Why appoint a guardian for your children?
If you have young children, have you ever thought who would look after your children after you pass away? Even if you have a partner, or your children have another parent, there is always the possibility that both of you pass away at the same time – and then what happens?
Estate planning for people
who have young children often focuses on appointing a guardian. You may already have other family members in mind, or maybe a close friend who you can trust to have your child’s best interest at heart. The issue of appointing a guardian to look after your child is a very important consideration, not just from a legal perspective, but also from a social perspective.
Your child will be a minor until they turn 18 years old, and only then will the law recognise them as an adult together with all the legal rights and responsibilities as an adult. If you pass away before your child becomes an adult, it is likely that you will need to appoint a trustee to look after the financial aspects of your estate (possibly for the benefit of your child) and a guardian to care for your child’s welfare and upbringing. These appointments should be properly addressed in your Will.
Aside from appointing a guardian, your Will may also include directions for guardians with regards to place of residence, academic and/or religious upbringing, health and medical issues – basically, any matter that would otherwise normally concern a parent. Ensuring that your testamentary wishes regarding your child and appointing a guardian is properly documented hopefully will lower the likelihood of disputes over who should be responsible for your child – either through choice or circumstance.
Life is full of twists and turns, however with some planning in advance you can ensure that the children that you leave behind are in good hands and are cared for by the right people – people that you trust.
So why delay? If you are interested in drafting or reviewing your Will and what it says, give us a call or use the quick contact form to get in touch with us.
Want to know more about Wills and Estate Planning?
For more information regarding our estates and succession planning services, including will preparation, powers of attorney, enduring guardianship, obtaining probate or letters of administration, and managing deceased estates, please use the quick enquiry form found on this page or call our office on 02 9687 8885. Our experienced estates lawyers look forward to assisting you with your Wills, and your estate and succession planning requirements.
This website is proudly supported by Phang Legal. This article was posted by Ern Phang, director of Phang Legal.
Tags: benefit, children, drafting, estate, family, guardian, legal, planning, testamentary, trustee, will, Wills & ProbateRelated posts
Planning for the future
Estate planning can help avoid complications that can arise following the death of a loved one. With an ageing population in Australia, proper estate planning is critical to ensure that your loved ones are adequately taken care of and have directions as to what to do when you move on.
Estate planning can include the following matters:
- Having a Will
- Having adequate life Insurance
- Making sure your superannuation benefits go to the right people
- Having a list of all your assets and liabilities
- Having an enduring power of attorney
- Having an enduring guardian
- Having an Advanced Health Directive
Estate plans should never be considered permanent as considitions, whether financial or personal, change. Your plans should be reviewed perhaps every five years or so, or whenever there has been an important or significant change in your life, such as the acquisition of a significant asset or liability, or the birth, death, or marriage of someone in your family.
We can help you
review your estate plans – and where possible, help you transfer your assets to the next generation in the most effective way possible. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us using the quick enquiry form on this blog.
Want to know more about estate and succession planning?
For more information regarding our estates and succession planning services, including will preparation, powers of attorney, enduring guardianship, obtaining probate or letters of administration, and managing deceased estates, please use the quick enquiry form found on this page or call our office on 02 9687 8885. Our experienced estates lawyers look forward to assisting you with your estate and succession planning requirements.
This website is proudly supported by Phang Legal. This article was posted by Kenneth Ti, associate solicitor at Phang Legal.
Tags: administration, assets, death, enduring, estate, estate planning, estates, guardian, legal, marriage, phang, planning, power of attorney, review, solicitors, superannuation, update, wills, Wills & ProbateRelated posts
Estate planning for the holiday season
Finding an excuse to discuss your Will over the holidays
An interesting observation of human nature is that there
is a noticeable increase in enquiries for Wills and estate planning services during the period leading up to the holiday season around Christmas and the New Year. Why is that?
