of these assets.
We will request copies of the trust deed and constitutions for the companies and also recent financial statements so that we can ensure that we deal with these entities in accordance with your wishes.
8. Do you have an Enduring Power of Attorney in place?
An Enduring Power of Attorney allows someone else to make decisions for you during your lifetime if you cannot make decisions for yourself.
You can appoint attorneys for financial and for personal and health matters and you can decide how your attorneys make decisions.
9. Do you wish to make an Advance Health Directive?
An Advance Health Directive provides specific instructions about future health decisions. This form must first be completed in consultation with a Doctor.