Have you ever been asked to act as executor of someone’s estate? Worse still, have you ever been involved in executing, or administering a deceased estate? Most often this turns out to be an exhausting, time-consuming nightmare for the unfortunate person who is lumbered with the responsibility of sorting out what ever mess is left behind.
Some legal and accounting firms view Estate Planning as simply the drafting of someone’s will. Unfortunately the process is not quite that simple. In fact, many law firms and trustee companies charge estates enormous fees to ‘sort out the mess’.
Our estate planning process consists of three separate phases:
Phase 1 – The Planning Process.
This process is vital because it allows us to determine what your family’s financial needs will be should you or your spouse die prematurely. We take into consideration current assets and liabilities, personal and business structures, and your asset protection strategies for yourself and future generations.
Once we have a thorough understanding of your requirements, we will prepare a detailed report that outlines, in plain English, how to fulfill all of your estate planning objectives.
Phase 2 – The Implementation Process.
Next we will assist you with all of the appropriate documentation to implement your strategies. Our experienced administration team will be responsible for ensuring that this is done in a friendly and efficient manner.
This process may also involve joint meetings with either your or our solicitor.
Phase 3 – The Sorting Process
For a relatively small fee, our team will organise all of your financial affairs, including insurance policies, share certificates, house & trust deeds, details regarding your superannuation, banking & credit cards particulars, personal guarantees, and any other information which has supported your family’s financial existence.
We will collect, collate and disseminate this information to produce a comprehensive personal report designed specifically for those you have chosen to execute your estate. This report, along with all of your important documents will be stored in a personal fire-proof, vermin-proof Safety Case.
We welcome the opportunity to meet with your executors during this process so that they have an understanding not only on their role, but also on how we will assist them during this traumatic time.
This important step has been known to save estates literally tens of thousands of dollars in administration fees.
Contact us or request an appointment for more information on preparing your estate plan.