Some clients explain that it’s the thought of traveling and the risks associated with traveling. Others just worry about what will happen to them while they’re away or far from home. Others consider it a time for reflection and family, and realise (shock) that their affairs aren’t in order and it’s time for them to do something about it. They know they should have done it before, but just never got around to it (see our previous poll on why people don’t have a Will).
Whatever the reason may be, it shouldn’t take something like the holiday season or a trip away from home to prompt people into thinking about their Will or their estate planning requirements. The possibility or probability of passing away without a Will is the same if you don’t have a Will regardless of whether you’re staying at home singing Christmas carols, sipping cocktails and relaxing on some tropical beach, or enjoying skiing on a mountain top resort. If you don’t have a Will, you don’t have a Will (see our previous post on intestacy).
When the family comes together to celebrate the holidays, maybe that’s an opportunity to discuss some of the key issues related to your Will or your estate planning requirements – after all, those discussions generally involve or affect those closest to us, right? Is it an appropriate topic of discussion? Maybe not, you’ll need to decide that – but consider what other opportunities will you have throughout the rest of the year to have these conversations. When do most people get together? Maybe it’s weddings, funerals, birthday parties or key festive dates. It’s not easy and it’s probably uncomfortable as well – but that’s life, and should be doing something about it because before you know it another year will have gone by.
What we do know for a fact is that once you’ve done it, you’ve prepared your Will and you’ve stored it away, there is a sense of relief and accomplishment. It’s done! That’s the reward for not procrastinating any more. Sure, you might still have to review your Will from time to time, but that’s another issue for another day. For today, it’s done.
Then you can enjoy the rest of your holiday and the (hopefully) many more to come.
Want to know more about Wills and Estate Planning?
For more information regarding our estates and succession planning services, including will preparation, powers of attorney, enduring guardianship, obtaining probate or letters of administration, and managing deceased estates, please use the quick enquiry form found on this page or call our office on 02 9687 8885. Our experienced estates lawyers look forward to assisting you with your Wills, and your estate and succession planning requirements.
This website is proudly supported by Phang Legal. This article was posted by Ern Phang, director of Phang Legal.
Tags: estate, estate planning, family, passing away, planning, review, will, wills, Wills & ProbateRelated posts
How can a Parent Care for their Disabled Child after their Death?
If you are the parent of a child requiring ongoing care as a result of a disability, planning for their care in the event of your death is a major issue. One of the vehicles that can help manage their financial well being is a Special Disability Trust.This structure allows you to nominate a person (or more than one person) to act as trustee and manage the financial affairs of your child. The trust is allowed to invest the funds for the purpose of paying for the care and accommodation of the principal beneficiary – your child. This may include purchasing and owning a suitable property for them to live in.
There are significant Centrelink concessions available with these arrangements. Firstly, assets up to $563,250 (indexed each year) are exempt from the assets test, and if a property is owned by the trust and used as the beneficiaries home, this is also exempt. In addition to this, Centrelink does not assess any income or distributions from a Special Disability Trust. These concessions may not be not available to beneficiaries of a normal trust (family/discretionary trust, testamentary trust), and may mean you can leave significant levels of assets for the care of your child and they can still be entitled to government assistance.
For parents above Age Pension age, there is also the opportunity to gift funds to a Special Disability Trust. Ordinarily Centrelink would regard any gift above $10,000 in a financial year ($30,000 over a rolling five years) as an attempt to deprive yourself of assets to increase your pension entitlements, and accordingly they would continue to assess these gifts as your assets. In the case of gifts by eligible family members however, up to $500,000 (combined) can be gifted to a Special Disability Trust for the care of your child and Centrelink would no longer count this as your asset. This could potentially make you eligible for Centrelink Benefits, or increase your entitlement to them.
There are a number of conditions that must be met to receive these concessions, and this article just provides a broad overview.
Want to know more?
For more information regarding our estates and succession planning services, including will preparation, powers of attorney, enduring guardianship, obtaining probate or letters of administration, and managing deceased estates, please use the quick enquiry form found on this page or call our office on 02 9687 8885. Our experienced estates lawyers look forward to assisting you with your estate and succession planning requirements.
