shoalhaven heads / nowra wills & estates
Wills
Quick Links:
We take a comprehensive look at you, your family situation and other circumstances before we draft your will. This ensures you receive a will that properly protects your family and is effective.
You will receive professional advice about what kind of will is right for you and your family situation.
An experienced solicitor will draft your tailored will within 1 week. *Urgent wills can be done sometimes within a few hours*.
We’ll assist with the witnessing of your will or provide you with comprehensive instructions on how to properly sign your will and have it witnessed properly.
We will send an electronic copy or hard copy of your signed will.
You have the option to keep your will or leave it with us for safekeeping.
We come to you if you live in Shoalhaven Heads, Berry, Gerringong, Bomaderry, Nowra.
We offer remote/ online will services everywhere within NSW.
All wills are priced at reasonable, fixed free prices starting from $290.00. Couples and package discounts are also available for more complex wills. We are happy to discuss costs with you and provide an upfront quote.
What kind of will is right for me?
The right type of will for you depends on a few factors, most importantly, what you want to achieve with your will. Depending on your asset base and what you want to achieve, a simple will may not be right for you. The graphic is intended to give you some idea, but your particular circumstances may not fit neatly into these categories.
Your stage of life is another important consideration. Younger people with children or people caring for older but dependent children including children with disabilities will need to consider who will look after the children if they cannot and appoint guardians in their wills as well as make directions in their wills about how their property and finances should be managed to provide for those children as long as possible. Older people may be downsizing and simplifying their circumstances and therefore require only simple wills. Business owners need to consider what will happen to the business and who will take it over when they pass away and this makes a will more complex.
Other factors that influence the drafting of your will
Matters such as insurance, superannuation, trusts, business interests, long-term needs of your family, shifts in personal status (such as health, bankruptcy or divorce and re-marriage as well as your age) are all matters to consider when having your will drafted.
While the will itself may be simple, it is important that your particular circumstances are examined carefully to avoid claims against your estate after you pass away and to avoid situations where the will may become inoperable due to changed circumstances.
Obligations of the will-maker to Family
Each person has fundamental freedom to leave their property to whomsoever they wish to leave it to in their Will, however, in New South Wales this freedom usually needs to be balanced against the Will maker's social obligation to support, even beyond the grave, his or her dependants - that is spouses, children and anyone else living in a dependent relationship with the Will maker at any time in the Will maker's adult life and where an expectation might arise that that person would be benefited in your will.
It is sometimes possible to rebut a presumption of dependence, but it depends on the circumstances. We can assist with the drafting of statutory declarations with a view to avoiding or mitigating claims of family and other dependants you do not want to have benefit from your will and where there may have been a relationship of dependence in the past.
Typical Costs and Fees
The below gives an idea of typical costs and fees, however, it is vital that your will deal with all your particular circumstances in order to be effective. Please feel free to contact us for a more accurate, personalised estimate of costs.
Simple Will
$350 + GST + disbursments (if any)
Your entire estate to your spouse/partner and if not them, the children of your relationship with that spouse/partner (or if no children, then to your parents or siblings in equal shares)
Does not deal with individual assets.
Children/ beneficiaries all to benefit in equal shares.
Does not offer any asset protection or tax advantage.
Not usually suitable for persons who have had children from a previous relationship or whose partner/spouse has children from another relationship.
Simple Will Plus
$350-$500 + GST + disbursements
Your entire estate to your spouse/partner and if not them, the children of your relationship with that spouse/partner (or if no children, then to your parents or siblings in equal shares)
Allows you to leave gifts of specific, movable property (i.e. not real estate) to beneficiaries.
Children all to benefit in unequal shares or leaving a child out of your will.
Does not offer any asset protection or tax advantage.
May be suitable for persons who have had children from a previous relationship or whose partner/spouse has children from another relationship depending on circumstances.
Complex Will
from $450 - time based
Deals with same issues as “simple will plus”; AND
Deals with specific assets, including gift of real estate (1 property only)
Multiple gifts/benefits to persons and charities;
Managing the benefit for a child with intellectual or significant physical disability;
Dealing with rights of residence or life interests for spouses/partners/children in your real estate;
Mutual wills (contracting with your spouse not to change your wills);
International wills.
