Area of law

Wills

Estate planning advice is essential to ensure that your estate passes to those persons you wish to benefit and in the most efficient and tax effective way possible. Shire Legal can prepare your Will to give full effect to your wishes.

We always recommend keeping your will up to date as it makes distributing your estate far easier on your beneficiaries in what is already a difficult time.

Once your Will has been drafted, Shire Legal can hold your original Will in its safe custody at no charge.

Wills are regulated by the Succession Act 2006.

We are more than happy to answer any questions you may have about your Will, such as:

  • If you give a gift to someone, but they die before you, what happens to that gift? Is it cancelled or does it go to someone else?
  • If you make a charitable gift, but that charity doesn’t exist at the time of your death, does that gift fail or does it go to another charitable or community organisation (as your Estate Trustee may determine)?
  • What if you give the residue of your estate (i.e. the assets left over after after debts and taxes have been paid and specific gifts have been made) to your spouse in a trust and then he or she dies 5 years later? What happens to the money and property (if any) that’s left in that trust? Does it go to one person or multiple people?
  • What if you want it to go to three people, but one of the three dies before you and leaves behind children? Do their children inherit their parent’s share? Or do the original other two people get that deceased person’s share?
  • If you have minor children when you die, who do you want to name as their legal representative (called a”Guardian“)? What about a substitute? What if you do not want the surviving (estranged) parent to be the children's guardian?
  • Do you want disputes to be mediated instead of going through court?
  • Do you want to provide for your executor to close down your social media accounts?
  • Do you want to include your own clauses?

We have particular knowledge and experience in estate planning for blended families - where there are children from previous relationships - and for parents following a divorce and property settlement with their ex-spouse.

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