Wills and Estates
Ready to make a Will or get help with estate planning?
Wills & Estate Planning Lawyers
Our Wills and Estate Planning Lawyers believe that securing and protecting your assets are essential to ensuring that your loved ones are looked after in the event of your incapacity or death. Having a Will is an important first step in getting your affairs in order.
Although thinking about your Will can be daunting, making a Will is an important exercise that needs serious consideration. An effective Will can provide protection to those that you love and care about and can assist in making the process of managing your estate a stress-free one for your family and loved ones.
Dying without a Will can inevitably prove difficult for your family. If you die without a Will, you will be said to have died ‘intestate’. If this occurs, your estate will be distributed according to the relevant State law, and as a result it may not be distributed in the way that you would have liked and to whom you would have wanted to benefit from your estate.
Providing a holistic approach to your circumstances, our experienced Sydney Wills and Estate Planning Lawyers can help you with drafting a Will and carrying out estate planning to ensure that those you care the most about are provided for.
With our online wills service, you can complete your Will in under 30 minutes from the comfort of your own home. Learn more on how to get started with completing your Will online.
How can Ivy Law Group help?
At Ivy Law Group, our trusted Wills & Estate Lawyers can assist with:
- Estate Planning, which includes identifying the most effective mechanisms for your asset protection, considering tax minimisation, reviewing the structure of your ownership and, where necessary, restructuring family business structures, reducing potential claimants against your estate and implementing appropriate documents for your estate planning such as testamentary discretionary trusts, family trust deeds, superannuation deeds and superannuation death binding nomination, and business succession agreements.
- Your Wills and Estate Planning, including Testamentary Trusts which requires a lot of thought and consideration, regardless of the size of your estate. There are many risks associated with failing to implement proper Estate Planning to protect your assets, which can include:
- Your assets not going to the people you wish to benefit after you pass.
- Possible unwarranted tax implications and a financial burden on your loves ones after you have passed.
- Your assets being exposed to be claimed by people you do not intend to benefit in that manner.
Our experienced Sydney Wills & Estate Planning Lawyers can help you navigate the difficulties of making such personal decisions, which can include who you wish to be the beneficiaries of your Will, and who you wish to name as Executor (or Executors).
- Preparing and advising on your Power of Attorney, including different types of Powers of Attorney each serving a unique purpose, Enduring Power of Attorney and General Power of Attorney. Each power of attorney can be designed to enable the attorney to manage the principal’s (person granting the power of attorney) financial affairs and in the manner desired by the principal. Complete your Power of Attorney online.
- Preparing and advising on your Appointment of Enduring Guardian, which is a document that empowers the guardian to make a range of lifestyle and medical decisions, such as your place of residence or health care services, in the event that you are partially or fully incapable of managing your affairs. Complete your Appointment of Enduring Guardianship online.
- Applying for a Grant of Probate where the deceased has left a Will, and the executor(s) named in the Will are required to make an application to the Supreme Court of the relevant jurisdiction for a Grant of Probate in order to administer and distribute the deceased’s estate according to their Will.
- Where the deceased has died intestate or without leaving a valid Will (or no Will), applying for a Letters of Administration order to allow the administration of the estate to legally manage the deceased’s estate. Whether or not the deceased has left a valid Will, our Wills Lawyers can help you navigate each of the processes, noting their time limitations and exceptions.
Ready to make a Will or get help with estate planning?
Seeking legal advice early from an experienced Wills & Estates Lawyer is the best way to protect yourself, your family and your estate.
Here at Ivy Law Group, our Sydney Wills & Estate Lawyers can work with you to put a plan in place that gives you peace of mind, knowing that your family is taken care of after your passing. Call us today on 02 9262 4003 or submit an online enquiry to get started.
If you would like to complete your Will online or view the range of online estate planning services we offer, you can learn more here.
Questions to consider
- Who do I want to look after my estate? That is, who do you want to make the executor of your will, the person who will see to it that your wishes are carried out after your death?
- Who do I want to make gifts of my assets to? This will most likely be your surviving spouse and children but obviously the situation becomes more complicated if you’ve remarried, have stepchildren, or have no immediate surviving family.
- How do I intend to pay any outstanding debts when I die? This needs to be factored into your estate plan so you don’t leave a debt burden to your loved ones.
- What would happen if I was badly injured or otherwise unable to make important decisions on my personal affairs?
- Who do I want to look after my financial and health decisions if I am unable to? This is where you appoint an Enduring Power of Attorney and/or Enduring Power of Guardianship, delegating someone you trust to make decisions for you if you’ve lost this capacity.
Yes, because you will still have treasured items and mementoes you wish to pass on to certain family members. An estate plan takes away the uncertainty of who gets what once you’ve passed away, and ensures your wishes are carried out in the manner and time you want them to be.
One compelling reason to create a properly documented estate plan is because it will likely end up saving you, and those loved ones who survive you, in tax payments, legal fees and, possibly, court fees. If it is unclear what your intentions were for your assets before you died, it can start costing your beneficiaries money to sort out your affairs, in other words.
As mentioned above, another important reason is that none of us can foresee the future. Injury, disability and incapacity can occur suddenly and if it did, your family might be left in the difficult position of guessing what your wishes were in terms of care and inheritance, rather than knowing. A well-drafted estate plan can deal with these contingencies so your family know exactly what you wish to happen.
Consulting one of our experienced Family Lawyers is a non-threatening process of discovery, in which we will ask you a series of questions to help you clarify the issues you would like addressed in the plan. It does not have to be complicated so make an appointment to discuss your estate plan today.
Everyone over the age of 18 should make a Will, irrespective of the nature of your estate.
If you die without a Will, you will be said to have died ‘intestate’, which means that any assets that are owned solely by you or owned as tenants in common with another co-owner at the time of your death may be distributed according to the relevant State law. This means that your assets will not be distributed in the way that you would have liked and may not benefit your loved ones.
Having a Will gives you peace of mind that you have made your wishes clear as to how you want your estate to be distributed and dealt with.
You can complete your Will online with Ivy Law Group. Learn more here.
