[Guardianship] You can nominate a guardian for your children. You will avoid additional costs to your Estate that can be significant if you die without a Will. [PoA] Having a Power of Attorney in place lets you decide who makes decisions on your behalf when you cannot. [PoA] You can communicate your intentions in the event of medical emergency and / or death, to your nominated PoA. [Testamentary Trust] Provides flexibility and control over when and how beneficiaries take their inheritance. [Testamentary Trust] A Testamentary trust will allow you to nominate the distribution of assets and income from your Estate. [Testamentary Trust] Testamentary trusts provide more protection of assets than if your beneficiaries were to receive them as individuals. [Testamentary Trust] Income can be split to minimise tax to beneficiaries.
Points to Consider:
[If Non-estate assets] Not all assets are included in your estate for distribution via your Will. Your non-estate assets include <tailor for client: superannuation / account-based pension / life insurance policies / jointly owned assets / assets owned through a trust or company / other>. [Child guardianship] You will need to include guardianship as part of the Will. A poorly constructed Will can be contested post-death or ruled as invalid and disregarded. Significant changes to circumstances can affect the validity of your Will. Ensure that you keep your Will up to date. Dependents needs to be adequately provided for in your Will. You need to keep your super / pension / life insurance nominations up to date so that they reflect your wishes. [PoAs] You will need to engage your nominated PoAs as part of the process in establishing your PoAs. [Testamentary Trust] There will be costs associated with establishing a Testamentary trust. Please review these in light of the benefits before proceeding. [Testamentary Trust] Your circumstances may change and impact the effectiveness of the Trust. Please ensure that you review your Estate Plan regularly to reflect your current financial position and desired beneficiaries. [Testamentary Trust] Where beneficiaries have a controlling interest in the Trust, all income and assets of the Trust will be assessable for Centrelink means testing. This could result in a reduction of the beneficiaries Centrelink benefits (if they receive benefits). [Testamentary Trust] Where beneficiaries do not have a controlling interest in the Trust, income they receive will be assessable for Centrelink purposes and may reduce their Centrelink benefits (if they receive benefits). [Super / Pension] Your super and pension benefits do not automatically form part of your Estate although you can nominate them to do so. It is important to make sure you have nominated beneficiaries for the Trustee of the Fund to take into consideration when paying your benefits.
34. Review your Estate Plan We recommend that you seek professional legal advice to undertake a complete review of your Estate Planning needs including:
Review your Will/s. Review your Powers of Attorney including Enduring (financial / medical), Limited and General. Consider an Advance Health Care Plan. [Testamentary Trust] Look at inclusion of a Testamentary Trust within your Will/s. Review of all significant assets and beneficiaries. Discussion and solutions for possible challenges to your Estate. [Binding Death Nominations] A review of superannuation / pension death benefit nominations to ensure they are up to date / in place.
Benefits:
Maintaining a valid Will can assist in your assets being distributed according to your wishes upon death. [Guardianship] You can nominate a guardian for your children. You will avoid additional costs to your Estate that can be significant if you die without a Will. [PoA] Having a Power of Attorney in place lets you decide who makes decisions on your behalf when you cannot. [PoA] You can communicate your intentions in the event of medical emergency and / or death, to your nominated PoA. [Testamentary Trust] Provides flexibility and control over when and how beneficiaries take their inheritance.
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