Essential Estate Planning
Ensuring Your Wishes Are Fulfilled
Estate Financial Planning and Safeguarding
Your assets are your enduring legacy to family and friends — robust Estate Planning ensures that your wellbeing and your beneficiaries’ inheritance are sufficiently protected.
Arranging your affairs for the years after you pass can be emotionally challenging. Yet, organising matters today delivers immense peace of mind, knowing that you’ve diligently taken every step to act in you and your loved ones’ best interests.
As specialist Estate Lawyers in Parramatta, Falzon Legal will guide you patiently and compassionately through Estate Planning — creating a comprehensive and personally tailored plan that delivers comforting reassurance.
What Is Will Estate Planning?
In short, Estate Planning is a crucial process that addresses and manages all of your end-of-life affairs. It comprises areas such as protecting your assets after you pass, making efficient tax decisions, and safeguarding your wellbeing if you become incapacitated.
Depending on your circumstances, your estate can involve cash, properties, valuables, or shares. When you’re no longer around, these assets become your legacy — and comprehensive planning can ensure they’re passed to your beneficiaries in a protected and efficient manner.
And that means much more than simply writing a Last Will and Testament.
Undoubtedly, your Will forms an integral part of planning your estate. However, on its own, it simply declares who receives your assets upon your death.
Estate Planning addresses the bigger picture. It can formulate a plan for:
- Distribution of your estate after you’re deceased.
- Who will handle your affairs post passing — known as the Executor.
- Any assets you wish to be held in a Trust.
- Procedures if you’re incapacitated — Power of Attorney and Care Directives.
- Systems to increase tax efficiencies for beneficiaries.
- Asset safeguarding in the event of legal action by third parties.
- Declaring intentions for business transfers and continuation.
- Charitable donations.
Do You Need an Estate Planning Lawyer?
If you have assets, it’s advisable to have a Will and Estate lawyer.
At the very least, you should seek expert advice for the creation of even a basic Last Will and Testament. Online or DIY Wills are readily open to challenge and/or contest, meaning that your wishes may not be fulfilled after you pass.
No one knows what their physical and mental health situation will be like in the future. If an accident, illness, old age, or injury means you’re unable to look after yourself or manage your finances — you need a strategy in place.
Additionally, an experienced estate administration lawyer excels in delivering pathways to protect and streamline asset legacies.
Today’s family units are significantly more complicated than they were twenty years ago. Sadly, higher rates of divorce, remarriage, family disputes, and children from different marriages can complicate inheritance and increase the likelihood of a challenge.
And with the tax authorities ever-poised to take their portion of your beneficiaries’ share of your estate — your family and loved ones may not receive the full value that you intend.
Falzon Legal, Estate Planning Lawyers in Parramatta, will expertly and considerately navigate you through your options — to ensure your legacy and wellbeing are defended.
Don’t Risk Your Legacy — Speak to Falzon Legal Now
What Is Included in an Estate Plan?
As specialist Will and Estate lawyers, Falzon Legal will work with you to build a robust and personally tailored estate plan dependent on your needs and in the interests of your intended beneficiaries.
While each framework is highly individual, the most common components include:
Will
Your Will is the heart of your estate plan. It determines how you wish your assets to be allocated, and to whom. Furthermore, it establishes the person responsible for fulfilling your intentions — known as the Executor.
While some other Estate Planning Lawyer firms may comprise just a couple of pages — our focus on diligence means our documentation is often six or seven pages. Thus ensuring that when you pass, your wishes are accurately accomplished.
Power of Attorney
Unfortunately, life’s vicissitudes may make it impossible for you to adequately manage your legal and financial matters. Serious illness, injury, or degenerating mental cognition could make normal everyday tasks impossible. This may include operating your bank accounts, satisfying bills, or looking after your investments.
A Power of Attorney appoints a person of your choosing — a friend, relative, or loved one — to address these affairs on your behalf. Think of it as the Money Document, a piece of paper that holds the power to have control over your cash and assets. Only coming into force when you’re incapacitated — it delivers immense reassurance knowing your future is safeguarded.
