Wills & Estates

Protect your legacy with our leading Wills & Estate planning lawyers

Most of us don’t want to think about or plan for death, even though we know it’s one of life’s only real certainties. It doesn’t matter that it’s an experience we will all share – the reality remains that the death of a loved one will inevitably be one of your family’s most momentous and difficult times. Unfortunately though, if you haven’t made sure that your affairs are precisely in order, the difficulties for your loved ones can be immeasurable.

Having a properly drafted Will is an important step in ensuring not only that your estate is transferred in accordance with your wishes, but also that it is done in the most cost-efficient way, reducing the likelihood of claims against your estate, minimising your estate’s tax obligations, and reducing the prospect of disputes between beneficiaries.

Whether you are drafting a will for the first time or need to update an existing will, Norfolk Lawyers are here for you. We can prepare simple wills to more complex wills with testamentary trust provisions which will set out: 

  • how you wish to deal with the assets in your estate; and
  • other important matters to you such as nominating a guardian for your minor children, forgiving a debt owed to you and wishes as to what is to happen with your remains.

Need to get your affairs in order?

Our introductory consultation delivers a wealth of knowledge and information to you in relation to the following matters, both general and specific that may be relevant to your testamentary wishes.

  • Estate planning
  • The likelihood of a challenge to your Will under the Family Provision Act
  • Mutual Wills or agreements not to revoke your Will
  • Leaving property with conditions attached, such as rights to purchase or life estate interests
  • Testamentary trusts
  • Insurance and asset protection
  • Business structures and liability
  • Long lists of gifts and gifts to charity
  • Interests in a family company, trust, business or partnership
  • Self-managed superannuation funds
  • Assets outside of Australia

Why should I have an Estate Plan?

Although making sure you have a valid Will is very important, where your affairs are more complex, either in relation to assets, business interests or family arrangements, you will also need to think about estate planning.

Estate planning enables you to take care of a wide range of other issues that relate to how your assets are transferred after you pass away, particularly assets that do not fall into your specific estate and are not captured by your Will. Estate planning also enables you to appoint someone you trust to manage your affairs when you need help or when you do not have capacity. Family trusts, powers of guardianship, powers of attorney and your beneficiaries tax implications can all be dealt with in a quality estate plan. If, like many people, you have a blended family, an Estate Plan can also help you to manage this far more complex family structure.

There are extremely valuable and wide-ranging benefits to having an Estate Plan. For example, you can ensure that your beneficiaries are not burdened with complications and disagreements because you are able to:

  • Specify the measure of control or ownership that each beneficiary has over your assets
  • Potentially reduce the tax obligations your beneficiaries will have on income and capital gains earned on assets
  • Take measures to safeguard your assets if a beneficiary later faces legal issues that can implicate the assets
  • Empower someone you trust to manage your financial and property affairs by way of a Power of Attorney or Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA)
  • Empower a loved one to make personal, lifestyle and treatment decisions on your behalf should you ever become incapable of making such decisions yourself by way of an Enduring Power of Guardianship (EPG)
Need an Estate Plan? Contact us to arrange an appointment with a specialist today.

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Meet our Wills & Estates team

Ante Zorotovic

Practice Director

Nick Gvozdin

Practice Director

May Kang

Senior Associate

Ellen Evans-Teoh

Law Graduate

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