How a Gold Coast estate planning lawyer can help
Engaging the expertise of a Gold Coast estate planning lawyer from Ballantyne Law is taking a decisive step toward safeguarding your assets. It will provide peace of mind for both you and your loved ones and ensure that your wishes are legally binding.
When do you need to make a new will?
Personal estate planning is an evolving process. It is very rare for our circumstances to remain static throughout our lifetime, which means that just making a will is not enough – you should be aware that you need to review your estate plan regularly, and particularly when your personal circumstances change significantly.
Do you have an exit strategy? Estate and succession planning for business owners
Exit strategies are important. Whether it is an uncomfortable social gathering on a Tuesday night or your retirement plan, having a departure strategy allows you to move forward with confidence. One of our good friends shamelessly “smoke bombs” at exactly 8.18pm from virtually every event he attends – it is an exit strategy that works for him. Estate and Succession planning allows business owners to give certainty to their families and business partners about their departure plans.
Informal Wills in Queensland
In an ideal world, we would all be up to date with our planning, including our estate planning. Unfortunately, studies show that a large proportion of Australian adults do not have a current, up-to-date will. What happens when someone dies without a will, but with another document that may purport to be a will but that doesn’t meet the formal requirements? In 2006 changes were introduced to the Succession Act 1981 (Qld) (the Act) which authorised the Queensland Supreme Court to recognise (in limited circumstances) these ‘informal wills’ in Queensland.
News round up – Estate Planning
Recent national news stories have put the issue of estate planning into the spotlight. These articles highlight generally the critical importance of appropriate estate planning for Australian adults of all ages.
7 Common Estate Planning Failures (and a simple way you can avoid them)
Estate planning allows you put in place strategies to pass ownership of assets, control of entities and decision making powers in the event of your death or loss of capacity. At its most basic level, estate planning deals with wills and powers of attorney.
It is time to review your estate plan
Plan for this world as if you expect to live forever; but plan for the hereafter as if you expect to die tomorrow. – Solomon Ibn Gabriol
Estate planning is critical for anyone who has a family and anyone who has assets. The estate planning process ensures that in the event of death or incapacity, decisions are made by the people that you have chosen, and assets are dealt with in the manner you decide.
