Wills

Everyone should have a Will because these documents are not about you, but about the people you will leave behind and are the final act of kindness a person can make to their loved ones. 

Four matters to think about before having your Will drafted
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1. Who will be my Executor and/or Trustee?

2. What property do I actually own?

3. Who will I leave my property to (and in what parts)?
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4. What legal obligations and/or other circumstances may affect my ability to freely deal with my property as I would like to?

When you think about these four questions you can see that drafting even a simple Will is not as simple as meets the eye.

Obligations of the Will-maker to Family

Each person has a 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 dependents - that is spouses, children, parents and anyone else living in a domestic relationship with the Will maker at any time in the Will maker's adult life and where there was a relationship of financial dependence on the Will maker.

Matters such as insurance, trusts, business interests, long-term needs of your beneficiaries, shifts in personal status (such as bankruptcy or divorce and re-marriage) as is the question of what to do with your assets if you outlive your spouse or partner also require examination when drafting a Will.