Testamentary Trust
A Testamentary Trust places your selected assets into a pool. Your nominated Trustee then decides when, how much, and to whom to allocate your estate — at all times, guided by your wishes. There are numerous advantages to this process, including:
- Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax efficiencies.
- Defending assets from claims by your beneficiaries’ creditors.
- Safeguarding vulnerable person’s inheritance.
- Shielding your estate from claims by your surviving spouse’s new partner.
- Providing for the education of children and grandchildren.
- Protecting your children’s inheritance in the event of their divorce or separation.
Superannuation and Death Benefits
Although your Superannuation isn’t technically included in your Last Will and Testament assets — it still forms part of conscientious Estate Planning. In the event of your passing, benefits from Superannuations and any associated insurance are made under the order of your Super Fund’s trustee.
It’s crucial to review and update your policies and funds to ensure they meet your current intentions.
Furthermore, you can indicate where you wish your Super to be paid, through a binding death benefit nomination — the fund typically requiring two independent people to sign and witness to make the nomination binding.
Why not consider the effect of your Superannuation or death benefit on your estate plan? It’s important to have a tax-effective strategy when considering gifting your Super — since to whom you leave your Superannuation can affect the size of the tax liability, depending on whether they are dependent or non-dependent.
Enduring Guardianship and Care Directives
While Power of Attorney addresses financial and legal matters in the event of cognitive demise or incapacity — you also need to consider the equally important aspects of health and medical treatment.
Think of Enduring Guardianship as your Medical and Lifestyle document — appointing a trusted person to look after your wellbeing and accommodation decisions if you’re unable to do this yourself. Whereas Care Directives indicate your intentions for acceptable health care, end-of-life outcomes, palliative choices, and any treatment you intend to refuse.
International Estate Planning
Our planet is now a global village, meaning that many Australians have interests, relations, and family overseas. In such circumstances, your Estate Planning needs to take into account the nuances of multi-jurisdictional inheritance law.
As Sydney’s experts in International Estate Planning, Falzon Legal will navigate you through this complex sphere — including matters of domicile, taxation, and transferring income from overseas.
Falzon Legal — Estate Planning and Succession Lawyers
Planning for the protection of your estate doesn’t have to be upsetting — it’s a powerfully proactive process that delivers immeasurable peace of mind.
And at Falzon Legal, we are with you for every step.
Working together, we will understandingly guide you through building a tailored plan — ensuring your future wellbeing and your loved ones’ inheritances are protected. From Power of Attorney and Care Directives, Enduring Guardianship through to Testamentary Trusts and Superannuations — we are Sydney’s specialists.
While our offices are in the heart of Parramatta — we will happily meet you wherever is most comfortable, reassuring, and convenient.
Whether at your home, our premises, hospital, or senior residence — we guarantee ceaseless consideration, discretion, and compassion.
Whatever your circumstances, however large or small your asset pool — Falzon Legal will provide the pinnacle of personalised Estate Planning.
Estate Planning FAQs
What Is Estate Planning?
Comprehensive Estate Planning is an important process that manages and addresses all of your end-of-life matters. It comprises areas such as protecting your assets after you pass, making efficient tax decisions, and safeguarding your wellbeing if you become incapacitated.
Where Can I Find Lawyers for Estate Planning Near Me?
Don’t do an online search for Wills and Estates lawyers near me — you’ve found us!
Our centrally located Parramatta offices are ideal for serving Sydney residents. Furthermore, happy to meet you in your home, workplace, hospital, or place of residential care — we can chat together in a relaxed environment most suitable for your needs.
What Is the Cost of Estate Planning?
The price of Estate Planning depends on your circumstances, needs, and intentions. From a straightforward Will to more complex Trusts, international interests, and tax efficiencies — Falzon Legal will provide affordable and professional advice.
With our no-obligation, free initial consultation, you can comfortably establish that we are the ideal estate planning lawyers for your requirements. And, most importantly, that you feel trust and confidence in our diligence and expertise.
Who Are the Best Estate Planning Lawyers Near Me?
Bringing the human touch back to legal advice, we are Parramatta’s experts in Estate Planning.
Combining unmatched professionalism and experience together with compassion and understanding — at Falzon Legal, we ensure robust asset protection while never forgetting about the emotional challenges.