Effective Estate Planning ensures the appropriate assets are with the appropriate people at the appropriate time. Estate planning is not just about drawing up a will. It is a key way to safeguard your family’s future. It will give peace of mind that your estate is in order – and according to your wishes.
Preserve your assets
Why is an estate plan necessary? The end goal of any estate plan is to generate wealth then protect and quarantine assets, so they remain available for distribution as you wish, and not exposed to any risks.
Why you NEED a will?
A will provides you a level of certainty and peace of mind knowing you have control over your estate. The only way to ensure this is to have an up to date will in place to provide protection and a future for your family in accordance with your wishes.
Super & Life Insurance
Your super and life insurance are a high-value class of assets which need to be carefully dealt with as part of your estate plan so you can maximise their tax effective value.
Testamentary trusts
Rather than all your assets being distributed upon death, some or all your assets can remain in trust for the benefit of a particular group of beneficiaries named in the will. You would have the power to decide who receives the trust income and capital, and who controls those assets.
Power of Attorney / Guardian
Who will look after your affairs if you aren’t able to? By providing you with a power of attorney or guardian, you can select the person or persons you wish to look after your affairs due to illness, accident or old age.
Conclusion
The two common responses I receive from my clients when asked about their wills falls into two categories;
- No current will in place
- A will is in place but not updated in a very long time.
The reason they find themselves in this position is because they simply don’t have time to visit a lawyer. Not surprising given the busy lives we all live which more often than not leads to being time poor.
At JPL Accountants, we now have a solution to help our clients who are time poor, address this critical issue of estate planning without having to take time from their busy schedules to see a lawyer. We email to our clients a two-page questionnaire that they complete according to their personal circumstances and return to us. We then facilitate the drafting of the will through a group of lawyers. For ultimate protection, we engage only lawyers that specialise in estate planning, so your estate plan is individually tailored to your needs and circumstances, using an approach that minimises tax, is cost effective and compliments your overall financial plan.
To find out more about this service and pricing, please contact James of our office for further information. If you are time poor and but need to organise your personal estate plan, then this is the solution for you.