Testamentary Trust Wills
$1,000.00 - $2,000.00+
Where leaving income producing assets to beneficiaries (e.g. business interests, multiple properties);
Deals with substantial assets;
Offers tax advantages;
Managing a beneficiary who is a spendthrift, suffers a mental handicap or mental health handicap, beneficiary with a gambling, drug and alcohol dependence;
Asset protection goals;
Provide for education and advancement of grandchildren;
Severance of tenancies in real estate.
Additional fees:
An urgency fee of a further $200.00 applies where the turnaround time for the document is less than 48 hours.
Travel fees of $3.00 per km and $10 per 6 minutes travelled may apply.
Postage costs may need to be incurred and will be passed to the client at cost.
Additional copies are charged at $5.00 per copy. You will be given one free copy of your will and we are happy to email you a copy as well which you can pass to anyone you like.
An archiving fee of $20.00 applies to each new file opened.
Safekeeping of your will is free.
Additional fees may also be applicable where a client is:
diagnosed with an illness affecting mental capacity,
is of advanced age,
the solicitor has doubts about the client’s mental capacity because the client is unable to express that they understand what the solicitor is trying to do
in a nursing home or hospital and therefore definitely requires a capacity assessment to be undertaken by the solicitor
In these instances, a deposit of $300.00 is required and there is no guarantee the solicitor will be able to draft the document.
Your Will: Matters to Consider
Who will be your executor?
You can appoint anyone you like to be your executor, but the person you select should have most of the characteristics listed at the bullet points.
You should also appoint a substitute Executor in case your Executor passes away before you do, or later on changes their mind about acting as your executor, or can't act as your Executor for reason for example of poor physical or mental health or moving away.
You can appoint a child under 18 in your Will, but note that the child can't act as your Executor until he or she has reached the age of 18.
Who do I want to leave my assets to?
In New South Wales, Family Provision Laws require that will-makers provide for their dependents - that is, their spouse or de facto partner and dependent children and anyone else who ever had a relationship of dependence on the willmaker. This could include grandchildren or stepchildren depending on the circumstances. Willmakers need to make sure their dependents are provided for before benefitting others from their estate.
What assets can I actually leave in my will?
While it is possible to leave any kind of asset in your will, including income and intangibles such as Copyright, certain assets cannot be dealt with in your will.
They include:
Assets held as a joint tenant (e.g. with a spouse - typically the family home and joint bank accounts held with a spouse)
Superannuation (typically it is a trust asset - there are exceptions)
Life-insurance death benefits (also typically a trust asset)
Funeral insurance payouts
Compensation payouts
Discretionary Trust Assets (e.g. Family Trust)
Company Assets
Should I create a trust in my Will?
If your will leaves assets to a minor, disabled or financially dependent child, or if you believe your beneficiaries will need assistance in dealing with their inheritance for reason of mental or physical handicap, drug, alcohol or gambling addiction, you should consider creating a trust in your will. Creating a trust simply means you give directions in your will for money from your estate to be held aside for a long period of time in order to provide for a beneficiary for an extended period of time. For example, a parent of small children would want to ensure that their estate is invested or managed in such way as to ensure the children have everything they need while growing up and that it is not spent to quickly or recklessly.
Testamentary trusts require time and may be expensive to administer and therefore are not generally advised for small or modest estates. It is possible, however, to incorporate some basic trust provisions into an otherwise simple will if the purpose is to protect minor and vulnerable children and where parents are confident that the appointed guardian is capable of making sensible and thoughtful decisions about, for example, how estate funds will be invested for children to provide for them in the long-term and where the parent does not want to be too prescriptive.
In the case of very special needs children, an “All needs protective trust will” may be advised. It provides for the long-term support of that child and considers factors such as NDIS funding, your assets, your other children or dependants, and the specific current and future needs of the child who will need long-term support.
When creating a testamentary trust, it is advisable for will makers to seek tax and financial advice from an accountant or independent adviser to make sure the benefits of creating a trust outweigh the costs of creating one. If the willmaker or a beneficiary is the receiver of government funding this needs additional consideration. Certain tax exemptions may apply for trusts created solely for the protection of children and other vulnerable people as opposed to trusts created for wealth preservation for non-vulnerable adults.