Wills

A Single Will is a standalone document created for one person. It outlines their wishes regarding assets, executors, and beneficiaries independently of anyone else. This is the standard choice for individuals, just completing a Will on their own, or partners with significantly different estate planning goals or separate asset structures.

Joint Wills are still two separate legal documents, one for each person, however these are more applicable for couples — whether married, de facto, or in a civil partnership — who have identical wishes. The contents of the wills are typically 'mirror-reverse', where each partner leaves their entire estate to the surviving partner, and then to the same secondary beneficiaries, such as their children, if both pass away together.

We are able to offer a reduced price for Joint Wills because the solicitor is able to save time not having to draft two completely different sets of instructions for each person. Therefore, in the event that a married couple attends and has separate distributions and different beneficiaries in their Wills, the discounted fee for Joint Wills would not be applicable.

A common misconception is that Wills are only for the wealthy, or people with a lot of different assets, however, a Will is an important document for any adult, regardless of the size of their bank account. If you pass away without a valid Will, you die 'intestate'. This means that your assets and money are distributed according to a rigid formula set out in the Succession Act legislation. This often leads to unintended consequences, as the state-wide formula is almost guaranteed to not perfectly fit your specific circumstances, and it is very likely that your estate would not be distributed how you would intend. This is the purpose of a Will - it lets you take distribution of your estate into your own hands, and make these decisions for yourself.

Also, an enormous benefit of a Will is to signifactly ease the administrative burden on your loved ones in the unlikely event that you do pass away. Everyone knows that trying to do anything out of the ordinary with a bank, superannuation fund, council, or other large company can be immensly difficult at the best of times. These institutions will automatically assume that anyone who has passed away has left a Will, and their process to release your money or assets will be based on this. If you pass without a Will, your loved ones may not be able to go via the 'normal' channels at these places. It is very likely they will have to spend large amounts of time, effort, and possibly money, to finish transferring all of your money and assets into their names.

An Executor is the person or people you name in your Will who are legally responsible for managing your estate and carrying out your final wishes after you pass away. They are 'in charge' of the process. It is a position of significant trust, as the Executor acts as your legal representative, ensuring that the instructions left in your Will are followed. It is common for the Executor to engage a law firm, such as us, to assist them with the more legal aspects of administering the esate, such as dealing with all the paperwork from the banks, lodging Titles Office documents to transfer properties, and providing access to a Trust Account to accommodate and facilitate distribution of the funds to beneficiaries.

DIY Will kits might seem like a quick and affordable solution, but they carry real risks that could create serious problems for your loved ones. A significant issue is the wording - generic templates are designed to cover every possible situation, which means they often cover none of them particularly well. Vague or imprecise wording can fail to accurately reflect your intentions, and there is no guarantee that the language used is legally correct, or that you have filled the Will out correctly.

Another common problem with those documents is that people make mistakes filling them out, or they are not signed and witnessed properly. In order to ensure that you have completed the DIY will correctly, you would need to obtain legal advice on it anyway, a service which most law firms, including us, do not offer. Wills are complicated, and the rules are easy to get wrong without expert knowledge. A will that has not been correctly signed and witnessed may not be legally valid at all.

While both are important documents in a comprehensive estate plan, a Will and an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPOA) serve entirely different purposes and operate at different times.

A Will only becomes legally active after you pass away. It is designed to manage your 'post-death' affairs, such as distributing assets and settling debts. It has no legal standing while you are alive; you can change it at any time, and your named Executor has no authority over your affairs until after your death.

An Enduring Power of Attorney is a completely separate document that operates while you are still alive. It allows you to appoint a person you trust to make financial, legal, and medical decisions for you, on your behalf, if you lose the mental capacity to do so yourself — perhaps due to illness, an accident, or age. Crucially, the authority granted by an EPOA expires the moment you pass away — which is exactly when the Will takes over. Having both documents ensures you are protected throughout your entire life. Without an EPOA, your family may face expensive and lengthy tribunal applications to manage your finances if you become unwell. Together, these documents provide total coverage for both your life and your legacy.

In Queensland, the law recognizes that a person has a moral obligation to provide for certain people in their life. If a Will fails to make 'adequate provision' for the proper maintenance and support of an eligible person, they may be entitled to file a Family Provision Claim, which is commonly reffered to as 'challenging' a Will.

The law strictly defines who is considered an 'eligible person' to prevent frivolous claims from distant relatives or friends. In Queensland, the primary categories of eligible claimants typically include: 1. Spouses and De Facto Partners; 2. Children - Including biological, adopted, and potentially step-children or foster children; and 3. Other Financial Dependents.

The court evaluates these claims by weighing the claimant’s financial needs against the size of the estate and the interests of other beneficiaries. Because a successful challenge can significantly deplete an estate’s value through legal fees, identifying potential claimants during the drafting phase is vital. We help you document your reasoning and structure your assets to minimize these risks.

A common concern for many is whether their loved ones will be burdened by their financial obligations after they pass away. Generally, your debts do not simply disappear, but they also do not automatically pass to your family members. Instead, they become the responsibility of your estate. Your Executor is tasked with identifying all outstanding liabilities — including credit cards, personal loans, and utilities—and paying them using the assets within your estate before any distributions are made to your beneficiaries.

Certain assets like superannuation and life insurance can potentially enjoy special legal protections from creditors, ensuring they reach your loved ones intact. Understanding how your assets and liabilities interact is a key part of estate planning that provides lasting peace of mind. If you are concerned about a large oustanding debt and want to ensure that your superannuation is protected, you should discuss this with us during your appointments.

While the promise of a 'Free Will' from another institution can be tempting, it is often a classic example of a 'loss leader' designed to enable them to charge more lucrative fees in the future. Many places will offer these free services and appoint themselves as your executors, or another role in your Will. Unfortunately, this is where the true costs are hidden.

These institutions are often notorious for having complex and exorbitant fee structures applied after you pass away. Unlike a private legal firm that may offer optional services for estate administration, they often uses a percentage-based commission that can drain tens of thousands of dollars from an estate for even relatively simple tasks. Your loved ones are often 'locked in' to using their services, unable to complete any of the work themselves in order to save on costs. Recent public reports have highlighted issues in these types of institutions, such as a lack of transparency, over-servicing, and 'fees for no service', which can significantly reduce the inheritance left for your loved ones.

By paying a fair fixed-price fee with our firm, you retain the power to appoint a trusted family member or friend as your Executor. They can then choose to engage professional help only when necessary, keeping costs under control and ensuring that your hard-earned assets go to your beneficiaries rather than being wasted away on an institution that tricked you into a 'free' will.

Probate is a process in which a Will is submitted to the Supreme Court, who then 'validates' the will, and issues a Grant of Probate to the appointed Executor(s). Whether Probate will be required or not will depend on the law at the time of your death, and will also depend on the types of assests that you own, and their value. Please see our Estate Administration page for more information.

Many people view estate planning as a task for the distant future, often associating it with retirement or old age. However, the true purpose of a Will is to protect against the unpredictable. Life can change in an instant, and having a Will is less about your age and more about the responsibilities and assets you have right now. To sign a legally binding Will, you must be of sound mind and fully understand the implications of your decisions. Sudden medical events such as a stroke, a serious accident, or the early onset of cognitive decline can instantly strip you of the legal capacity required to document your wishes. If this happens, it is often too late to create a Will, leaving your family to navigate a complex, stressful, and expensive legal process to manage your affairs.