Regardless of your age or whether you have accumulated a large or a smaller amount of assets over your life, it is important to have an up-to-date Will. In doing so, you ensure that should you pass away, your assets will be distributed in the way that you would have intended.

How a Will works:

If you die and you do not have a Will in place, you are said to have died “intestate”. In these cases, your assets are distributed according to a formula which is set by legislation.

A valid Will:

Having a valid Will allows you to distribute and manage your assets according to your wishes. To be legally enforceable, an Australian Will must:

  • be made by a person over the age of 18 years,
  • be made willingly without undue influence from another person or persons,
  • be made by a person of sound mind and full awareness,
  • be signed and witnessed in accordance with Australian law.

Things to consider:

  • appointing an Executor to handle the distribution of your assets,
  • establishing a Power of Attorney to make decisions for you if you are unable to,
  • appointing an Enduring Guardian – someone to make medical and personal care decisions on your behalf,
  • someone to look after your dependant children,
  • creating a trust to hold assets solely for your nominated beneficiaries.

What to do first:

Contact Harvest. We’ll give you options for you to consider in terms of obtaining proper legal advice.

Before you instruct a solicitor to prepare your Will, talk to your family and others about what you intend to set out in your Will. Ensuring those closest to you understand what you are doing (and your rationale) will help in avoiding any misunderstandings and will help to limit conflict and stress at a difficult time.

Ongoing:

You should review your Will every couple of years and always on significant “life events” like the birth of a child, separation, divorce, a loved one’s disability or incapacity, death of a family member, retirement, starting a business etc.

Superannuation:

Superannuation benefits are not automatically governed by your Will. In the absence of any other instruction, it is the Trustee of the super fund that determines to whom and how much of your super payout is applied. Sometimes, the super fund Trustee may make payments that may not be in accordance with what you might have wanted. The way around this is to make a valid, binding Death benefit nomination.

Around half of Australians either don’t have a Will or their Will is not up to date or is invalid for some reason. Make sure that you have everything in place with all documentation up to date and valid. Talk to Harvest if you need assistance in this very important area.

 

GENERAL ADVICE WARNING © 2012 Harvest Financial Group Pty Ltd. This Newsletter has been prepared for clients of Harvest. This document contains confidential and proprietary information of Harvest Financial Group (‘Harvest’), and is intended for the exclusive use of the recipient to whom it is addressed. The document, and any opinions it contains, may not be modified, sold or otherwise provided, in whole or in part, to any other person or entity without Harvest’s prior written permission. The information in this document is believed to be reliable however, no representations or warranties are made as to the accuracy of the information presented, and no responsibility or liability, including for consequential or incidental damages, can be accepted for any error, omission or inaccuracy in this report or related materials.