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Online Legal Documents

Estate Planning - Wills and Power of Attorney documents

This legal document service may only suit persons with straightforward and simple affairs, however, persons with complex affairs involving things such as blended families, disabled children, business structures, complex investment structures, same sex partners, unusually large wealth, terminally ill testators, possibilities of challenges on the estate and life interests, should contact McMasters Lo Andrawis Lawyers so that appropriate legal advice can be given and estate planning documentation drafted accordingly. McMasters Lo Andrawis Lawyers can be contacted on (03) 9583 6533.

Wills

There are two main forms of wills that can be provided as part of this legal document service which are (please note that some of the following information has been drafted in the first person for ease of reference only):-

  1. LED’s simple will leaves everything you own to your family in accordance with a simple formula. If you die prematurely everything is left to your spouse. If you and your spouse both die prematurely, your will leaves everything to your children or any other beneficiaries that you choose.
    This is a deliberately simple and very natural approach that suits most clients who are married and have all adult children or no children. A simple will is the more traditional will. It is a document that leaves your estate to the beneficiaries of your choice absolutely. For persons with minimal assets and relatively simple affairs, a simple will is a perfectly sensible way to proceed because it is straightforward and easy to understand.
    If you are concerned about asset protection for the beneficiaries of your estate or you would like the beneficiaries to take advantage of potential tax benefits in receiving their inheritance by distributing income or capital to others, you may want to consider establishing a testamentary trust as part of this will. This is discussed further at point 2 below.
  2. LED’s will establishing a testamentary trust is a slightly more complex will that leaves everything you own to a testamentary trust for the benefit of the surviving spouse and your children. This has the advantage of better protecting the surviving spouse and your children in the long term and also has potential taxation benefits for future income distributions from the trust. This type of will is recommended if your estate is large, you have beneficiaries under 18 that you may wish to provide for or you have beneficiaries over 18 who may be in a position where asset protection is important in their lives. Testamentary trusts present powerful tax-planning and asset protection tools for the beneficiaries under a will. For example, children under the age of eighteen are not taxed at penalty rates on income derived through a testamentary trust. Testamentary trusts also allow discretion to be exercised by the trustee to pass income down to beneficiaries in a lower tax bracket.
    In relation to the asset protection benefits of a testamentary trust, unlike in the case of a simple will, the beneficiaries of your estate will not become the legal owners of the estate. Rather they are beneficiaries with an entitlement from a discretionary testamentary trust that holds the property of the estate. This structure can be highly beneficial and protect assets of the estate in circumstances including bankruptcy, litigation, family law, pension benefits, spend-thrift beneficiaries and beneficiaries with disabilities.

If the above two options do not suit you in any way, our Solicitors at McMasters Lo Andrawis Lawyers can tailor your estate planning documents to suit your specific circumstances, however, this will involve a comprehensive review of the your current circumstances and needs by one of our solicitors, and appropriate advice to be provided accordingly. This is outside the scope of this legal document service as discussed above. Please do not hesitate to contact McMasters Lo Andrawis Lawyers on (03) 9583 6533 to for a comprehensive review of your estate planning needs and the costs involved.

POWERS OF ATTORNEY & GUARDIANSHIP

A power of attorney or a  power of guardianship is the only way of controlling who will make decisions for you if you are unable to do so yourself due to loss of capacity or other reasons, such as leaving the country.

You can choose to make:

  • a General Power of Attorney by appointing someone to make financial or legal decisions for you, usually for a specific period of time, such as when you are away on holidays.
  • an Enduring Power of Attorney (Personal and Financial) by appointing someone to make financial and legal decisions on your behalf, such as signing a legal document, selling property or doing your banking, if you are unable to make these decisions at some point in the future.
  • an Enduring Power of Attorney (Medical Treatment) by appointing someone to make medical decisions on your behalf, such as agreeing to or refusing surgery, if you are unable to make these decisions at some point in the future.
  • an Enduring Power of Guardianship by appointing someone to make day-to-day lifestyle decisions on your behalf, such as where you live and health care issues, if you are unable to make these decisions at some point in the future.

These notes are intended for use by persons wishing to use our legal document service for the preparation of certain estate planning documents for their clients.

The requested documents will be prepared based solely on the instructions provided by you in this fact finder. This legal document service does not take into account your clients’ objectives, financial situation, needs or whether the documentation is appropriate to them. This service is only a legal document service and, therefore, we have not provided legal advice to you or your client.

This legal document service may only suit persons with straightforward and simple affairs, however, persons with complex affairs involving things such as blended families, disabled children, business structures, complex investment structures, same sex partners, unusually large wealth, terminally ill testators, possibilities of challenges on the estate and life interests, should be referred to a solicitor so that appropriate legal advice can be given and estate planning documentation drafted accordingly.

Please take care to complete the fact finders correctly as we will not make changes to the documents once we have prepared them and sent them to you. If you do request any changes after the documents are sent to you, there will be further fees involved.

There are two main forms of wills that can be provided as part of this legal document service which are (please note that some of the following information has been drafted in the first person for ease of reference only):-

1. The McMasters Lo Andrawis Lawyers simple will leaves everything you own to your family in accordance with a simple formula. If you die prematurely everything is left to your spouse. If you and your spouse both die prematurely, your will leaves everything to your children or any other beneficiaries that you choose. This is a deliberately simple and very natural approach that suits most clients who are married and have all adult children or no children. A simple will is the more traditional will. It is a document that leaves your estate to the beneficiaries of your choice absolutely. For persons with minimal assets and relatively simple affairs, a simple will is a perfectly sensible way to proceed because it is straightforward and easy to understand.
If you are concerned about asset protection for the beneficiaries of your estate or you would like the beneficiaries to take advantage of potential tax benefits in receiving their inheritance by distributing income or capital to others, you may want to consider establishing a testamentary trust as part of this will. This is discussed further at point 2 below.

2. The McMasters Lo Andrawis Lawyers will establishing a testamentary trust is a slightly more complex will that leaves everything you own to a testamentary trust for the benefit of the surviving spouse and your children. This has the advantage of better protecting the surviving spouse and your children in the long term and also has potential taxation benefits for future income distributions from the trust.

The will incorporating a testamentary trust that we are able to provide as part of this legal document service is a will that establishes a testamentary trust for the benefit of the surviving spouse and children of the will-maker, with the surviving spouse as the sole appointor and trustee of the trust. If this is not suitable for the will-maker, the will-maker should contact one of our solicitors to obtain legal advice in relation to the specific testamentary trust that they require.

Even if you do not have children under 18 you can still opt for the slightly more complex option of a testamentary trust to give greater protection for the surviving spouse and your children in the long term. Similarly if you do have children under 18 then you can still opt for the simpler option if the advantages of protection and potential taxation benefits are of less importance to you.

Of course, if the above two options do not suit your clients in any way, we can tailor their estate planning documents to suit their specific circumstances, however, this will involve a comprehensive review of the clients’ current circumstances and needs by one of our solicitors, and appropriate advice to be provided accordingly. This is outside the scope of this legal document service as discussed above.