1. ESTATE PLANNING
13 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
PRESENTED BY OWEN HODGE LAWYERS

2. 1. What is estate planning?
2. Who will be the guardian of your children
in case of your death?
3. What will happen to your property in case
no one is left to claim?
4. Check and Cross Check: Have you
provided for everyone?
5. Have you told your lawyer about all the
important relationships in your life?
6. What happens to your virtual identity,
passwords and related material?
7. Have you preserved your sperm, eggs or
fertilised embryos for your future use?
8. Have you ever changed your identity?
9. Have you ever gifted large sums of money or
assets to others?
10. Have you ever entered in to a prenuptial
agreement or any other Binding Financial
Agreement (“BFA”)?
11. You love your pets but have you thought about
what will happen to them after your death?
12. Do I need to provide for a Power of Attorney or
a living will?
13. Do you suffer from any serious or chronic
health issues?
WHAT WE’LL COVER

3. 1. WHAT IS ESTATE PLANNING?
“Estate planning is not just about making a will”
Estate planning involves
carefully considered
decisions regarding your
estate and property, your
future and also the future
of your children.
Instruments of a estate plan include:
• Will
• Superannuation death nominations
• Testamentary Trust
• Power of attorney
• Power of guardianship
• Anticipatory direction
Generally, people tend to
delay their decisions
regarding estate planning
until they are on the verge
of retirement or believe that
they will be incapacitated
soon. Estate planning
should not just be a
retirement related decision.
When you are making your
estate plan, it is important to
be clear about your needs
and requirements before
you decide to go ahead and
record your decisions about
who you authorize to take
decisions on your behalf in
your old age or wish to
bequeath your property to.
As part of your estate
plan, a will can be
written and updated by
private trustees and
solicitors, who usually
charge a fee. In NSW,
the NSW Trustee &
Guardian authority
provides professional
and independent trustee
services for drafting and
execution of a Will.

4. • Many people delay their Estate Planning and do not give a thought about whom to
appoint as the guardian of their minor children in case of their death or any other
sudden medical emergency.
• The general perception that Estate Planning is only a tool for retirement planning does
not hold good in these scenarios. Before you make your Will, you should be conscious
about whom to appoint as the guardian of your children.
• In case you fail to appoint a guardian, the Court may appoint one and that might not be
the best possible alternative that you had in mind for the children.
2. WHO WILL BE THE GUARDIAN OF
YOUR CHILDREN IN CASE OF YOUR
DEATH?

5. • Planning is necessary, but there will always be a probability of something
unforeseeable. All the arrangements that you had in your mind regarding distribution
of your assets after your death, might fail, due to a sudden natural disaster or any
other unforeseeable scenario.
• You should always take into consideration the unforeseeable situations and make
provision for division of your estate in case no immediate family members or friend
are alive or present to inherit or lay a claim to your estate.
• For many Will makers it is a huge stumbling block to decide about how to provide for
such a clause since many are unable to fathom the consequences of such a
scenario.
3. WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOUR
PROPERTY IN CASE NO ONE IS LEFT
TO CLAIM?

6. 4. CHECK AND CROSS CHECK:
HAVE YOU PROVIDED
FOR EVERYONE?
• When you are making a Will, make sure fair
treatment is meted out to all your descendants and
beneficiaries.
• Be sure about whom do you want to provide for and
who is important in your life even if you do not share
a blood relationship with that person.
• In case you have an extended family or children from
a previous marriage or your spouse has children from
a previous relationship, be extra careful and cautious
about providing for them during your Estate Planning.
It is also important to provide clear instructions about
dealing with their claims later on, as it might result in
a legal mess later on.

7. 5. HAVE YOU TOLD YOUR LAWYER
ABOUT ALL THE IMPORTANT
RELATIONSHIPS IN YOUR LIFE?
• Estate Planning can have consequences for your surviving loved one. If you want to
provide against long drawn courtroom battles, be sure to disclose all the important
relationships in your life – including intimate love affairs, children born out of wedlock,
previous domestic partnerships or same sex relationships.
• During Estate Planning you need to understand the legal implications and discuss them in
detail with your Lawyer.
• Do not hesitate to share information with your Lawyer as he/she can provide you with
necessary solutions. It is something that you need to do for your loved ones and the ones
you want to provide for after your death and disclosure of full information will prevent
chances of your estate being entangled in a legal mess later on.

8. 6. WHAT HAPPEN TO YOUR VIRTUAL
IDENTITY, PASSWORDS AND
RELATED MATERIAL?
It is an equally accepted truth
in today’s world, that your
natural death does not put an
end to your virtual identity.
When you are discussing Estate
Planning ideas with your Lawyers,
do not forget to discuss what to do
with your passwords, your emails
or online photo storage accounts.
Some of the passwords may
give access important and
sensitive financial
information. You may also
need to pass on some of
these passwords to the
beneficiaries mentioned in
your Will so that they can
access the accounts later
on.
Technology is ever changing
and your Lawyer may provide
you alternatives about storing
information on any cloud
based software or passing on
information through the
traditional means of keeping
them safe in deposit box with
your Lawyer.
That means, you also need to
provide for the method of
passing on those passwords
and other sensitive information
and how they can be accessed
after your death.
The choice will be yours, but
make sure that you give
thought about transfer of
any digital property as a part
of the Estate Planning
process.

