Wills and Estates
Legal support through probate at a difficult personal time
Having a well-considered estate plan in place can give you peace of mind that the people you love will be provided for when you’re no longer with them. Our Wills and Estates lawyers can help you create a plan that expresses your wishes and considers the range of complex legislation involved.
Get your Will, enduring power of attorney and health care directives, and estate planning sorted without leaving a mess for your family to unravel as they grieve your loss.
When disputes over estates do occur, we help our clients navigate the emotional and difficult process with sensitivity and expert knowledge.
THE RCR DIFFERENCE
We offer practical and commercial advice regarding will disputes-and aim for a speedy and cost- effective solutions. Our experience can assist you in resolving stressful and complex disputes to allow you to move on with your lives.
We have lawyers in our team who are fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai, Korean, Malaysian, Hindi, French and Afrikaans to ensure the best experience for our clients.
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We Can Help With
Contesting a will can be extremely stressful and the legal issues can be complicated.
There are two main avenues to contest a will:
- Make a family provision claim: This is when an “eligible” person makes a claim for a greater share of the estate .
- Challenge the validity of the will: This means that a person alleges that the will was improperly or illegally made on one or more grounds.
In Queensland, “eligible” parties who can contest a will and seek a great share include:
- The deceased’s spouse (de facto, married and registered) and
- Child (biological, adopted and stepchild) and,
- Dependents of the deceased, which can include a parent, or a minor child.
When an eligible party makes a Family Provision application, the Court may consider a number of factors related to the claimant’s circumstances and the nature of the deceased estate.
- The size and total value of the deceased estate-large estates can offer more flexibility
- Competing claims against the deceased estate-balancing out those interests
- Contributions made to the deceased estate
- The Claimant’s age, health, financial and other resources, and needs
- If the deceased maintained the claimant at any point
- Whether the claimant has a right to support from any other source
- Whether the claimant has dependents
- The relationship between the claimant and the deceased-was it a strong positive relationship?
- Issues of estrangement-was there any conduct or mistreatment that might disentitle the claimant from provision
Common grounds for contesting wills include:
- Mental incapacity
- Undue influence
- Fraud or forgery
- Errors in wills
- Changes or cancellations
- Confusion, lack of understanding and uncertainty
The legal issues in this area of law are complex and outcomes depend upon a wide range of factors. There is rarely a simple answer to any of these issues.
Whichever way you contest a will, the process can often be complicated and intimidating. That’s why it’s crucial to get strong legal advice before starting your claim.
Getting early and practical advice, such as gathering of any necessary evidence and witness statements can be critical to the prospects of successfully challenging a will.
In addition-critical time and strict limits apply to making claims, so delay can be fatal to prospects of success.
Typically, disputes over wills require the parties to attend mediation, and most claims do settle at mediation. This is because the parties should recognise that the costs in terms of legal fees as well as the emotional costs are high.
- Making a valid and binding will is ensuring that your assets go to the right people at the right time, and in the right way.
- Failing to leave a will or leaving a poorly drafted will simply adds to the grief and costs of those you leave behind.
- We can assist you with preparation and advice about your estate, from the simple will to the more complex will and estate planning.
WHO WE ACT FOR IN WILLS AND ESTATES MATTERS
Our clients are everyday people of all ages and backgrounds. Our recent matters include:
Our Recent Matters Include:
- Preparing a complete estate plan for a retired health professional with a significant portfolio of investments held in his own name, his wife’s name, jointly and via companies, trusts and self-managed superannuation
- Giving a terminally ill client peace of mind by preparing an enduring power of attorney, advance health directive and Will to ensure her wishes would be followed even after she lost capacity, and her young children would be provided for after her death
- Advising a bankrupt beneficiary of an estate of the implications of receipt of a cash legacy under a will and devising a strategy to ensure the gift was received in full
- Acting for a minor beneficiary, who was the result of an extra-marital affair of the deceased, in obtaining significant proportions of the deceased’s superannuation death proceeds and estate
- Assisting in the administration of the estate of the administrator’s son who had died intestate, including obtaining letters of administration
- Acting for a family, whose father/son/brother had passed away, in a highly emotive dispute with the widow as to the deceased’s assets, including his ashes
- Acting for the executor of an estate comprising a half-share interest in a house in a dispute with the deceased’s ex-wife who owned the other half-share interest
- Representing 3 of 4 executors in a large estate in a dispute with the 4th executor over an estate comprising property, shares and businesses spread across 4 countries and different jurisdictions and held in contested entities.
- Drafting a will for an executor with 2 previous families, including infant children where the estate comprised assets exceeding $200M and included interests held in joint ventures and corporate and trust structures and required amendment of the beneficiary categories in multiple trusts.
- Contesting a DIY will where the gift of an asset owned by a superannuation fund failed.
- Obtaining letters of administration and probate of a copy of a will
- Settling a matter for a de facto widow where a deceased in his will left a $7M asset to his “wife” from he had been separated for 15 years and had been in a new relationship for all of that time.
- Settled a matter where an animal charity contested a will giving an entire estate to them alleging unconscionability and duress by the executor of a new will made immediately before death
OUR EXPERIENCED LAWYERS CAN HELP WITH
Wills for individuals and couples
Buy-sell deeds
Asset protection
Enduring powers of attorney
Advance health directives
Tax and financial planning
Business succession planning
Testamentary discretionary trusts
Estate planning and administration
Letters of administration
Probate
Binding death benefit nominations
Dispute resolution
Compassionate support through Wills and Estates
Meet our experienced Team
Wills and Estates
Michael Sing
Sean Steindl
Clear fees
Online first
Accessible legal solutions
Support across Australia
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