Your Will: an important document everyone should have
10 February 2012
Have you thought about whether your personal and financial interests would be protected if you suddenly died or became incapable of looking after your own affairs? With nearly a third of Australians dying without a Will each year, and a number of Australians becoming incapacitated by illness or injury, it’s vital to start thinking about making simple preparations.
Why prepare a Will?
Without a Will, you run the risk of the persons or charities you want not receiving your assets. Distributing your assets can become a very complicated process for those involved, not to mention emotional. Preparing a Will can be simple and inexpensive, and we have provided a guideline to help you set up yours.
How?
You can have a lawyer or solicitor draw up your Will, purchase a Will kit from the post office or you can write your own. There‘s also a range of online websites (such as www.easywills.com.au and www.legalwills.com.au) that provide a Will writing kit for a small cost. In preparing your Will, there are a number of things you need to keep in mind, including:
- Who will be your Executor(s) - the person(s) responsible for carrying out your Will instructions. This can be a partner, friend, family member or someone professional such as a lawyer or Trustee, who is willing to take on the role.
- Details of all people you want to give your assets to, and details of all your assets (including businesses and how you would like them to operate after you’re gone).
- Funeral arrangements and how you would like these paid for.
- Whether to appoint a guardian to look after your dependants aged 18 years and under.
Once you have your Will written up, it must be validly executed. To do this it must be signed by the testator (you) and by two persons who witness your signature and sign in the presence of each other. Your witnesses must be over 18 and not be beneficiaries of the estate or be married to a beneficiary of the estate.
Maintaining your Will
For your Will to remain a true reflection of your wishes, it should be kept up to date. Generally, your Will should be reviewed every 3-5 years or when a life changing event occurs (such as a new marriage or birth of a child). Straight forward changes can be made by codicil, which is a one page document that is attached to your original Will. This is also a legal document that needs to be witnessed and signed by two others, in the same way as a Will.
Appointing an Enduring Power of Attorney
You also need to think about who will look after your legal and financial decisions should you become mentally or physically incapacitated. An Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) is someone (friend, relative or professional) you have elected to make financial and legal decisions on your behalf should you become ill or disabled and incapable of making these decisions. Much like a Will, appointing an EPA requires a written document which has special requirements for witnessing and signing (check the laws for your state or territory).
Different types of Enduring Power of Attorney can be executed for financial, medical or guardianship purposes.
While not mandatory, it would be beneficial for you to consult with a Lawyer or Solicitor to review your documents. If you would like to know more about creating a Will or appointing an EPA, please refer to the list of Trustee websites below.
Other things to consider
Enduring Power of Guardianship
An Enduring Guardian is elected to make personal decisions on your behalf in the event of mental or physical incapacity. These decisions might include what treatment you receive, future personal care or who is able to visit you.
Advance Health Care Directive
An Advance Health Care Directive or Enduring Power of Attorney (Medical Treatment) is a document that outlines your wishes for medical treatment should you become ill or disabled.
Insurance
To make sure your family are taken care of in the event of illness, injury or death, consider your insurance needs. Check out our calculator to work out how much it will cost you and how much you’ll receive.
Income protection
What if sickness or injury prevented you from working? To make sure you can pay your bills, consider income protection. See Could you pay your bills if you were unable to work? from our last issue for more information.
Trustee website information