Wills & Estates
Our Solicitors boast a large amount of experience and the necessary often overlooked required empathy when it comes to all things wills and estates.
As we all progress in our lifetime, and to assist our older relatives and friends, it is useful and important to consider and establish appropriate authority to trusted individuals for future care.
If a Power of Attorney is to be established, our lawyers and staff can guide and assist you with explaining and setting up the necessary documents for dealing with financial matters, property and representation to government departments or authorities.
Where you are considering help in managing increasing care needs for medical attention or future residential choices (including respite or long term residence agreements), we can provide clear explanation and assistance for the sometimes complex documents required.
Our office has assisted many families in demanding circumstances and has a long tradition in the St George area for guidance, interpretation and assistance in the legalities of elder law. Our office is proud to have been referred particularly difficult matters from other law firms who knew of our expertise in the area.
Wills
Perhaps it is some while since you last checked the provisions of your will? There have been major changes to inheritance and superannuation law in recent years and expert
advice in those areas is essential when considering the bequests in your will.
As family circumstances change over the years, it is advisable to review your will from time to time to ensure that it still represents your wishes. Some of those circumstances might include:
- Birth of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren
- Adoption
- Death of an executor or beneficiary
- The sale of property that was the subject of a specific bequest
- The need for protective provisions for beneficiaries suffering from some incapacity
- Change of name of a charitable organisation named in your present will
- Divorce, re-marriage
Failure to make a will can result in the assets of your estate passing in a way you did not intend and in many cases causes difficulties, emotional distress and additional expense for your family. The modest cost of making a will can save your beneficiaries the extra worry and expense and give you peace of mind.
We offer special Pensioner Card rates for wills and we invite you to phone or email us to discuss your requirements.
Enduring Power of Attorney & Enduring Guardian
An Enduring Power of Attorney (for banking and business matters) and an Enduring Guardianship (for lifestyle and medical matters) can be given to a trusted person to cover the administration of your affairs, for example during a hospital stay or trip overseas, or if you were to suffer physical or mental incapacity in the future. This ensures peace of mind, in the knowledge that you have put your affairs in order to cover any future eventualities.
Such circumstances often arise without warning, and without these documents it could become necessary for your next of kin or carer to apply to the Guardianship Tribunal to arrange management of your affairs. This is a very expensive and stressful exercise and most people would prefer to have someone of their own choice handle matters for them in the case of incapacity, whether permanent or temporary.
Don’t put it off – you are welcome to telephone us to discuss what is involved in appointing an attorney and enduring guardian or signing a “Living Will”.
We offer special Pensioner Card rates for Powers of Attorney and Guardianship Appointments and we invite you to phone or email us to discuss your requirements.
Deceased estates: probate, administration & disputed wills
Our firm has long experience dealing with administration of deceased estates, which involves the collecting of the assets of the deceased person and distributing the estate in accordance with the will or the laws of intestacy (when someone doesn’t have a will). We can guide you through the procedures for obtaining a grant of Probate (where there is a will), or Letters of Administration (where a person has died without leaving a will).
Depending on the nature of the assets, it is often possible to administer an estate without the necessity and expense of obtaining Probate. A grant is normally not required where assets were jointly held and we can advise you on whether this will be applicable to your matter.
Disputed Wills
We also accept instructions in connection with disputed wills or estates and you are welcome to contact us to discuss your concerns, whether you are an executor, a beneficiary, or a person claiming under the Succession Act as not having been properly provided for in the deceased person’s will.
Defending a will
Contesting a will
- In addition to administering estates and disputed wills, we can assist you with:
Notices of Death (removing a deceased persons name from a jointly held property) - Transmission Applications
- Deeds of Family Arrangement
- Superannuation claims
- Binding Death Nominations
- Advanced care directives
- Special Disability Trusts
- And more…