Estate Planning Lawyers Gold Coast
Wills & Estates
Proper estate planning will help you plan for your future and protect your wishes.
One of the most vital things you can do for your family is to ensure you have an effective strategy in place. We are leading estate planning lawyers, with one of the largest and most experienced teams on the Gold Coast.
Our Gold Coast team takes a personalised approach to ensure they understand your situation and what your wishes are. By creating professional documents which are precise, you can have peace of mind in knowing your legal affairs are in order and those who you want to benefit from your estate, will, when you are gone.
Succession Law is an extremely complex area of law and we are proud to be highly reputed in the legal industry for our expertise in this area. Our Gold Coast experts can assist with everything from drafting a simple Will, to complex legal matters like asset protection that requires the most advantageous strategies to be used.
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Our Gold Coast estate planning services include:
It is important for everyone over the age of 18 years old to have an up to date and legally binding Will. Having a Will ensures your wishes can be carried out after you have passed away. Having your Will drafted by an experienced estate planning lawyer will reduce the risk of someone making a claim on your estate.
A testamentary trust can be established in your Will and takes effect on your death. There are various types of trusts and these can be useful for a variety of situations, such as:
- Protecting assets for your children whilst still providing for your spouse;
- If a beneficiary is bankrupt or has liability issues and may be at risk of being sued;
- If you suspect a beneficiary is at risk from undue influence or the breakdown of a relationship;
- If a beneficiary has special needs.
There are many estates that cannot be properly protected with a simple Will. Our Gold Coast estate planning lawyers can review your unique estate planning needs to help you determine if a testamentary trust may be beneficial.
This legal document authorises someone who you appoint to act on your behalf in managing your affairs. A QLD Power of Attorney can be a useful tool to use if you take an extended holiday, suffer from poor health or have reached a stage in your life that you require more help.
A QLD Power of Attorney can make health, financial and personal decisions on your behalf. There are two types of documents available, you can choose to make a “General” Power of Attorney, or an “Enduring” Power of Attorney. Enduring simply means that the attorney’s power will continue if you lose capacity to make decisions for yourself.
This is one of the most important documents you can make in your lifetime.
Certain medical conditions can diminish your capacity to make decisions for yourself about your health care. It is important to document your wishes and preferences regarding your future health care needs when you are competent and have the capacity to do so. If you are unable to make decisions about your health care due to dementia, a stroke, or another medical condition, an Advanced Health Directive will set out your views, wishes and preferences in a legally binding way.
You may wish to set out instructions relating to:
- Cultural or religious beliefs
- Life-sustaining treatment
- Health care treatment.
By making your intentions clear, it can help avoid family disputes and conflict when decisions need to be made for you.
If you carry on business through a company or partnership, you may need to include extended powers of Executors in your Will. Our estate planning lawyers will help you understand what needs to be considered to ensure your testamentary intentions are fulfilled.
Most people have a death benefit component, or life insurance policy, attached to their superannuation. Death benefit nominations are often overlooked. Our estate planning lawyers can assist you with completing a death benefit nomination to ensure your superannuation and life insurance benefits are passed on to your intended beneficiaries.
FAQs
No matter how large or small your estate may be, it is important for everyone to have a valid estate plan to ensure your assets go to who you want to benefit after you die. By not having an estate plan in place, it can be extremely exhausting, both financially and emotionally, for the loved ones you leave behind.
Careful planning of the distribution of your estate involves protecting the assets you have worked so hard to acquire. Many people often do not think about what will happen if they lose capacity while they are still alive. Estate planning covers you if the unexpected happens.
Estate planning is a personalised process that takes into consideration the assets you own, who you want to receive your assets, any tax implications applicable to your beneficiaries, who you wish to appoint as your executor, if your situation would benefit from making a testamentary trust, and how you want to distribute your superannuation and life insurance policies after you die.
Because everyone’s estates and family situations are different, it is important to seek the assistance of an experienced estate planning lawyer who can understand your circumstances and provide you with the best possible plan.
Many people do not realise how much value they have in their estate. Your estate is comprised of everything you own including:
- Superannuation contributions
- Life insurance policies
- The family home
- Shares
- Investments
- Motor vehicles
- Personal belongings
You can often have much more wealth than you realise. No matter how big or small your estate may be, it is important to have the documentation in place that outlines how your assets are to be managed and distributed upon your death.
If someone dies without a Will, then the rules of intestacy apply. When an estate falls under the laws of intestacy, your assets are distributed according to a pre-determined statutory formula. Under this formula, certain family members will receive a defined percentage of the estate.
The legislation which deals with the distribution of an intestate estate, differs between each state and territory.
DIY Will Kits can leave your estate at risk. There are many problems that can arise interpreting DIY Wills or when a Will has not been executed correctly. Even though DIY Will Kits and legal documents such as Enduring Power of Attorney documents, are available to download online, by completing these without legal advice, you can create more problems than you intended to solve by making the document in the first place.
Given the far-reaching effects a Power of Attorney has, it is imperative you tailor the terms of the document to suit your specific circumstances and appoint people you trust implicitly.
Attwood Marshall Lawyers offer a complimentary 30-minute estate planning review to help you determine what documents you may need to put in place to preserve your wishes. You can call our team any time on 1800 621 071. Our Gold Coast estate planning lawyers will help you identify the best strategies to put in place to ensure your estate plan will truly reflect your testamentary intentions. You will be sent an online questionnaire which will help us collect all the information we need to begin your estate plan, and once completed, our friendly team will contact you to organise a suitable time for you to meet with your lawyer at an office location most convenient to you and to finalise your documents.
Are you a first responder or frontline health worker on the Gold Coast?
To say thank you for your commitment, dedication, and the sacrifices you make every day to support our community, we want to help you prepare for the future and preserve your wishes. We are proud to offer our “Free Wills for First Responders and Frontline Health Workers Program”. Have your Will drafted for free by an experienced estate planning lawyer today.
