Be Careful With How You Word Your Will
A lady called a few years ago wanting to change her mother’s Will, because the named executors has passed away. Her mother has dementia, and while she had an enduring power of attorney, making a Will is something an attorney cannot do. I advised that it was not worth making an application to the Supreme […]
Advance Health Directive
I have client with a severe Heart condition. She’s only been given about a month to live. She has had enough and does not wish to be resuscitated if her heart fails, so she wanted to sign an Advance Health Directive. There is a new AHD form, which, I am happy to report, is a […]
Disputes over Deceased Estates
We settled a matter involving a deceased estate. My client’s father passed away, leaving a Will. He left a sum of money to each of my client’s children and half the balance to my client’s sister, the executor. The rest was to be held on trust by the Public Trustee with the income from the […]
Tax -Effective Estate Planning – Over 65
I came across an interesting private tax ruling. A lady who was over the age of 65 had a Will leaving her estate to her 3 independent adult children. She had $1.5 million in superannuation, mostly concessional contributions. On her death, between them, her children stood to lose 15% in tax, a total of about […]
Tax- Effective Wills
Who would like to give 2% of their superannuation to the tax man, for no good reason? These days, most people have a half-reasonable amount in super. Most married people who die give their super to their spouse, but what about the survivor? They typically give their super to their adult children. If they do […]
Grants of Probate & Letters of Administration in 7 Days!
The Western Australian Supreme Court is granting well-prepared Applications for Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration in about 7 days at the moment. However, if you choose to have the Grant posted out to you, rather than collecting it from the registry, it takes another 2 weeks to arrive by Post. We are not […]
Probate Applications
We are assisting with probate applications for a couple of executors. One involves an executor who is in Melbourne, but the deceased, his aunt, lived here in Perth. Her sister, the executor’s mother also lives in Perth, so to simplify the process, the executor is appointing his mother as his attorney for the purpose of […]
Superannuation and Wills
I spoke to a new client the other day. He is unsure if he has a Will. If he were to pass away without a Will, his principal asset is about $700,000 in superannuation would be split between his spouse and 4 kids: For tax-effective Wills, see Michael Paterson & Associates.
Tax- Effective Wills
We received a reminder from the provider of our SMSF deeds the other day. If you nominate your legal personal representative to be the recipient of your superannuation proceeds, make sure that they are dealt with separately in your Will, especially if your will has discretionary testamentary trust provisions. For example, if you leave your […]
Trust Deed Variations
One of our clients passed away last year. He and his wife were trustees of 2 trusts, so we need to replace him with one of their daughters. In the process of preparing the deeds to appoint the daughter as trustee, we noticed that in one of the trusts, the trustees of the trust were […]