9. 7. HAVE YOU PRESERVED YOUR
SPERM, EGGS AND FERTILISED
EMBRYOS FOR YOUR FUTURE USE?
• Progress in the field of science and
technology has provided us with
options of preserving our genetic
material for future use.
• It has thus become important to
consider during Estate Planning
about how you want to provide for
any descendants conceived or born
after your death.
• Litigation involving children
conceived after the death of a legal
parent and ownership of genetic
material are relatively new and are a
sensitive area of litigation.

10. 8. HAVE YOU EVER
CHANGED YOUR
You may remain the same in your
own eyes, but in the eyes of law, your
identity changes with a change in
your name, legal status or if you
consider undergoing gender
transition.
You should always update your Social
Security Registration, driver’s license,
passport, security clearances, professional
licenses and any other forms of
identification you have. This will ensure
that after your death, you beneficiaries and
loved ones are not embroiled in any legal
battle just to prove your identity!
Make sure that all the legal identification documents that you have reflect the true person that you are.

11. 9. HAVE YOU EVER GIFTED LARGE SUMS
OF MONEY OR ASSETS TO OTHERS?
• We often tend to forget about the gifts that we made
to our near and dear ones when they might have
been undergoing financial hardships.
• While making Estate Planning arrangements, we
often forget about these gifts. However, some of
these gifts may incur huge tax liability and it is better
you think about any such gifts you had made
previously and disclose them to your lawyers.

12. 10. HAVE YOU EVER ENTERED INTO A
PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT OR ANY OTHER
BINDING FINANCIAL AGREEMENT (“BFA”)?
• The problem with a pre-nuptial agreement or a BFA entered long back is that they can
be easily forgotten and may also be ignored as irrelevant.
• However, your legal obligations do not change and it is important to think and recollect
about them and disclose such information to your Estate Planning Lawyer.
• He can guide you about what will still be relevant and what can be legally terminated
before your go ahead with your Estate Planning measures considering your future
financial needs and priorities.

13. Your pets are extremely sensitive and
intelligent creatures who will miss you
the most after your death. You should
be clear about whom to entrust with
the responsibility of taking care of
your pets after your death.
If you have pets with long life
expectancies you may need to form a
pet trust or you can also appoint
someone you trust to care of them.
11. YOU LOVE YOUR PETS BUT HAVE YOU
THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO
THEM AFTER YOUR DEATH?
Alternatively, you may also
approach an organisation to take
care of your pets after your death.

14. 12. DO I NEED TO PROVIDE
A POWER OF ATTORNEY OR A LIVING WILL?
• An effective Estate Planning mechanism will not only provide for situations after
your death, but it will also consider situations where you are permanently
incapacitated due to old age or poor health. You may provide for Power of
Attorneys or appoint Enduring Guardians who you entrust with taking decisions on
your behalf.
• A living Will constitutes the health care directives you want to be followed in case
you are permanently incapacitated. Many people do not wish to live a mere
vegetative existence or on life support for long. They also do not wish to put their
family through a scenario of long drawn anguish.

15. • If you have any specific wish, you can provide instructions about how to deal with
such scenarios. You may have a Power of Attorney in place entrusting your spouse
or any other trusted person to take a decision on your behalf. Also, if you have any
specific wishes to be fulfilled, make sure your Estate Planning process contains the
provision for a living Will.
12. DO I NEED TO PROVIDE
A POWER OF ATTORNEY OR A LIVING WILL?

16. 13. DO YOU SUFFER FROM ANY
SERIOUS OR CHRONIC HEALTH ISSUES?
• Estate Planning Lawyers and Attorneys follow the
same logic as your insurance agents when they ask
you about your health conditions and whether you
suffer from any chronic health issues.
• Estate Planning also involves sophisticated actuarial
calculations about your life expectancy. So if you
have any particular health concerns, your entire
Estate Planning can take into account any such
issues.

17. HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?
At Owen Hodge Lawyers we understand that Estate Planning involves
decision making covering your entire lifetime. More than the financial
costs, the emotional investment involved is substantial. A careful and
well thought out approach towards Estate Planning may require
disclosure of information of an extremely sensitive nature.
Our team of Lawyers know the sensitivities involved in the procedure.
We deal with our clients with the outmost compassion and sensitivity.
We have a team comprising of Lawyers who have worked with varied
Estate Planning situations and their vast experience in this field can
help you take appropriate decisions regarding your unique estate
planning needs.

18. If you have any questions about your estate plan,
please contact us on 1800 770 780 or 02 9570 7844.
OWEN HODGE LAWYERS
THANK YOU
http://www.owenhodge.com.au/