Digital Assets and Estate Matters: What happens to your online data after your death?
In today’s world nearly everything is digital, cloud storage is used for your personal files, Facebook for your social calendar and LinkedIn for your career. Most people have adjusted to technology taking over their life, but few realise that their digital footprint can also pose a real problem after death. Digital platforms are required to […]
Contesting a will? Family Provision Claims
Been left out of a will? Not received what you believe you are entitled to receive? You could be eligible to make a family provision claim. Family provision claims must be made within 12 months of the death of your loved one and can only be made by ‘eligible persons’. This includes current or former […]
Getting your affairs in order – what is an appointment of Enduring Guardian
An Enduring Guardian is the person you appoint to make personal, health or lifestyle decisions on your behalf should you lose the capacity to make them for yourself. When you appoint an Enduring Guardian, you choose the decision-making powers your Enduring Guardian will have. For example, you can authorise your Enduring Guardian to decide where […]
Estate Executors – Know your tax obligations
Agreeing to be executor of an estate means accepting obligations to the tax office. As the executor, you are answerable to the taxpayer for all of the estate's income and take over the deceased’s responsibilities for launching tax returns. Until the estate’s assets and income have been fully distributed, you will have to work out […]
Trusts – Losing out on land tax threshold
Who pays land tax? If you own, or jointly own, any property in NSW that is not your principal place of residence (your home) and the total taxable value of your land exceeds the land tax threshold, then you may need to pay land tax. How is land tax calculated? If your total land value […]
Your will – where is it?
Where should you keep your will? Keep your will in a safe place. It is preferable not to keep the will yourself in case it is mislaid. If the will is mislaid, it may be presumed to have been revoked. Solicitors hold wills on behalf of clients, usually at no charge. You should keep a copy […]
Planning ahead – what is an Enduring Guardian?
An Enduring Guardian is someone you appoint, at a time when you have capacity, to make personal, health or lifestyle decisions on your behalf should you lose the capacity to make them for yourself. When you appoint an Enduring Guardian, you should choose which decision-making powers you want your Enduring Guardian to have. For example, you […]
Homemade wills – when the judge decides
A will prepared without legal advice may not express the deceased's intentions. There are many cases looking at ‘homemade’ or ‘DIY’ wills. In one case, the Courts had to interpret a homemade will for an estate with a gross value of about $3.6 million. The deceased had died in 2006, aged 83. He had seven […]
Planning ahead – What is a Power of Attorney?
A Power of Attorney is a document you can sign to appoint another person (your attorney) to act for you in relation to financial affairs. The document says what the attorney is authorised to do, and this can be as narrow and specific, or as general, as you wish. Any lawful action taken by the […]
Tax Efficient or Efficiently Taxed? The Hidden Questions that Show We Might Be Too Trusting in Trusts
When establishing a testamentary trust or seeking estate planning guidance, the goal is to conserve and grow assets. Specifically, we want an instrument that will provide the flexibility to distribute assets and income to our dependants and to capitalise on tax benefits after death. But are trusts always suitable? The recent decision of Soo v […]