Wills & Estate Planning

Safeguard your future with tailored estate planning, wills, and probate services, ensuring asset protection and peace of mind.

There is no one answer about how to do your Will. It all depends on your assets, your circumstances and who your beneficiaries will be.

You need to make a will that makes your wishes clear, that avoids confusion and conflict amongst your loved ones, and that is legally valid and binding. Doing this will protect your family and friends from costly and stressful legal disputes.

Things you need to consider

Who will be your Executors?

Your Executors have the legal and administrative task of sorting out your assets and debts after you die and making sure that your wishes as outlined in the Will are upheld.

Who will be your beneficiaries and what effect will their inheritance have on their circumstances?

You can designate anyone as a beneficiary and distribute your assets in any way you like, however, if you don’t provide for your family and dependents, your will can be contested and your hard-won assets used on litigation fees.

You also should consider the effects that an inheritance may have on your beneficiaries. In some cases, a testamentary trust can sidestep potential taxation problems, so it’s important that you get specific advice about your situation.

How do you know a Will is valid?

To be valid, the person making the Will must be mentally competent, the Will must be correctly signed and witnessed, and show no evidence of tampering. The witnesses to the Will cannot be beneficiaries, or related to beneficiaries and must be over 18.

If there is any doubt, or potential for dispute as to your mental competence, you should get a doctor’s confirmation of your capacity to make the will and include it with your Will.

How often should I review my Will?

You should certainly review your Will after any major events, such as marriage, divorce, property purchase or sale, death of a beneficiary or if your assets change significantly. We also recommend that you take a look at your Will every couple of years just to make sure that it is still the best instrument for you and for your family.

Start Your Legal Journey with Us

We can help

We know the potential pitfalls, and will ask you all the right questions to make sure that you have considered every possibility. We can advise you as to whether you would be best with a Will or a Testamentary Trust. We can design your Will in such a way to help protect your family from expensive estate litigation after your death and we can safely store your Will in our secure vault.

Estate Planning

At Rosewood Law we understand that dealing with a deceased estate is one of the more difficult challenges in life. From mountains of paperwork to legal jargon and simmering family disputes, they’re the last things you want to deal with when you’re grieving the loss of someone important in your life.

So, let us help you by:

  • Interpreting the Will of the deceased in terms of estate laws
  • Advising executors and trustees in regard to their duties and rights
  • Informing government bodies
  • Applying for Probate of the Will
  • Dealing with intestacy (where there is no Will)
  • Applying for administration rights if the Will is deemed invalid or is absent
  • Identifying estate assets and liabilities
  • Obtaining valuations of estate property
  • Collecting estate financial assets including superannuation, bank funds, shares, outstanding loans, and insurance payouts
  • Selling or transferring estate property including estate auctions
  • Paying estate debts including mortgages, funeral costs, and testamentary expenses
  • Advising in regard to family and testamentary trusts
  • Administering trust funds
  • Distributing bequests and inheritances to beneficiaries
  • Organising information for estate tax returns
  • Family mediation and negotiation
  • Contesting wills and defending estate litigation

Contact us to find out more or to arrange an appointment.