Estate Planning Intake Form – Individual

Whilst many questions are optional, please try to tell us as much information as possible, even if it is just an approximation or guess. Doing so will help paint a clearer picture of your situation and will best set us up to assist you. Please note that, by using this online questionnaire, you are not receiving legal advice or a legal service. No engagement for legal services is formed unless and until you enter into a costs agreement with us.

Okay, let’s get started! Please answer the following questions about yourself. These are just some basic details to help us get on the way.

We are now going to ask about which estate planning documents you have so that we can work out how to best assist you. Here you will be able to tell us what changes you are thinking about making to your documents or what your motivation is to get these documents for the first time. We will start with Wills. As a simple reminder, a Will is a legal document that sets out how your assets will be distributed after you pass away. It can also include other instructions such as who should look after any minor children you have.

When creating a Will, the most important thing to consider is who will act as your Executor (see below for more information about Executors). Your Executors should be people you can trust and who are capable of administering your estate when you pass.

The executors/trustees are responsible for: applying for probate (a court order allowing the Will to be administered); notifying the beneficiaries of their entitlements; gathering and distributing the assets in accordance with the Will; ensuring that the testator’s debts, taxes and funeral expenses are paid; managing any assets that are held on trust for beneficiaries pursuant to this Will until those trusts vest; and preparing the related accounts and tax returns.

An executor/trustee may be an individual over 18 years of age, an appropriately licensed trustee company or the Public Trustee. Alternatively, you may wish to appoint your solicitor, accountant and/or financial planner as your executor/trustee.

A Power of Attorney allows you to appoint someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf. In Victoria, a Financial Power of Attorney authorises your attorney to manage your money and legal affairs, including things like property transactions, bank accounts and investments. A Personal Power of Attorney is different — it allows your attorney to make decisions about your personal and lifestyle matters, such as where you live and the support you receive. Neither document allows someone to make medical treatment decisions for you; for that, you need an Appointment of Medical Treatment Decision Maker.

Where an eligible person such as a spouse, child or grandchild is left out of a Will or feels that they did not receive the portion of the estate they deserve, they can make a Family Provision Claim for a portion or larger portion of the estate. To prepare for this situation, it is important to consider if there is anyone you are planning to exclude from your Will or leaving a reduced portion. There are many reasons you may choose to exclude someone from your Will, including: if you have made/continue to make provisions for them during your lifetime; if you have had no relationship with them for many years; and their financial circumstances are better than your beneficiaries.

Please list below all of your assets including your house, any investment properties, bank accounts, motor vehicles, shares etc. For the manner of holding, please tell us if each asset is solely owned, in joint names or tenants in common.

In addition to your and your partner’s personal assets, we need to know what liabilities are held in your names. This includes everything from credit cards to student loans and will help us ensure that these items are dealt with in the most tax-efficient and equitable manner possible.

A family trust is generally a discretionary trust that allows assets to be held and managed by a trustee on behalf of the beneficiaries of the trust. The trustee is responsible for managing the assets and making decisions about how they are used, while the beneficiaries have the right to receive income or capital from the trust. A unit trust is a type of trust that is set up specifically for the benefit of a particular family or group of individuals. It operates in the same way as a standard unit trust, in that it pools money from multiple investors and uses it to purchase a diversified portfolio of assets, such as stocks, bonds, and property, where each unit holder owns a fixed entitlement.

A family business is a business that is owned and operated by members of a family. It can take the form of a sole trader, partnership, corporation, or any other legal business structure.