Last month we began exploring the 17 things you must know the answer to. We now address the remaining 9 critical matters.

As we stated at the beginning of the last post, if you haven’t addressed the following points, then your estate planning is likely to lead to less than optimal outcomes, possible disputes and be more financially and emotionally costly to administer.

So have you understood and considered:-

9/.   I understand that a Will dictates what happens to assets that are owned by an individual. I therefore understand that assets owned jointly as joint tenants, the owner of life insurance policies and my superannuation cannot be dealt with by my Will.

10/.  I also understand that I control but do not own my trust(s). It will, subject to an 80 year perpetuity period, live beyond me. I cannot bequeath any asset owned by a trust through my Will; all I can bequeath is any unpaid loan account balance.

11/.  I understand that any unequal unpaid trust distributions to family members will not be automatically addressed by my Will and I have made provisions regarding current and future imbalances.

12/.  I understand that I can make one of three kinds of death benefit nominations in respect of my superannuation and that each nomination has its own advantages and disadvantages depending on one’s individual circumstances. I understand that there is no cookie cutter solution.

13/.  I understand that if there is some dispute about my superannuation within my self managed super fund, then it cannot be referred to the Super Complaints Tribunal; it must go before the courts (in other words, put five or six numbers between the $ sign and decimal point). I also understand that there is a recent procession of landmark cases in this area.

14/.  I understand that if not otherwise considered, a typical self managed super fund deed will give equal rights to each member – which means that two kids with balances of less than $100,000 each will have equal voting rights with my surviving spouse (even if their balance is over $2 million).

15/.  I understand the prudential advantages of setting out my overall wishes in a deed of family agreement.

16/.  I have made provisions for the disclosure of electronic passwords in the absence of which will make it difficult if not impossible for my executor/executrix to know of and transact on my assets.

17/.  I understand that once I’m dead there is nothing I can do to ensure that my wishes are carried out. No one can ask me; they can only guess. This will waste both time and money. Worse still, they may act out of self interest.

Simply put, estate planning is the process of ensuring that the right assets get to the right people in the most efficient manner. It requires thought and consultation.

If you don’t have a Will, your circumstances have changed since your last Will was made, or you fear that your Will doesn’t address one or more of the above issues, then your best course of action is to attend our upcoming seminar in which the above and many other issues will be examined.

Since our first post, we have held one day on the office where clients were booked back to back with an estate planning lawyer. This was best for everyone as whilst it is CRITICAL that we attend the meeting, we only need to chair the first 5 to 10 minutes and attend the de-brief.  Perhaps even some other questions need to be answered during the meeting.  Whilst our involvement is critical, we do not need to sit through the whole meeting.  It is dangerous for us not to be in the meeting.  The risk of not having one’s accountant at (part of) an estate planning meeting is that the structure is all too often not understood and not conveyed to the lawyer.  And having a Will that doesn’t account for trusts and super funds are as good as or worse than not having a Will.

So, does your will estate planning ensure the best outcomes?

At MRS, we will spend today planning for your success tomorrow.