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How to Choose the Right Executor

One of the most significant aspects of effective estate planning is choosing the right Executor. Your Executor is the party responsible for managing the administration of your estate and the distribution of your assets to the beneficiaries in accordance with your Will. As the obligations of your Executor will vary depending on your Will, it is important to discuss with an estate planning lawyer the precise scope of what your Executor will be required to do.

A number of different factors will influence your decision when choosing an Executor and it is important that this decision should be regularly reviewed. Generally, this is something you should reconsider each time your Will is updated. [...]  READ MORE →

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Are you eligible to contest a Will

Are you eligible to challenge a will?

Contesting a will can be complex, confusing and is subject to strict time constraints. A will lawyer can assist you to understand the process and your eligibility to contest a will in a time of grieving.

A will can be contested before or after there has been authorisation for the executor to manage the estate, known as a grant of probate. It is simpler to contest the validity of the will before the executor starts to administer and distribute the estate, but is still possible after this has started. [...]  READ MORE →

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De Facto Partner Dies with No Will

What happens when a de facto partner dies with no will?

A person is in a de facto relationship with another person if they have a relationship as a couple living together, and  they are not married to one another or related by family. Our will lawyers can assist you to determine if you, or someone you know, are or were de facto partners. We can also assist you to create or update a will to express your wishes relating to the distribution of your assets.  If your de facto partner has died without a will, you should consult our estate planning lawyers to find out about your entitlements. [...]  READ MORE →

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How often should I update my Will

How often should I update my Will?

Effective estate planning offers certainty as to how your property and possessions will be distributed after your death. However, it is important to recognise that a Will is largely confined to expressing your wishes at a particular point in time. This means that to make sure your loved ones are effectively protected, your Will needs to be regularly updated. Before your Will is altered it is recommended that you consult an estate planning lawyer to make sure that your wishes are correctly implemented. [...]  READ MORE →

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How Effective is my Will?

I am hearing about all these claims against estates – how effective is my Will?

Although claims against Estates get coverage in the media, most Estates are in fact completed on the basis of the wishes of the deceased in accordance with their Will.

It should be remembered the starting point at law is that a person is entitled to leave his or her estate to whoever they choose. A person has freedom to choose their beneficiaries – whether they be family members, other persons or their favourite charity. [...]  READ MORE →

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Mirror Wills and Mutual Wills

Mirror Wills and Mutual Wills – Clearing up the confusion

Mirror Wills and Mutual Wills – they both start with “M” but what is the difference?

Mirror Wills (or reciprocal Wills) are very common between spouses or people in long term relationships.

Each party makes a Will “mirroring” the other’s Will. The Wills often leave everything to each other (other than any specific gifts such as  jewelry or other personal items) and then to their children if one has already died.

Mirror Wills reflect that the parties have common interests. Mirror Wills have the advantage of simplicity. Also, they do not unduly hamper the survivor who can change his of her Will to take account of changing circumstances. [...]  READ MORE →

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How effective is my Will?

I am hearing about all these claims against estates – how effective is my Will?

Although claims against Estates get coverage in the media, most Estates are in fact completed on the basis of the wishes of the deceased in accordance with their Will.

It should be remembered the starting point at law is that a person is entitled to leave his or her estate to whoever they choose. A person has freedom to choose their beneficiaries – whether they be family members, other persons or their favourite charity. [...]  READ MORE →

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Promises to leave a bequest from an estate

If a promise is made to leave a bequest to you in a Will, but you are left out, there is a chance that the law will make good on that promise.

In a recent case neighbours agreed to alter their lifestyle, delay renovations to their house and provide support to their elderly neighbour as she promised to leave them her house in her Will.

However, she did not make good on her promise in her Will. The neighbours were able to obtain the house from the estate as they had acted to their detriment in a number of ways and upheld their side of the promise. The Court held it would have been unjust for the neighbours not to receive the house. [...]  READ MORE →

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Evidence of a Will maker’s intentions

How far do you go to record evidence of a Will maker’s intentions

Generally, recordings of conversations without the consent or knowledge of a person is highly contentious when it is put to a Court of law to prove a Will maker’s intentions.

However, there are particular circumstances where such recordings may be admissible. If there was a legitimate purpose, the recording was important to protect fabricating conversations, where there were no other practical means of recording a conversation, and where there is likely to be a serious dispute between the parties, a Court may admit a recording as evidence. [...]  READ MORE →

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Terms used in a Will

WILLS –DOES THE TERM “GRANDCHILDREN’ INCLUDE “STEP-GRANDCHILDREN”?

Identifying whether the expressions step children and step-grandchildren are included in the expressions children and grandchildren can cause confusion in Wills .

When all else fails, Courts try to determine expressions in the Will according to the intention of the deceased. Courts may in some cases look into family relationships and their closeness in order to determine the meaning of an expression such as “child”.  In a recent case where there was an intention in the Will for step-grandchildren to be beneficiaries, it was decided that the definition of “grandchild” could be extended to “step-grandchild.” [...]  READ MORE →

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Claims against an Estate

THE NEED FOR DISCLOSURE WHEN THERE ARE CLAIMS AGAINST AN ESTATE

A person is entitled to leave his or her estate to whoever they choose. However, there may be circumstances in which a person has been left out of a Will who believes they should have been included.  This is because “eligible persons” can apply for a family provision claim against an estate. In simple terms, “eligible persons” include spouses, de-facto partners, children (including adult children), and grandchildren or members of the household who were dependent on the deceased. [...]  READ MORE →

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DOES MARRIAGE AFFECT YOUR WILL?

DOES MARRIAGE INCLUDING SAME-SEX MARRIAGE AFFECT YOUR WILL?

Marriage can result in a Will or parts of it being automatically revoked.

If a person marries after making a Will, it  will be revoked with exceptions including:

·       gifts in the Will from a person to a spouse who they marry are not revoked;
·       an appointment as executor or whom the testator is married to at the time of his or her death is not revoked.

Same-sex marriage in Australia has been allowed since 9 December 2017. The same laws apply in relation to Wills of same-sex couples. A same-sex marriage may make a past Will invalid subject to the exceptions mentioned above. [...]  READ MORE →