What Is Estate Planning?

Estate planning is the process of implementing the legal documents needed to ensure that you and your loved ones are looked after and provided for according to your wishes if you die or lose the capacity to make decisions due to illness or injury.

If there is one thing that we can recommend from our experience in the field of estate planning, it is that it is never too early to start planning. Estate planning should be a priority for everyone throughout their adult life.
Unfortunately, estate planning is a task that many people put off. Sadly, in some cases people put off their estate planning until it is too late, leading to serious consequences for them and their loved ones.

At Ownit Conveyancing, we make estate planning affordable, efficient and simple. Our solicitors have extensive experience in estate planning and will work with you to mitigate risks and ensure estate planning that’s in your best interest.

Benefits Of Estate Planning

Peace of mind – your estate plan can give you confidence that you and your loved ones will be looked after in accordance with your wishes if you die or lose the capacity to make your own decisions.

Flexibility – with our professional advice, you can structure your estate plan to provide flexibility in terms of the allocation of the income and capital of your estate among your loved ones to take into account potential changes in their needs after you have died, rather than trying to predict what their needs might be in the future.

Tax effectiveness – estate planning can be used to minimise taxation liabilities for you and your loved ones, both during your lifetime and after you have died.

Asset protection – estate planning can help to protect your assets from attack in family law and bankruptcy proceedings, both during your lifetime and after you have died.

Why Should You Hire An Estate Planning Lawyer?

Estate planning is a complex legal area which often involves a large amount of risk.

In our experience, people often make mistakes when using a DIY kit to prepare their own Will and Enduring Power of Attorney. This can potentially lead to difficulty, delay, conflict, stress and substantial expense for their loved ones when those mistakes come to light after the person loses decision-making capacity or dies.

The person’s family may end up having to obtain costly legal advice and representation to resolve issues caused by mistakes in DIY Wills and Enduring Powers of Attorney – these costs can end up being tens of thousands of dollars [not bold] more than the cost of having a Will and Enduring Power of Attorney prepared by an experienced estate planning lawyer.

Get it right the first time, with Ownit’s Estate Planning Lawyers.

What Do Estate Planning Lawyers Do?

Understanding each client’s financial and personal situation, needs and wishes
Identifying and explaining the legal issues, complexities and risks that the client needs to know about and how to address them.

Providing advice on the options available for achieving the client’s estate planning goals.

Preparing the legal documents required to ensure that the client’s instructions can be carried out if the client loses decision-making capacity or dies.

Estate Planning Cost

*A basic Will involves a straightforward distribution of the estate without the inclusion of complex or extensive specific gifts, pecuniary legacies or trusts, and no significant foreseeable risk of estate litigation. A common example of a simple Will is a distribution of the whole estate to a surviving spouse or partner, with a substitute distribution to other beneficiaries (e.g. children) if the primary distribution fails.

**A basic Enduring Power of Attorney involves the straightforward appointment of attorneys without the inclusion of complex or extensive terms, directions or expressions of wishes, and no concerns about capacity to understand the nature and effect of the document.

Our Estate Planning Services Across Queensland

Ownit Conveyancing has provided services across Queensland for over 40 years. While our offices are based in Brisbane, Beenleigh and the Gold Coast, our experienced estate planning lawyers can assist you no matter where you live across Queensland. For more information on how we can assist you in your area, please contact us now.