News
Overseas Assets and Australian Wills
With such a multicultural population, it is not uncommon for us to meet with clients who have assets in overseas countries, whether that be real estate, bank accounts or superannuation funds. But does their Australian Will cover these assets? The default answer is generally no – unless the foreign country where those assets are held … Read more
Voluntary Assisted Dying – Euthanasia in Victoria
In 2017, the Victorian government introduced the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 (Vic), which will come into effect in 2019. The purpose of this bill is to regulate and facilitate the process by which Victorians could be permitted to make informed decisions regarding their own end of life choices. ‘Voluntary Assisted Dying’ (VAD) means ‘the … Read more
Advance Care Directives – Part 3 – Values Directives
A Values Directive is a statement of your values and preferences for your medical treatment. Some questions you might like to consider in determining your values include: What matters most in your life? For example: Do you want to live as long as possible, whatever it takes? Or is quality of life more important to … Read more
Advance Care Directive – Part 2 – Instructional Directives
An Instructional Directive should only be completed if you know exactly what you want, or don’t want, in the future in respect to medical treatment. An Instructional Directive is a statement of your medical treatment decision and takes effect as if you had consented to, or refused, the medical treatment. The instructional directive will include … Read more
Advance Care Directive – Part 1
We often mention Appointment of Medical Treatment Decision Maker documents in our Estate Planning discussions. The Appointment of Medical Treatment Decision Maker (AMTDM) is the document under which you can appoint a person to make medical decisions on your behalf when you no longer have the capacity to make those decisions on your own. An … Read more
The effect of marriage and divorce on a Will
What is the effect of marriage on my Will? In most cases your marriage will revoke your Will, meaning that you would no longer have a valid Will in place once you are married. There are some clauses of your Will that marriage will not revoke, but this usually produces a messy and uncertain result. … Read more
Will Challenge:When to Worry, and What to Do.
You would probably be surprised to learn how often we are asked about whether a particular family member can challenge a Will. In my experience, when clients raise concerns about their family “black sheep” and whether they can challenge, they feel somewhat embarrassed and usually like their family is different. But the reality is that … Read more
What are VOIs & CAFs?
Verification of Identity (VOI) and How to do your Verification of Identity (VOI) on InfoTrack As of January 2018, all conveyancing transactions require a Client Authorisation Form (CAF) to be completed by the parties to the transaction along with a Verification of Identity (VOI) check. InfoTrack ID is our preferred verification platform as it is … Read more
PEXA – Online Conveyancing
The world of paper settlements and paper conveyancing is coming to an end. Victoria is now moving to an online system of e-conveyancing also known as Property Exchange Australia (PEXA). e-Conveyancing minimises the manual process and paperwork associated with property settlements by enabling lawyers, conveyancers and financial institutions to transact together online. It allows lawyers … Read more
Reasons to Update your Will
Already have a Will in place? That’s great! Did you know that there are many life changes that can occur which will result in the need to update your Will? Planning to get married? Just got married? One very important life milestone is marriage. If you have decided to get married since doing your Will … Read more