Wills, Estate Planning & Estate Administration

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes,” Benjamin Franklin wrote to a friend in 1789.

Estate Planning

A well considered estate plan should be reviewed at least every five years, and immediately where an important aspect of a person's life changes such as marriage, divorce, separation or the addition of children or grandchildren. It should typically include:

Suitability of powers of attorney, whether of the standard ‘lapsing type’ or of the ‘enduring’ type, which continues where an individual loses capacity
suitability of an ‘Advanced Health Directive’, which permit an individual to give guidance as to the types of life preserving medical procedures that may be administered
superannuation arrangements, which might include arrangements to allow the fund to continue operating in the preferential tax environment past one's death
a family trust
the contents of Wills and the persons nominated as executors & trustees
whether a long-term "testamentary trust" should be included in a will for long-term management of a beneficiaries entitlements

Estate Administration

As soon as someone dies the duties of the Executor named in the Will commence. These duties include taking steps to ensure funeral arrangements are made and family notified as well as securing and protecting the person's assets, before then proceeding to administration of the estate. Executors generally look to solicitors for assistance with the administration of an estate in areas such as the following:-

checking the Will for any issues concerning validity and explaining its terms;
ensuring assets are secure and insured where appropriate and advising on the possibility of any claims against the estate;
ascertaining the details of all assets and liabilities of the estate;
writing to the Banks to verify details and ascertain requirements for dealing with assets;
obtaining a Grant of Probate (or Letters of Administration in cases where there is no valid Will or no Executor) which is an Order of the Supreme Court to facilitate the administration of the estate;
collecting assets and advising on the appropriate distribution to beneficiaries after ensuring all income tax and liabilities of the estate are attended to;
attending to transfer of title to properties either to specific beneficiaries under the Will or to the Executors to facilitate sale as appropriate;
attending to final distributions and obtaining acknowledgements from beneficiaries.

At Maunsell Pennington, Michael McCarthy generally assists clients with needs in these areas, and is ably assisted by solicitor Rebecca Donohoe and paralegal Narelle McCarragher. Michael has significant experience with Wills and in estate planning and administration gained over 25 years of legal practice. He also has significant experience in the areas of Enduring Powers of Attorney and Advance Health Directives gained through practice and through his part-time membership of a tribunal that deals with issues concerning enduring documents.

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