Modern day estate planning is more than simply making a Will. To plan your estate properly, your lawyers need a deep understanding of your personal relationships and your family dynamics. They also need to understand your finances and investments, as well as what you want to happen to your wealth once you’re gone and why.
We work hard to do just this, mastering the detail of your circumstances while taking a big picture view of what’s possible when it comes to planning your estate. Then we use our detailed knowledge of sophisticated structures, such as trusts, companies and other devices to make your intentions possible.
Our estate planning lawyers are experts in helping you build a robust legal framework around your estate plan: one that allows you to achieve your objectives and makes sure your wealth isn’t dissipated by unnecessary tax liabilities, business risks or family law property settlements.
We can:
- Help you make an estate plan, including a Will and testamentary trust, that gives you the best chance of making sure your assets go where you intend them to.
- Help protect your family’s inheritance from the risk of legal claims from disgruntled family members or beneficiaries, including family law and bankruptcy claims.
- Help you overcome cross-jurisdictional barriers to estate planning where family members live or move overseas.
- Help your blended family provide benefits to both sides of the family so that your wealth stays protected for future generations.
- Prepare Wills and estate plans that help you deal with any assets you hold outside of Australia.
- Work with your existing key advisers to make sure you have the legal structures in place that will help you achieve your financial and estate planning objectives.
- Advise you on using trusts, companies and other structures so that your estate isn’t subject to unnecessary taxes.
- Advise you on using powers of attorney, enduring guardian appointments, advanced healthcare directives and other devices so that you get to choose the people who will make decisions on your behalf if you can’t.
- Help you understand your rights and obligations when it comes to superannuation and devise a plan for making sure your super goes where you intend.
