What do I need to know about making a will?

Making a will is sometimes sold as being a simple task which you can do yourself withotu the assistance of a solicitor.  However, this is not really true in practice because there are actually a lot of complex considerations to be taken into account when drafting a will and using  a will kit although extremely cheap does not provide you with a personalised service or guarantee that your will is going to be enforceable or even valid.  Many people are unaware of the existence of family provision legislation in most states of Australia which allows for claims against the estate of a deceased person when there is not adequate provision for family members such as a spouse, former spouse or defacto, children, parents or siblings.  Overlooking this consideration can leave the family of a deceased person with a complex, uncertain will and perhaps a mountain of legal fees as a result of the failure the adequately provision for certain relationships in the will. 

Also, a will entered into without the appropriate consideration before hand can leave the beneficiaries with tax liabilities which were not anticipated such as capital gains tax on the sale of a property  which is deposed in a will in certain specfic circumstances.  The tax laibility can then wipe out what ever benefit it would have been hoped that could be gained from the operation of the terms of the will.  Also, if someone does not collect information about what assets they actually own and enter these things into the will, this can lead to the person becoming partially intestate which means that the assets have no specific beneficiary.  These are just some examples of how a will must have all of the considerations taken into account before it is depose.  There are many other things which could also have a bearing on the effectiveness of a will.  If you would like to contact us about a will, please do not hesitate to put your question below or use a contact form the right.  Many of our lawyers are often available to chat online as well.