This website is proudly supported by Phang Legal. This article was written by David Hazlewood and edited by Kenneth Ti, associate solicitor with Phang Legal.
Related posts:
- Moving Into Aged Care – Important Information
- Choosing an Executor
- Moving Into Aged Care – Important Considerations
Related posts
How can a Parent Care for their Disabled Child after their Death?
If you are the parent of a child requiring ongoing care as a result of a disability, planning for their care in the event of your death is a major issue. One of the vehicles that can help manage their financial well being is a Special Disability Trust.This structure allows you to nominate a person (or more than one person) to act as trustee and manage the financial affairs of your child. The trust is allowed to invest the funds for the purpose of paying for the care and accommodation of the principal beneficiary – your child. This may include purchasing and owning a suitable property for them to live in.
There are significant Centrelink concessions available with these arrangements. Firstly, assets up to $563,250 (indexed each year) are exempt from the assets test, and if a property is owned by the trust and used as the beneficiaries home, this is also exempt. In addition to this, Centrelink does not assess any income or distributions from a Special Disability Trust. These concessions may not be not available to beneficiaries of a normal trust (family/discretionary trust, testamentary trust), and may mean you can leave significant levels of assets for the care of your child and they can still be entitled to government assistance.
For parents above Age Pension age, there is also the opportunity to gift funds to a Special Disability Trust. Ordinarily Centrelink would regard any gift above $10,000 in a financial year ($30,000 over a rolling five years) as an attempt to deprive yourself of assets to increase your pension entitlements, and accordingly they would continue to assess these gifts as your assets. In the case of gifts by eligible family members however, up to $500,000 (combined) can be gifted to a Special Disability Trust for the care of your child and Centrelink would no longer count this as your asset. This could potentially make you eligible for Centrelink Benefits, or increase your entitlement to them.
There are a number of conditions that must be met to receive these concessions, and this article just provides a broad overview.
Want to know more?
For more information regarding our estates and succession planning services, including will preparation, powers of attorney, enduring guardianship, obtaining probate or letters of administration, and managing deceased estates, please use the quick enquiry form found on this page or call our office on 02 9687 8885. Our experienced estates lawyers look forward to assisting you with your estate and succession planning requirements.
This website is proudly supported by Phang Legal. This article was written by David Hazlewood and edited by Kenneth Ti, associate solicitor with Phang Legal.
Related posts:
- Moving Into Aged Care – Further Considerations
- Moving Into Aged Care – Important Considerations
- Moving Into Aged Care – Important Information
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The Importance of Insurance – Trauma Insurance
Financial protection such as insurance can help ease some of the stress at difficult times and ensure that financial worries do not add to your family’s emotional burden at time when they are least able to cope. Your financial adviser can help you choose the right mix of insurance for you and your family’s particular circumstances.
Trauma insurance
A serious illness, such as cancer, a stroke or a heart attack, can strike at any time, causing physical and emotional trauma.
While modern medicine can provide many people with a good chance of recovery, the financial consequences of a serious illness can be devastating. Unfortunately, bills don’t stop coming just because you’re ill.
For those recovering from an illness and facing a lengthy period of recuperation, there is often the financial burden of medical bills and expenses, the ongoing costs of rehabilitation and care, possible modifications to the home and even forced early retirement.
Few people have the necessary savings to pay all these expenses or to manage without a regular income.
Trauma insurance can help you cope financially with the impact of a disability, illness or injury. It is paid as a lump sum and can be used to pay for changes to your lifestyle or for care required as a result of the trauma.
How much insurance do I need?
There is no right or wrong answer to this question. What is important is that you understand how to calculate the amount of insurance that is right for you.
Following a traumatic event, an adequate level of insurance will allow you to pay off the mortgage and other debts, provide for your children’s education and allow your family to maintain their lifestyle.
