Estate Plans

What’s Important to You?

You may be surprised to hear that many Australian adults do not have an estate plan or strategy. Having an up to date Will is only a small part of an estate plan.

You have worked hard to accumulate your assests so why not take the neccessary steps to ensure they reach your loved ones.

The aim of a well constructed Estate Plan is to ensure the

• Right $ get into the
• Right Hands at the
• Right Time

It is our aim to help you achieve this. Here are a range of trigger questions you can ask yourself about your situation. 

If you don't know the answer to any of these questions it is highly likely your estate will not get to the people you leave behind in the manner you intended. It is also very likely your estate will pay way more tax than it needs to. 

· What’s the primary goal of your estate plan? Avoiding taxes? Providing for your family? Heirs? Charitable giving?

· Are you familiar with all the various mechanisms to legally reduce taxes on the death of one or both spouses? 

· Are you familiar with all the various mechanisms to legally reduce probate fees on death?

· Who owns the assets in your estate? Are they owned by you, your spouse, a trust, company or superannutation? Each has it's own set of rules for transfer of assets. Are you familiar with these rules?

· Do you have a living will? Do you know what one is?

· Do you have a "financial power of attorney" in the event that you can’t be reached or are unable to make a decision?

· Have you identified the principal beneficiaries of your estate?

· Do you have guardians for your underage children? Trustees for the estate?

· Do you own life insurance?

· Are you confident that you have enough life insurance?

· What kind of succession plan do you have for your business?

· Is the succession plan easily accessible to family members or business partners?

· Do you have any kind of buy/sell agreement for your business with partners or potential successors? Is it up to date? Is it adequate? Is it funded? Do you have a reasonable valuation factor to address the future growth of the business?

Don't "dilute" the proceeds of your estate. Now you know, you can start fixing the problem today and avoid any unnecessary tax or hardship. [Please use our contact form]