Funeral Directions [designed for use alongside our Wills]

What is the role of the Executors/Trustees?

The executors/trustees are responsible for:

✅ Applying for Grant of Probate (a Court Order allowing the Will to be administered);

✅ Notifying the beneficiaries of their entitlements;

✅ Gathering and distributing the assets in accordance with the Will;

✅ Ensuring that the testator's debts, taxes and funeral expenses are paid;

✅ Managing any assets that are held on trust for beneficiaries pursuant to the Will until those trusts vest; and

✅ Preparing the related accounts and tax returns.

Who can be an executor/trustee?

An executor/trustee may be:

⚖️ An individual over 18 years of age;

⚖️ An appropriately licensed trustee company; or

⚖️ The Public Trustee.  

It is not uncommon for a testator to appoint a trusted professional advisor to the role:

⚖️ A Solicitor, Accountant and/or Financial Planner.

Credits:

This FAQ was created by James D. Ford GAICD | Principal Solicitor, Blue Ocean Law Group℠.

Important Notice:

This FAQ is intended for general interest + information only.

It is not legal advice, nor should it be relied upon or used as such.

We recommend you always consult a lawyer for legal advice specifically tailored to your needs & circumstances.

Our Smarter Will provides Maximum Flexibility + Asset Protection + Tax Minimisation

In order to properly consider the reasons why everyone should upgrade to a Smarter Will, we recommend you download + study in detail our Free PDF Explainer Guide

➲ Why Everyone should Upgrade to a Smarter Will?‍

We offer a range of Smarter Wills to meet your requirements:

⚖️ Smarter Will incl. Testamentary Trust;

⚖️ Smarter Express Will ➲ All to children incl. Testamentary Trust;

⚖️ Smarter Express ➲ Mirror Wills for couples incl. Testamentary Trusts; or

⚖️ Inheritance Deed ➲ Irrevocable Mutual Smarter Mirror Wills for Couples incl. Testamentary Trusts.

The days of the “simple” will are over!

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that old-style Wills keep things simple – they can easily lead to complexity and disputes as they aren’t drafted to properly protect beneficiary entitlements and avoid unnecessary taxes.

Our Smarter Will incl. a Testamentary Trust is a cutting-edge document.

Meticulously designed in consultation with leading Australian estate planning experts to provide maximum flexibility and asset protection + tax minimisation.

Here's how it works:

1️⃣ Discretionary testamentary trusts, rights of occupancy and other trust structures that are aimed at giving your executors every possible opportunity to minimise income tax, capital gains tax (CGT) and other tax leakage;

2️⃣ Beneficiary support trusts/special disability trusts that are designed to preserve Centrelink welfare entitlements;

3️⃣ Flexible child guardianship arrangements to ensure as far as possible that your child guardianship wishes are implemented;

4️⃣ Pass control of Family/Discretionary Trusts and SMSF's; and

5️⃣ Flexible mechanics for allocating and distributing your estate assets.

Cleverly designed to minimise the potential for:

➲ Family provision claims; and/or

➲ Disputes among the beneficiaries.

Potential for massive tax savings ➲ example:

Assuming an income of $72K earned from estate assets (eg, rent from an investment property, dividends from shares, etc.) to a surviving spouse who’s total taxable income is $180K, but who has 4 minor children.

If the distribution is paid directly to the spouse under a normal will, [at the time this example was prepared] tax on the distribution was calculated to be $32,400 – HOWEVER, if the distribution is split equally [possible as a result of the Testamentary Trust] between the children, no tax will be payable!

Tax saved in this example: $32,400 … year after year after year.

A lot of care has been taken in drafting your smarter will

Your Smarter Will has been meticulously designed in consultation with leading Australian estate planning experts to allow you to:

1️⃣  Reduce the need to update your Will for minor changes; and

2️⃣  Greatly assist your Executor in administering your Estate.

Your Smarter Will refers to the following separate lists/directions which importantly DO NOT form part of your Wills!

➲ List of Allocation of Personal Chattels;

➲ Digital Assets (incl. current passwords, and authentication protocols); and

➲ Funeral Directions.

This means that you can update any of the above, at any time, by simply dating + personally signing a revised list/direction (no witnesses required).

NSW: circumventing potential civil liabilities

All Testamentary Trust Deeds contain broad definitions of eligible beneficiaries in order to provide as much flexibility as possible for Trust Distributions.

Long-lost siblings, uncles, aunts, nephews or even kids born or who may be residing offshore as part of their professional or lifestyle pursuits could be or become foreign persons + trigger the need for compliance with recent NSW legislation.

Failure to mitigate this risk by ensuring the Trust Deed irrevocably prevents trust distributions to foreign persons creates a situation where:

➲ If the Testamentary Trust acquires or leases NSW Residential Land (freehold or leasehold, vacant or with a dwelling incl. strata) it could potentially be liable to pay the 8% NSW Purchaser Duty + 2% Land Tax Surcharge.

Your smarter will provides a solution

Your Testamentary Trust can be setup to either:

1️⃣  Revocably prevent any trust distributions to any foreign person; This option retains flexibility for the Trusts to reverse its position at some point in the future to allow distributions to foreign persons; or

2️⃣  Irrevocably prevent any trust distributions to any foreign person. This option is highly recommended if your Trusts plan on purchasing or leasing residential property in NSW.

Please contact our legal team if you need clarification or assistance with this complex decision.

Credits:

This FAQ was created by James D. Ford GAICD | Principal Solicitor, Blue Ocean Law Group℠.

Important Notice:

This FAQ is intended for general interest + information only.

It is not legal advice, nor should it be relied upon or used as such.

We recommend you always consult a lawyer for legal advice specifically tailored to your needs & circumstances.