General Estate Planning issues (Wills, PoA, AHDs)

[Flying mermaid]

Good luck with the "plan" to perfectly balance the money to not be in credit at the time of the reaper.

It would be wonderful wouldn’t it . Blow everything on a series of amazing holidays, come home to the (rented) accommodation and lie down and die. Unfortunately you have to calculate on living into your nineties, so a much harder task.

 

[coriander]

Or, as my sons remind me "Dad remember, we get to pick your nursing home"....

 

[mrsterryn]

I reckon selling my house would give me a few years on a cruise ship

 

[cove]

@JohnK we are not writing anyone off in this thread.
Because I had heart surgery 25 years ago I have faced up to the idea of not making it to a nursing home.
My original advisors have retired or are edging closer to retirement.
I do hope many are fixing up their wills and POAs and are placing these documents in a safe and known location.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Just bumping this thread; was watching ABC 4 corners last night mentioning undertakers and it reminded me of this thread.

Where do you find a good solictor who won't cost to much.

A google search didn't really suggest where to download a do it yourself will.

@Bundy Bear Queenslanders can get free wills.

You can make an appointment at the office of the Public Trustee.

I made my first will there - took about an hour.

I updated last month and it only took 20 mins - the update was also free.

 

[Hvr]

Queenslanders can get free wills.

You can make an appointment at the office of the Public Trustee.

And what do these bloodsucking scum take from the estate?

A strict financial rule is never, ever deal with Public Trustees! Ever.

 

[Captain Halliday]

And what do these bloodsucking scum take from the estate?

A strict financial rule is never, ever deal with Public Trustees! Ever.

They gave the hard sell on nominating the public trustee as executor.

But I knew to expect it and politely declined.

So they get nothing from my estate.

 

[mrsterryn]

Have to say in my old job when we had to deal with public trustees as either executors or guardians it was horrendous .
I would never recommend them , however some people don't have the wherewithal to go somewhere else

 

[ontheaisle]

I would never recommend them , however some people don't have the wherewithal to go somewhere else

Sometimes it's that they don't have anyone else they trust to do it - no close friends or family, or family/beneficiaries are based overseas, etc.

Like many state government departments, too much work + not enough (good) staff = poor client outcomes.

 

[Buzzard]

Hey I am happy to be in debt lol
Son can pay it off

You can't take it with you when you go but you sure can take someone else's.

 

[JohnK]

And what do these bloodsucking scum take from the estate?

A strict financial rule is never, ever deal with Public Trustees! Ever.

So is there going to be a royal commission anytime soon?

 

[Milboo]

It is vitally important because if he dies now he will be considered intestate with all of the resulting confusion and legal problems that causes. A will is declared void upon marriage.

I would not say it’s vitally important. If he’s married then I suspect the will would have everything going to the wife. If he dies without a will and is intestacy then it goes to the wife. It only becomes more important once you need to start leaving trusts for children once born etc or want to leave specific gifts to people.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I reckon selling my house would give me a few years on a cruise ship

Well for some that would be heaven, but to others of us that would be hell.

 

[coles525]

For my own record, I am upto reading page 6 of 12. I also don't yet have a will (lazy, don't know who to choose as will ceo!).

Need to sleep, but will comment again after I finish reading every page.

 

[Hvr]

If he’s married then I suspect the will would have everything going to the wife. If he dies without a will and is intestacy then it goes to the wife.

And what if he has a prior wife/de facto? A will should address past relationships and how you want your assets divided. Adult children from a previous relationship? If he dies intestate part of the estate will go to them in a percentage basis that may not reflect his wishes. And so on.

A will eliminates these potential claims and will provide the necessary guidance as to how to proceed without confusion. Also his wife should get a new will made as well.

 

[Pushka]

And what if he has a prior wife/de facto? A will should address past relationships and how you want your assets divided. Adult children from a previous relationship? If he dies intestate part of the estate will go to them in a percentage basis that may not reflect his wishes. And so on.

A will eliminates these potential claims and will provide the necessary guidance as to how to proceed without confusion. Also his wife should get a new will made as well.

Sure but that’s an individual issue and not one if it’s first marriage and no children as yet. Simples.

 

[Milboo]

And what if he has a prior wife/de facto? A will should address past relationships and how you want your assets divided. Adult children from a previous relationship? If he dies intestate part of the estate will go to them in a percentage basis that may not reflect his wishes. And so on.

A will eliminates these potential claims and will provide the necessary guidance as to how to proceed without confusion. Also his wife should get a new will made as well.

Wills do not need to address prior relationships. And the laws of intestacy are clear re the spouse/ partner you were with immediately prior to death. The legislation does not include ex’s in the order of priority.

If you have a simple estate then it’s a nice to have really but not critical. Complex assets, kids, gifts etc then yeah...different story.

 

[coles525]

(Grrr I pressed something and have to try and write everything again!)

I'm confused on what option I should decide regarding wills / legal powers.

Option 1: No will (eww state trust..)
Option 2: Basic will (Lawyer)
Option 3**: 3 generation will / bundle (will include screen shots with inclusions).

- We are defacto, with PPOR in joint names, investment not with my name included.

- No kids of our own, but registered foster carers**

- I'm the yougest in my direct family (in my 40's), with cousins and also 2 nieces / 2 nephews.

- I could have combined assets of $2+, which would be house, super, shares, insurance (excluding household junk/car).

- I would have no clue on asking any friends, family, strangers to be involved once I'm dead. How do I trust anyone, what occures if they became unable to continue or start (death, accident, injury, not interested)?

Basic golden rule should be to pay all debts of in full before anyone else get anything of value (ie: sell car, super, insurance).

Not really interested in allowing charities to be written into anything, as most donations cover management/wages, not the actual causes.

Not really fussed about online access passwords / emails, as once I'm dead, it will never be used by me again. Bank accounts should be as simple as a death certificate or police report!

Screen shots below detail everything included, including future familys (ie: grandkids) and if things go messy (divorce, kids relationship breakdown with partner to name a few.

I'm honestly way too confused about all the cough that can happen when someone dies! (why spend millions in court, then recieve $0.52c after all costs and years involved?)

 

[VPS]

I was recently involved in a friend's estate when she died suddenly and we didn't have any of her passwords and couldn't even get into her phone. It was a nightmare to try and close accounts etc. It would have been so much easier if she had left a list or even the password to a password manager with her solicitor

 

[Flying mermaid]

We mainly went to a testamentary trust because we felt the 3 children had uneven outcomes as far as future earning ability went. Dr FM and Master FM are already earning way more than Ms FM and this is likely to accelerate in the future. Of course things could change with Ill health etc. a testamentary trust enabled them to direct the income to whoever needed it most, or to share it equally if there wasn’t any need. There are downsides to a joint trust - they need to work together which they seem to think they can. A joint trust also protects the assets a little more in a divorce situation, than 3 single trusts. The trust ends when the 3 children die and the remaining assets are split equally across any grandchildren.

The other thing we wanted to do was protect assets if one person died before the other (which of course is likely). So for e.g. if Mr FM dies, half the estate goes into the testamentary trust. Then if I go batty and want to give all my money to Nigerian scammers, or to a friend, at least half the estate is protected. We each have equal assets currently, so that made it easier.