1. The Risks of Putting off your
Will and Estate Planning until
its Too Late

2. What is Estate Planning
● Estate planning is the process of putting in place contingency
plans for your business (if any), investments and personal use
assets.
● There are a number of important reasons why you should plan
your estate including:
- Ensuring that your wishes are carried out for the distribution
of your assets.
- To minimize any tax consequences for your estate and the
beneficiaries.

3. The 6 Key Risk Areas
If you have been putting off the decision to execute a Will and plan
your estate, you are not alone. There are 6 key risk areas which affect
people and their loved ones:
1) Dying intestate
2) Invalidity of your Will if you marry or divorce
3) Financial problems of your children
4) Legal challenges to your estate
5) Keeping your Will up-to-date and
6) Changes to tax laws.

4. Dying Intestate
Approximately 40-50% of people in Western
Australia die intestate. If this occurs, your assets
will be distributed according to section 14 of the
Administration Act 1903 (WA). The statutory
formula for the distribution of your assets may
be very different from your wishes.

5. Invalidity of your Will if you Marry or
Divorce
A Will is invalid if:
● You make a Will prior to marriage which is not in
contemplation of that marriage
● You divorce your spouse after making a Will unless the
Will was in contemplation of that marriage.

6. Financial Problems of your Children
If you intend to pass your assets to your children and in
the future they separate from their spouse or defacto
partner, the assets you gift to your children may
become part of the matrimonial property. Your assets
could end up in the hands of non-blood relatives.
Separately, there may be a risk of your children
becoming bankrupt in the future and the assets you
have gifted to them being used to pay their debts.

7. Legal Challenges to your Estate
● It is important to ensure that you take steps in planning your Will to
minimise the chance of your estate being challenged. A typical example
is a ‘death-bed’ Will where your capacity to make a valid Will may be
challenged. If your Will is successfully challenged, your assets will be
distributed contrary to your express wishes.
● Generally speaking, the reasonable legal costs are paid out of the
deceased estate, thereby reducing the value of the assets which can be
distributed to the beneficiaries of your Will.

8. Keeping your Will Up-to-Date
Over time your decision concerning your
distribution of assets may change, so you need to
keep your list of assets current and where necessary
update your Will to ensure your wishes are carried
out. You may also need to update your Will if a
beneficiary or the executor dies.

9. Changes to Tax Laws
It is important to update your
Will and other parts of your
Estate Plan in the event of
major changes to tax laws. If
you do not update your Will,
the beneficiaries of your Will
may obtain less than they
should have if you had kept
your Will up-to-date.

10. Putting a Will and other Strategies in
Place
If you do not already have a Will in place, you need to consider:
● Who will inherit your assets?
● You need any assets managed after your death or to stream
income to children through a testamentary trust?
● Who will be your executor?
● Your funeral arrangements.

11. Putting a Will and other Strategies in
Place Cont..
Having a Will professionally prepared is only the first step because estate
planning is more than just having a valid Will. You should also consider a
number of additional strategies for protecting your loved ones such as:
● Holding property in joint tenancy.
● Establishing a trust and transferring money and other assets to the trust.
● Giving gifts to beneficiaries.
● Nominating beneficiaries of your life insurance.
● Making a valid binding death benefit nomination of your superannuation to
your beneficiaries.

12. Other Issues
Depending upon your circumstances, you should also consider the following issues:
● A power of attorney can be put in place if you are unable to make financial or legal
decisions on your own behalf in the future.
● An enduring power of guardianship can be put in place so that someone can make
personal and lifestyle decisions for you in the future (eg. medical decisions, where
you live, how your health care should be maintained).
● If you own a business, will there be any consequences for your business partners or
family?
● Do you need to have life insurance in place?

13. If you want advice and assistance with the matters
related to Will and Estate Planning.
Call Robson Hayes Legal on (08) 9322 2256 or
Email us at : info@robsonhayes.com.au
For more details visit us at:
http://www.robsonhayes.com.au/the-risks-of-
putting-off-your-will-and-estate-planning-until-its-
too-late/