You can structure your insurance to minimise your tax obligations. Give us a call to arrange a no obligation (and no cost) meeting to discuss your specific circumstances.
Want to know more about estate and succession planning?
For more information regarding our estates and succession planning services, including will preparation, powers of attorney, enduring guardianship, obtaining probate or letters of administration, and managing deceased estates, please use the quick enquiry form found on this page or call our office on 02 9687 8885. Our experienced estates lawyers look forward to assisting you with your estate and succession planning requirements.
This website is proudly supported by Phang Legal. This article was written by Tom Graham and edited by Kenneth Ti, associate solicitor with Phang Legal.
Related posts:
- The Importance of Insurance – TPD and Income Protection Insurance
- The Importance of Insurance – Life Insurance and Business Insurance
- Moving Into Aged Care – Important Information
Related posts
The Importance of Insurance – Trauma Insurance
Financial protection such as insurance can help ease some of the stress at difficult times and ensure that financial worries do not add to your family’s emotional burden at time when they are least able to cope.Your financial adviser can help you choose the right mix of insurance for you and your family’s particular circumstances.
Trauma insurance
A serious illness, such as cancer, a stroke or a heart attack, can strike at any time, causing physical and emotional trauma.
While modern medicine can provide many people with a good chance of recovery, the financial consequences of a serious illness can be devastating. Unfortunately, bills don’t stop coming just because you’re ill.
For those recovering from an illness and facing a lengthy period of recuperation, there is often the financial burden of medical bills and expenses, the ongoing costs of rehabilitation and care, possible modifications to the home and even forced early retirement.
Few people have the necessary savings to pay all these expenses or to manage without a regular income.
Trauma insurance can help you cope financially with the impact of a disability, illness or injury. It is paid as a lump sum and can be used to pay for changes to your lifestyle or for care required as a result of the trauma.
How much insurance do I need?
There is no right or wrong answer to this question. What is important is that you understand how to calculate the amount of insurance that is right for you.
Following a traumatic event, an adequate level of insurance will allow you to pay off the mortgage and other debts, provide for your children’s education and allow your family to maintain their lifestyle.
You can structure your insurance to minimise your tax obligations. Give us a call to arrange a no obligation (and no cost) meeting to discuss your specific circumstances.
Related posts:
- The Importance of Insurance – TPD and Income Protection Insurance
- The Importance of Insurance – Life Insurance and Business Insurance
- Moving Into Aged Care – Important Considerations
Related posts
The Importance of Insurance – TPD and Income Protection Insurance
Financial protection such as insurance can help ease some of the stress at difficult times and ensure that financial worries do not add to your family’s emotional burden at time when they are least able to cope.Your financial adviser can help you choose the right mix of insurance for you and your family’s particular circumstances.
Total and permanent disability insurance
Total and permanent disability (TPD) insurance covers you covers you if you cannot work due to a total and permanent disability and need to adjust your lifestyle accordingly. Many TPD policies pay a lump-sum benefit after the insured has been totally and permanently disabled for a set period, such as six months.
Income protection
What is your greatest asset? Your home? Your car? Your investments?
Your greatest asset is actually your ability to earn an income.
Most of us rely on our income to pay the mortgage or rent, keep ourselves and our families clothed and fed, and maintain a comfortable standard of living. So protecting our ability to earn an income should be a high priority. Yet while most of us are aware of the importance of insuring our homes and possessions, we often ignore protecting our income.
An income protection plan will pay a regular income if you are unable to work because of sickness or injury. Whether the disability is as serious as cancer or as minor as a broken arm, income protection provides a simple, cost-effective safety net.
Income protection is particularly important for the self-employed, who cannot rely on short-term sick leave from an employer.
Most policies will pay up to 75 per cent of your average monthly income (net of business expenses but before tax), if a disability, illness or injury prevents you from working. Income protection premiums are tax deductible.
How much insurance do I need?
There is no right or wrong answer to this question. What is important is that you understand how to calculate the amount of insurance that is right for you.
