Wills

[bambino]

I was just wondering, at what stage did you prepare your will ?

DH and I are yet to do ours, and now that DS is getting older, we thought we had better do one.

But did you go through a proper person like a public trustee and get a power of attorney or did you just buy a will kit and did it yourself ?

I'm just not sure what I need to do and the best way to do it.

[meme]

I did my will through a solicitor.
It was pretty easy to do.

[mum_I'm_hungry]

We needed a testamentary trust besides wills, power of attorney, advance health directives etc. so did it all through a family lawyer :yes:

[CookiesRYum]

We got our wills done when we brought our house - we just used the ones from the post office $30 for a partner pack I think it was. They are perfectly legal and kind of like fill the blank.

Now we are married, DH has started his own business and we are planning a family - we thought it was a bit more complicated and went to a solicitor to get them re-done including power of attorneys - medical and financial. It cost around $500.

[CookiesRYum]

We needed a testamentary trust besides wills, power of attorney, advance health directives etc. so did it all through a family lawyer :yes:

What's a tesamentary trust and health directives - sound complicatd and expensive?

[sam's mum]

I don't know about NSW, but in Qld it is free if you do it with the public trustee. Ours wasn't that straight forward either, because we had to make provision for DD1 and her bio dad, but it was still free.

It is also very easy.

[lou333]

Will kits are apparently legal and cost around $20 from the post office. I think if you have significant assets or a complicated family situation you should probably get it done through a solicitor. Testamentary trusts are used for tax benefits for your beneficiaries and to protect your assets from others who might attempt to claim them after your death eg. if a beneficiary is experiencing insolvency, if your spouse re-marries and then they divorce there is some protection of your assets for your children. Advanced directives relate to legally appointing someone to make decisions regarding your medical care on your behalf should you be unable to do so. We did ours through a solicitor recently, although had a will kit prior to that.

[MsMummy]

Please do not DIY your will. While a properly completed will kit will result in a legal will, a lot of people don't complete them properly. Or they complete them properly but don't understand the implications of their decisions, or understand what property will be subject to the will and what will not.

I had a look at the NSW Public Trustee (equivalent) site and they seem to charge for wills unless they are the executor. their normal fees might be a bit cheaper than the private sector anyway though.

Wills are the cheapest thing you'll ever get from a lawyer. Lawyers traditionally do straightforward ones at reduced rates.

In the suburbs in Brisbane, you can get 2 x wills (for a couple) for as little as a few hundred dollars. I imagine it would be similiar in NSW.

In Queensland, powers of attorney are a lot easier to do yourself.

[Me]

Be wary of the public trustee wills. As far as I am aware they take a % of your estate.

[MsMummy]

Be wary of the public trustee wills. As far as I am aware they take a % of your estate.

I can only speak of the Public Trustee of Queensland.

They:

- do free wills
- you can appoint whoever you want as the executor (do not have to appoint them)
- when you die, your executor can collect the will from the PT (presuming they hold it in their safe custody)
- your executor can then administer it themselves or get the PT or a private solicitor to administer it
- Neither the PT nor private solicitors charge percentages (it's illegal in Queensland), rather they charge on a time basis, but can give fixed quotes for certain elements of estate administration (eg. probate)

However, that's Queensland (we have a good system here with the free PT wills).

When I went to the PT NSW site, it appears they only do a free will IF you appoint them as executors. That would result in them charging the estate to administer it when you die. And it means your beneficiaries wouldn't have the choice of doing some of it themselves or getting their own solicitor to do it.

[CrankyAndTired]

We did our wills, along with power of attorney etc when I was pregnant with DS. Provisions were made for him and any subsequent children.

Due to major family breakdowns since we've had to make some changes and we changed our minds who we'd like DS to go to in the event of our death, but overall its usually just a quick email to our lawyer.

It was really important for me to do before DS was born, mostly because it would be terrible if DH's family got custody of him in the event of our death (DH agrees!)

[Butterfly Mummy]

DONT GO TO A PUBLIC TRUSTEE.

Im speaking from experience as both my grandparents died a few years ago they were with different trustees and the experience was horrible.

Baisically when who ever dies EVERYTHING is then the property of the trustee, They have the right to to everything You cannot go and take anything from the house as they get a piece of everything. My Grandfathers house was sold by the agent they chose who took their 10% alot more than if you have the power to sell it yourself at 3% of the sale price. Plus the Trustee get I think it was 7% of the sale of the house. And they take the first offer they dont bargain they just want to get rid of it and get their piece of your family's money.

They took my grandmothers belongings Blackwood antique furniture and shipped it from the country town she lived in for $600 and then sold the lot at auction for $251 so it turned out we owed them. At least if you sell it yourself you can move it to the auction house and put a reserve on it.

PLEASE PLEASE PAY TO GO TO A SOLICITOR TO HAVE IT DONE. ITS well worth the money.

[mum_I'm_hungry]

What's a tesamentary trust and health directives - sound complicatd and expensive?

It was all quite expensive -- in the thousands, but most people don't need a testamentary trust. We only have one because of my husband's line of work (he can be easily sued). Advance health directives you can do for free, though, I think (I think the forms are online somewhere?). People rarely do them, but they're so incredibly important.

[sam's mum]

DONT GO TO A PUBLIC TRUSTEE.

Im speaking from experience as both my grandparents died a few years ago they were with different trustees and the experience was horrible.

Baisically when who ever dies EVERYTHING is then the property of the trustee, They have the right to to everything You cannot go and take anything from the house as they get a piece of everything. My Grandfathers house was sold by the agent they chose who took their 10% alot more than if you have the power to sell it yourself at 3% of the sale price. Plus the Trustee get I think it was 7% of the sale of the house. And they take the first offer they dont bargain they just want to get rid of it and get their piece of your family's money.

They took my grandmothers belongings Blackwood antique furniture and shipped it from the country town she lived in for $600 and then sold the lot at auction for $251 so it turned out we owed them. At least if you sell it yourself you can move it to the auction house and put a reserve on it.

PLEASE PLEASE PAY TO GO TO A SOLICITOR TO HAVE IT DONE. ITS well worth the money.

that is only true if they are the executor. in Qld, you don't have to have them as the executor.

[MsMummy]

What's a tesamentary trust and health directives - sound complicatd and expensive?

A testamentary (discretionary) trust is a trust but in a will.

People choose them for tax minimisation and asset protection for beneficiaries.