At Matthews Dooley & Gibson, we have helped people plan for
their future for over 30 years. We have experienced professionals in
both our Blacktown and Baulkham Hills offices to help you in the
following areas of Estate Planning:-
(a) Wills
The only way that you can direct what will happen to your
assets after your death is to make a Will. If you don't have a
Will then your assets will be divided according to the Law. Not
only is the Law inflexible, but it is likely to achieve a result
that you do not want. Further, without a Will, an Administrator
will be appointed for your Estate according to the Law. That
person may be somebody other than the person that you would like
to entrust with your assets. In the course of making a Will you
appoint one or more persons to be your Executor and those persons
nominated by you are put into the position of dealing with your
assets in accordance with the wishes that you have expressed in
your Will.
Why should you pay us to help you make a Will? You can try to
do it yourself. There are many "Do-it-Yourself" Will
Kits available. Unfortunately, however, the Law in relation to
valid Wills is very complex and frequently
"Do-it-Yourself" Wills are either not valid at all, or
fail to achieve the desired result.
Alternatively, you can go to the Public Trustee or to a Trustee
company and have your Will made for "free".
Unfortunately, the Public Trustee and Trustee companies require
you to appoint them as Executors. There are two problems with
that. First, they take a commission out of your Estate which
normally far exceeds both the cost of making a Will and the Legal
costs of administering an Estate. Second, you are entrusting
decision making in relation to your Estate to people who neither
you nor your loved ones know.
Further, not only do we merely make a Will for you but we
assist you where necessary in designing a Will which best reflects
your wishes and, at the same time, takes into account your
obligations and position as to any potential claims that people
may have on your Estate.
Simple Wills are relatively inexpensive and a fixed quote can
be given to you upon a telephone or e-mail enquiry.
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(b) Powers of Attorney
By making a Power of Attorney you give to a trusted person the
power to conduct your legal and financial affairs while you are
still alive. An Enduring Power of Attorney allows that trusted
person to continue to look after your affairs during any period
where you are incapacitated temporarily or permanently or
physically or through unsoundness of mind.
Should you have a Power of Attorney? This is a decision for
you. They are extremely useful when people are travelling
interstate or overseas, are in ill health, or are in their
advanced years. In addition, however, none of us can predict when
misfortune may strike and we may be unable to look after our own
affairs for a period of time, or at all. None of us can predict a
serious accident or illness that may strike us down. Having a
Power of Attorney can enable people to transact banking and other
business, pay your bills and take steps to protect your assets and
wealth.
What happens if you don't have a Power of Attorney? In times
when you have the legal capacity to conduct your own affairs then,
in most cases, nobody can transact business for you even, for
example, if you are travelling overseas or in a hospital bed with
a broken leg. In times when you lack capacity, your affairs are
likely to be placed into the hands of the Protective Commissioner.
We can advise you as to the type of Power of Attorney best
suited for your particular needs. At the time you make your Power
of Attorney we give you detailed advice, including, advice as to
how to put an end to the Power of Attorney at any time if you
wish.
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(c) Enduring Guardianship
You can appoint a trusted person to be your Guardian to make
personal, lifestyle and medical decisions for you in the event
that you become unable to do so. This appointment is different to
a Power of Attorney, which deals only with legal and financial
matters.
You can give your Guardian wide or limited powers as you
choose.
Subject to the powers that you give to your Guardian, your
Guardian can make decisions on such matters as the best place for
you to live, whether they or somebody else should care for you,
and what medical treatment you should receive. The Guardian
cannot, however, overrule any express direction you have given in
relation to your medical treatment unless you give them the power
to overrule such a decision.
These appointments are particularly important in relation to
advancing age and the onset of illness which may lead to at least
temporary incapacity.
Many people have firm views in relation to medical treatment,
religious matters and lifestyle matters. We can help you design
the appointment of a Guardian with powers to implement your wishes
and to give you comfort.
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(d) Financial Planning
We are lawyers and not experts in investment advice and
financial planning. We do, however, work closely in Estate
Planning issues with a number of firms of financial planners. The
experts with whom we work will see you at their office, our office
or your home for preliminary discussions with a view to presenting
you with a written advice and plan at no cost to you and on an
obligation free basis. You are free to accept some or all of their
advice or none at all.
They can assist in matters such as Superannuation, investments,
trusts and tax planning for yourself and your beneficiaries.
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(e) Testamentary Trusts, Family Trusts
& Other Trusts
Testamentary Trusts are trusts that you can create in a Will.
They are certainly not required in every Will, but can be
particularly beneficial for people with businesses or significant
investments that they wish to pass on to their loved ones in a
flexible way and with a view to minimising taxation implications.
We normally work closely with your Accountant or Financial Planner
in setting up such a Trust.
Family Trusts (also known as Discretionary Trusts) are often a
flexible and tax effective way of distributing income and assets
to members of your family. Again, they are most often used by
people who conduct businesses or have significant investments. As
with Testamentary Trusts, we often work closely with your
Accountant or Financial Planner to set up these trusts.
There are all types of other Trusts that we can set up for you,
including Unit Trusts for business or investment purposes and
declarations of Trust in relation to specific assets. We can also
set up a Child Maintenance Trust to deal with business assets and
income and investments to enable you to meet any Child Support
obligations in a tax effective way.
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(f) Estate Administration
If you are an Executor named in a Will or wish to apply for
Administration of a deceased Estate, we can help you every step of
the way from the time of death through until the distribution of
the assets to the beneficiaries of the deceased person.
In most cases we can assist you dealing with Banks and
Financial Institutions to obtain a release of part of the
deceased's funds at the outset to meet funeral and associated
expenses.
There are very strict legal obligations placed upon an Executor
or Administrator to deal with the Estate of the deceased in
accordance with the Will (if applicable) and otherwise in
accordance with the Law. We will assist you in meeting those
obligations in an appropriate time frame.
An Executor or Administrator is entitled to have his proper
costs paid out of the Estate assets. In most cases, we do not
require the payment of any costs until the Estate is in a position
to pay them. Also, in a majority of cases we are able to give a
fixed price quote at the outset. In more complex cases we are able
to give a partial fixed price quote and an estimate of other
costs.
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