Following a traumatic event, an adequate level of insurance will allow you to pay off the mortgage and other debts, provide for your children’s education and allow your family to maintain their lifestyle.
You can structure your insurance to minimise your tax obligations. Give us a call to arrange a no obligation (and no cost) meeting to discuss your specific circumstances.
Want to know more about estate and succession planning?
For more information regarding our estates and succession planning services, including will preparation, powers of attorney, enduring guardianship, obtaining probate or letters of administration, and managing deceased estates, please use the quick enquiry form found on this page or call our office on 02 9687 8885. Our experienced estates lawyers look forward to assisting you with your estate and succession planning requirements.
This website is proudly supported by Phang Legal. This article was written by Tom Graham and edited by Kenneth Ti, associate solicitor with Phang Legal.
Related posts:
- The Importance of Insurance – Life Insurance and Business Insurance
- Moving Into Aged Care – Important Considerations
- Moving Into Aged Care – Important Information
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45% of Australians don’t have a Will!
Statistics for Wills in Australia
The NSW Trustee and Guardian (the replacement of the NSW Public Trustee) indicates that 45% of Australians don’t have a Will. Compared to the reasonable assumption that 100% of people die, that’s a glaring statistic showing an imbalance which then begs the question “why is there a section of the
Australian population who don’t have a Will?”
We’ve created this quick poll using some statements that we’ve heard over the years. So if you also don’t have a Will, let us know why.
On 19 August 2011, we’ll be running a free information session on Wills and estate planning at the Harris Park Community Centre as part of Will Awareness Day. Come along and you’ll find that writing a Will isn’t as difficult as it may seem, doesn’t cost as much as you thought, and doesn’t take a lot of time to do right (especially with professional advice and guidance).
A Will is probably one of the most important documents you’ll ever write in your life, and while you’ll never be around to regret not writing one, your family and loved ones that you leave behind will.
Want to know more about Wills and Estate Planning?
For more information regarding our estates and succession planning services, including will preparation, powers of attorney, enduring guardianship, obtaining probate or letters of administration, and managing deceased estates, please use the quick enquiry form found on this page or call our office on 02 9687 8885. Our experienced estates lawyers look forward to assisting you with your Wills, and your estate and succession planning requirements.
This website is proudly supported by Phang Legal. This article was posted by Ern Phang, director of Phang Legal.
Tags: buy, estate, estate planning, family, free, guardian, information, nsw trustee and guardian, planning, trustee, will, wills, Wills & ProbateRelated posts
Will Awareness Day 2011
On 19 August 2011, the Law Society of NSW will be promoting Will Awareness Day – an initiative focused on providing the community with free legal information on Wills and other estate planning matters, all in the name of increasing awareness of the importance of Wills.
Having a legally valid Will helps you to decide how your possessions will be distributed after you die, which can be an important consideration especially if you leave behind family, friends and other loved ones. If you do not have a Will, do not assume that your possessions will be distributed according to your wishes. Under current legislation, if you die without a Will, your estate will be divided according to a Government formula which may not reflect what you really want.
Choosing to write your will is one of the most important decisions you will ever make and it is important to seek proper legal advice so that your financial and personal circumstances are covered.
Phang Legal will be
holding a free information session at the Harris Park Community Centre on 19 August 2011 at 10am. The Centre is located at 11 Albion Street, Harris Park NSW 2150. All are welcomed to attend.
Want to know more about Wills and Estate Planning?
For more information regarding our estates and succession planning services, including will preparation, powers of attorney, enduring guardianship, obtaining probate or letters of administration, and managing deceased estates, please use the quick enquiry form found on this page or call our office on 02 9687 8885. Our experienced estates lawyers look forward to assisting you with your Wills, and your estate and succession planning requirements.
This website is proudly supported by Phang Legal. This article was posted by Ern Phang, director of Phang Legal.
Tags: 2011, estate, estate planning, free, information, law society, legal, planning, will, wills, Wills & Probate