What to expect in an Estate Planning appointment

The process

Our recommendations to you will differ depending on a number of factors, including family dynamics, the types of assets you own, and what you are hoping to achieve. Your initial estate planning appointment will be a time for us to sit with you, consider your individual circumstances, and discuss your estate planning goals. We will ask for:

·         Details of your assets and liabilities

·         Details of your family tree

·         Full names and addresses of everyone you want named in your Will

Based on this information, we will ask you a series of questions designed to help us to collaboratively determine your estate planning goals, and how best to achieve them.

It is important that we obtain as much information as possible to ensure we are tailoring your estate planning to your individual circumstances. Sometimes, clients come to us thinking a simple, straightforward Will is going to achieve their goals; however, after some discussion of the nature and extent of their assets and their family dynamics, it becomes apparent that a Will containing a trust is going to be best suited to achieve their goals, and to avoid the need to continually update the client’s Will in the future.

At the conclusion of the initial appointment, we will give you some guidance as to what we believe to be the best course of action, including what documents we think should be prepared. This might be a simple Will and no other documents, or it might include a Trust, Statutory Declaration, Power of Attorney, and Appointment of Enduring Guardian or Medical Treatment Decision Maker.

When we have established which estate planning documents are to be prepared, we will get to work drafting. We will keep you updated as we progress through the drafting process and ask for any further information that may be needed. When the documents have been drafted, we will send them to you for review. We can make amendments if needed or, if they are suitable, we can arrange a time to meet with you and sign them.

When your documents have been finalised and signed, we send you a copy and keep the originals in our safe at no extra cost.

Costs

We will provide you with an estimate of costs for simple estate planning documents (a simple Will, Enduring Power of Attorney, and Appointment of Enduring Guardian/Medical Treatment Decision Maker) prior to your initial appointment. Following your initial appointment, if more documents are recommended, or if a complex Will is required, we will then provide you with an updated estimate of costs. We will proceed with the documents when you have received and approved the costs estimate.  

Protective measures

There are a number of steps we take to ensure your documents, including your Will, are as air tight as possible. These steps help protect you and your loved ones in the event of a claim being made. These include:

·         Meeting with you alone to reduce the risk of anyone claiming that you were under pressure from another person when giving us instructions

·         Asking some questions before signing the documents to ensure we have evidence that you were of sound mind at the time you signed

·         Maintaining thorough and adequate records throughout your matter

·         Recording any unusual details that may impact any claim in a separate document kept with your original signed documents in our safe