Your Trusted Wills and Estates Lawyers in Melbourne

When you’re considering how to structure your estate, we recommended that you seek the advice of our qualified and experienced estate planning lawyers in Melbourne, to ensure that, upon your death, your wishes are upheld. When drafting a Will, it’s imperative to consider personal relationships, family dynamics, business connections, types of assets, ownership of assets, and trust structures (examples are a discretionary trust, a protective trust, or a family trust), to ensure that any possibility of legal challenge or dispute is reduced. Our highly experienced legal professionals can confidently assist you with all of your estate planning requirements. You can trust our expert advice and we would be happy to assist you with:

• matters relating to intestacy
• a discussion about your estate plans
• drafting your will and essential documents
• planning your estate (inclusive of your digital assets)
• appointing testamentary guardians for your minor children
• provision of guidelines for the testamentary guardians of your children
• deciding on your executor/s
• funeral planning
• guardian services
• minimising potential estate disputes
• establishing discretionary family trusts and testamentary trusts to facilitate asset protection
• business succession planning
• family business succession planning
• succession planning for your related entities (trusts and companies)
• rural succession planning
• drafting appointment of attorneys, enduring or otherwise
• preparing an appointment of medical treatment decision maker
• advising on superannuation death benefits
• succession planning for self-managed superannuation funds
• advising on estate disputes
• mediating estate disputes
• resolving disputes over wills, deceased estates, and trusts
• conducting estate litigation
• deceased estate administration
• estate administration on intestacy
• trust administration
• distributing your estate to your beneficiaries

Our highly experienced legal professionals can confidently assist you with all of your estate planning requirements, and all matters relating to estate administration and estate litigation.

What is a Will? A Will is an essential legal document which facilitates an opportunity for you to communicate to your loved ones what you would like to occur regarding your estate, and your person, in the event of your death. A Will specifies who, or which organisation, you would like to carry out your final wishes (the executor) and to whom you would like your estate to be distributed to (the beneficiaries), and how.

Our legal team specialises in the drafting of Wills. Irrespective of how large or small your estate may be, it is highly recommended that you have a Will to help prevent legal issues impacting upon your financial matters in the future. We make it our business to help take the pressure out of succession planning by drafting legal documents such as Wills in a highly efficient and effective manner. We ensure that you nominate who will take charge of your affairs in the event of your death, by way of appointing an executor of your Will. Doing so may minimise legal costs draining your estate in the future. A Will, and proper estate planning, is the most effective way in which to facilitate the distribution of your assets to your beneficiaries.

If you die without a Will, you are said to have died ‘intestate’. In this case, the rules of intestacy mandate the manner in which your estate will be disposed of, and this will most likely not be in alignment with your wishes. If you die intestate, there is a priority order of person/s (usually family), who are eligible to be granted Letters of Administration. Otherwise, the Public Trustee could assume responsibility for your estate. This may delay the finalisation of your estate and could add to the expenses incurred.

If you do have a Will, it will facilitate the most appropriate manner in which to provide for your family and loved ones in the event of your death. Proper estate planning can result in considerable savings in the administration of your estate. Consider those that you will leave behind and consult a de Groots estate planning specialist for advice on estate planning. Our experienced estate lawyers offer legal advice on all aspects of estate planning and deceased estates, and we know what the legal requirements are. Utilising our legal services and therefore our depth of knowledge when planning your estate will help prevent difficult times for your family and loved ones. It will also help to avoid potential disputes and assist in the process of your estate being distributed to your beneficiaries in a reasonable time frame.

In Australia, you don’t need a lawyer to make a Will. However, for example, will-kit Wills are prepared without considering the pitfalls and problems that may arise during estate planning. Utilising the services of our law firm on our fixed-fee basis will substantially prevent your loved ones from being exposed to unnecessary stress during your estate’s administration. This is because we are aware of the pitfalls and problems that may arise, and our quality advice will give you peace of mind and help prevent stressful times for your loved ones.

What is a power of attorney? A power of attorney allows the principal (you) to designate a person that you trust to make personal and financial decisions on your behalf whilst you are alive (NB: an Appointment of Medical Treatment Decision Makers allows you to designate a person you trust to make decisions regarding your health on your behalf whilst you are alive). Your power of attorney can make decisions regarding personal matters such as:

• where and with whom you live
• health care
• support services
• legal matters that are separate to your property or financial matters.

Your power of attorney can also make decisions regarding financial matters such as:

• conducting a business
• funding expenses
• selling property (including your principal place of residence)
• making investments.

The two types of power of attorney are:

• general power of attorney, which comes to an end if you no longer have capacity
• enduring power of attorney, which continues if you no longer have capacity, but ceases upon your death.

To appoint someone to be your power of attorney, you must be 18 or older, have the capacity to make informed decisions, and be able to do so freely and voluntarily. You must have the ability to comprehend the level of control that your attorney will yield under the document. You may, however, limit the level of control given to your attorney. The process of appointing your attorney under a formal power of attorney involves:

• choosing your attorney carefully and talking with them about their role as your attorney, as you need to ensure that they won’t mismanage their role.
• reading and completing the relevant form, depending on your requirements. Prior to completing this form, it is imperative that you seek independent legal advice.

Careful estate planning is imperative to ensure that your final wishes are carried out. An essential component of effective estate planning is nominating an executor of your estate. The executors’ duties may include:

• If required, obtaining a grant of probate or Letters of Administration from the Supreme Court of Victoria
• locating and notifying the beneficiaries of your estate
• checking and securing your assets
• collecting income and gathering valuables
• confirming valid insurance policies on your assets
• ascertaining debts and liabilities
• organising tax returns and income tax clearances
• the sale or transfer of your assets
• organising the preparation of your financial statements
• distributing your estate
• managing estate matters
• managing estate claims
• managing estate issues

When considering who to appoint as the executor of your estate, it is advisable to contact them and discuss with them why you have chosen them to be the executor of your estate and what your expectations of them are. If they agree to be the executor of your estate, you then appoint them as Executor of your Will, which our expert team would be happy to assist you with. You may even choose to have more than one executor appointed if you wish, but in that case, it is imperative that your executors will be willing to work together. Also, if there is tension between your executor/s and the beneficiaries of your estate, costly disputes may arise, so it is vital that you choose your executor/s carefully.

At de Groots wills and estate lawyers, we are experts in all aspects of wills and estate planning, and we offer quality advice given by experienced legal practitioners. We would be pleased to demonstrate to you the benefit of estate planning with us, and how our dedicated team can help you, your family, and your loved ones.