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
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
Related posts
Choosing an Executor
Appointing the right Executor makes all the difference
It is important to have peace of mind after making a Will. Part of the Will-making process involves the election of one or more Executors.
Your Executor is the person that you choose to help you “execute” or carry out the instructions in your Will. Your Executor will take charge of your assets and property after you pass away, and see that the funeral and administration expenses as well as your outstanding debts or taxes are paid, before distributing the balance of your assets in accordance with your instructions.
You can choose more than one person to be your Executor, and you can have them act together or in an individual capacity.
Because your Executor carries out such an important function it is important that you choose your Executor wisely. Your Executor can be a family member, a person named in your Will, a beneficiary, or an independent person, unrelated to your family, such as a solicitor. Depending on the dynamics of your family, you should carefully consider who you elect as the Executor of your Will.
It is common for family members to be elected Executors, however if a family has not been getting along well it might be wise for you to elect an independent person to become an Executor.
Before settling on an Executor you should discuss your intentions with your intended Executor. That person must be comfortable with assisting you with taking care of your estate.
You should also consider if there is any need to appoint an alternate Executor, as there may be unexpected circumstances which may cause your first choice of your Executor to be unable to become your Executor.
Most importantly of all, you must have peace of mind at the end of the process, knowing that your Executor will carry out your last wishes in accordance with what you have in mind.
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, beneficiary, deceased estate, estate planning, executor, executrix, family, legal, peace of mind, phang, solicitor, succession planning, testamentary, testator, will, Will Drafting, will preparation, will-making, Wills & ProbateRelated posts
Challenging a Will under Family Provision
Family Provision legislation and you
There are many reasons why a person may want to challenge a Will. Sometimes the Will may not have been signed or witnessed properly. Sometimes there’s doubts as to the interpretation or content of the Will. Sometimes there is a concern that the Will does not provide adequately for the testator’s dependents.
The Succession Act allows for certain types of people to challenge a Will if they have not been provided for adequately under the Will. There are six categories of people who can make a claim:
1. A spouse of the deceased
2. A defacto spouse of the deceased
3. A child of the deceased
4. A former spouse of the deceased
5. A person who was wholly or partly dependent on the deceased, and was a member of the household at any one time (such as a grandchild or a parent)
6. A person who was living with the deceased in a close personal relationship.
If a person makes a claim in this manner they will have to justify what they are entitled to. These may be for the maintenance, education, or advancement in life of the claimant. The court may also consider the nature of the relationship and how long it existed, the financial circumstances of the claimant, the testamentary intentions of the deceased, or if any other person can support the applicant.
An application for a family provision order under the Succession Act can be a complex and costly affair. A good Will must take these matters into consideration and implement strategies to limit challenges to the Will.
If you are a person seeking entitlements under the Will, careful consideration must be made before starting down the path towards challenging a Will.
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: challenge, deceased estate, estate planning, family, family provision, litigation, succession act, succession planning, testamentary, will, Wills & Probate