‘Estate planning’ describes the process of putting the right structures in place for the transition of your personally owned and controlled assets after death.
Because estate planning requires a holistic approach in consideration of your present and future financial and personal circumstances, we often require the following information from you for us to be able to form a comprehensive picture of your life, the details of which can be broken down into the following three categories:
- Your personal circumstances;
- Your financial circumstances; and
- Your intended beneficiaries.
Your Personal Circumstances
The information that will be relevant in ascertaining your personal circumstances includes, but is not limited to, your place of birth, domicile, citizenship, marital status, occupation, and any medical conditions which need to be taken into account through your estate planning.
Your Financial Circumstances
Generally, we will require a full list of assets and liabilities from you, including but not limited to, how much the assets cost you at acquisition and the estimated market value of the assets.
Also, we recommend that you revise your estate planning documents, in particular, your Will, if any of those assets in the Will have been disposed of or if they have substantially changed from how they were described in the Will as this could ultimately lead to a family provision claim by a disgruntled beneficiary.
We also need to be informed of your business interests (if any) and any agreements affecting the succession of such businesses. As your estate plan should provide you with legal certainty should a tragic event occur, and you need to ensure that a succession clause in your company constitution, associated trust deeds or business agreements, align with your estate planning objectives. On this basis, we would often require from you copies of relevant documents such as trust deeds, company constitutions, business succession agreements etc., to ascertain a full account of those corporate entities/trusts in which you have a beneficial interest.
Although Superannuation can be a non-estate asset, it is also an important element in your estate planning. Having a valid binding death benefit nomination in place in respect of your interest in any superannuation fund and ensuring all requirements have been met at that time, is critical as different tax consequences apply depending on who your nominated beneficiary is.
Your Intended Beneficiaries
During our initial meeting, we will ask you about your likely future circumstances and needs of the proposed beneficiaries. These questions often include, if any of your beneficiaries have a gambling or substance addiction, have a history of poor financial decision-making, suffer from an intellectual disability, or going through any family/bankruptcy proceedings. If your answer to any of the above questions is ‘yes’, we can then advise you our alternative strategies for your estate planning.
Last but not least, at some stages of your life, it is important that your capacity is assessed to protect the integrity of your estate planning documents and ensure that all of your documents remain valid.
Effective estate planning takes time, expertise, and careful contemplation.
Our experienced Wills & Estate team can provide you with the best advice regarding your estate planning. Contact our team today on 03 9598 9489 to discuss how we can help you.
