estate planning

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Informal Wills

July 19, 2022

In order to make a valid Will, there are two basic requirements: The Will must be in writing. The Will must be signed in front of two witnesses. The Wills Act 1997 sets out further obligations on how to comply with the above requirements which can be quite technical. There are ways to prove a … Read more

Leaving Gifts in Wills

April 20, 2022

We often get asked by our clients how they can leave a gift in their Will for their loved ones. The gifting wishes of each client varies; some choose to gift a particular piece of jewellery while others have a long list of items they wish to gift to different people. There are many types … Read more

Digital Assets

March 2, 2022

In our ever growing and changing world, the type of assets we hold at the time of our deaths are also evolving. In addition to real property and personal property we now also have digital property. These can be categorised into two main categories – Digital Records are items that are not strictly the user’s … Read more

SMSFs & BDBNs

December 15, 2021

In our last article we wrote about putting in place your binding death benefit nomination (BDBN) in your superannuation. In this article we would like to refer to superannuation held in a Self-Managed Superannuation Fund, an SMSF for short. Same as your industry owned superannuation, you can name a beneficiary to inherit your superannuation under … Read more

Who should I name as my Superannuation beneficiary?

November 17, 2021

Generally, your superannuation does not form part of your estate and is not distributed under your Will. If you do not have a binding death nomination in place upon your death the trustee of the super fund will make a determination as to who to pay a death benefit to, this determination will be in … Read more