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 […]
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 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 […]
Evil Step-Mother Takes Inheritance
A sad story this week. My client’s father died a month ago. My client understands that her father’s intention was that he would leave everything to his second wife, my client’s step-mother, including superannuation and the proceeds of a life insurance policy, but that the survivor would leave everything to his 3 children, 2 from […]
Transferring a Farm
We recently had a query about a mother who wishes to transfer a farm to her daughter. There are transfer duty exemptions for transfers of farming property to relations, including trusts of which relations are beneficiaries, as long as no one other than family members are the beneficiaries. The exemption is not available if the […]
Bequest of Houses
Another case was handed down involving the bequest of a house where the house had been sold prior to the testator’s death. Usually, the gift simply fails, because the testator is assumed to realise the implications, but in this case, the owner was legally incapacitated and an administrator had been appointed to manage his affairs. […]