When meeting with new clients for Estate Planning matters, we often encounter some interesting myths and misconceptions about the law and processes involved with Estate Planning.
Estate Planning and administration in Queensland is governed by the Succession Act 1981. Documents drafted during estate planning can include a Will, a Power of Attorney for Finance and/or Personal/Health matters, and an Advance Health Directive (plus any other supporting documentation recommended by your lawyer).
Estate Planning can be a complex process, and the advice given to each client is individually tailored to their circumstances – the advice we give one client will often be entirely different to that given to another (as the clients may have different priorities in their Estate Plan, or the law applies to their individual circumstances in a different way).
Due to the misconception that Estate Planning is a “one size fits all” exercise, there are many myths (which often stem from tailored advice being misunderstood as general advice) which are becoming more widely known.
We are pleased to announce the launch of our “Estate Planning Myths” Series of articles on 7 March 2016, through which the lawyers of our Estate Planning team will address the truth behind some of the most common myths and misconceptions we hear.
What myths and misconceptions are you talking about?
While there are many Estate Planning myths, we will be addressing those that we most commonly hear. These include:-
- “Making a $1 gift to a person in my Will prevents them from making a claim against my Estate”
- “If I don’t make a Will, everything goes to the government”
- “What’s the point of a Will? My Estate will get eaten up by death duties anyway!”
- “I don’t have any assets, so I don’t need a Will”
- “Anyone can challenge a Will – it’s not worth the paper it’s written on”
- “I don’t need to make a Will because my spouse will automatically receive everything”
- “I made my Will years ago and nothing has changed, so I don’t need to do a new one”
- “I don’t need a Power of Attorney because my spouse can automatically act”
- “My Executor won’t get any compensation for acting as Executor”
- “My Executor has to pay for the costs of administration of my Estate”.
Have you been told something about a Will, Power of Attorney, or Estate Planning generally, that you are not sure about?
The above indicated topics are those heard most often by our lawyers – but it is not an exhaustive list of the myths that circulate.
Is there something you think we have missed and would like us to reveal the truth of? If so, please email Caitlin Bampton with your query. Alternatively, if you would prefer to submit an anonymous query of an Estate Planning myth you have heard, please click here to complete our survey, and we will address the topic in future articles.
