When you are dead, you are dead. Nothing can be done from the grave to counteract what you should have planned for when you were alive. In spite of this, too many of our clients leave it until they are in their twilight years before making the appointment to have their first Will drafted. These are the lucky few in an all too common scenario of people who have delayed drafting a Will. The … [Read more...]
Estate Planning Series: Part 1 “Not Just for the Rich”
There is a common misconception that estate planning is just something that wealthy people need to do. Wrong. While anyone with a lot of assets and capital behind them certainly needs a comprehensive estate plan, it is also important that ordinary Australians have one too. “But I’m not worth much dead.” I hear you say. On the surface this may be seem to be the case. However, if you have … [Read more...]
Caveat….Say What?
The legal world has an obsession with these lovely little words that, while sounding really special and important to those outside the profession, they really mean something which is actually quite mundane. Take the word ‘caveat’ for instance. The word, originating from 16th Century Latin, translates directly to mean ‘let a person beware’. In other words, or to put it more colloquially, it … [Read more...]
Celebrity Wills Blog Series – James Gandolfini
Much better known as Tony Soprano, a character loosely based on real-life New Jersey mobster Vincent "Vinny Ocean" Palermo, of the television show The Sopranos, James Joseph Gandolfini Jr was born 1961 and sadly died of a heart attack aged only 51 in June 2013. Gandolfini received widespread praise for his performance as the crime boss, winning three Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors … [Read more...]
Case Study – “Gifts and Asset Divestment in Estate Planning and Asset Protection”
How the family home can stay in an individual’s name for the purpose of the CGT main residence exemption yet the value can in someone else’s hands. It illustrates the pros and cons of asset divestment to the next generation during the lifetime of the senior generation and how it should and should not be done. Doris and David Day married in 1975 at the age of 30. Doris was born into a wealthy … [Read more...]
Two Lawyers and A Politician Were Drinking At A Bar: The Story of Public Service Super in SA
This story starts like all good stories – at the bar over a few drinks!. There were two lawyers and a politician at the bar – no seriously, there were! We were at the recent Telstra Business Awards ceremony of which Welden and Coluccio Lawyers were a South Australian finalist, and we got to discussing matters of estate planning with one of the state's leading politicians. In that discussion, … [Read more...]
Changes to Super SA Regulations: What this means and what you need to do about it?
Significant changes to the regulations governing the administration of Super SA were made late last month. As is often the case, tens of thousands of South Australians associated with the fund, remain oblivious to these changes, let alone equipped to understand what this means for themselves and their families. Read on for the inside scoop on what these changes mean and what you need to do about … [Read more...]
Top 10 Reasons Why You Need a Will
At some point in the future you will die. Death (along with taxes) remains one of the few things in life which you can predict. While this is hardly a revelation it is a truth that too many people ignore, especially when you remind them of the importance of having a Will and estate plan. In fact, the question, “have you got your Wills sorted?” is too often followed by a dismissive shrug and … [Read more...]
Celebrity Wills Blog Series – BB King
Riley B. "B.B." King died on 14 May 2015 at the age of 89 and was an American blues singer, electric guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. King introduced a unique style of solo guitar and heavily influenced many later electric blues guitarists. B.B. King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 having earned the nickname "The King of the Blues". Until well … [Read more...]
How to find an awesome Estate Lawyer (and what can happen if you don’t)
We see them a lot; Lawyers that is, advertising their cut-price Wills on brightly painted sandwich boards plonked on the footpaths of our suburban streets. There is an old saying that goes something like, ‘if something sounds too good to be true then it probably is.’ Where Wills are concerned you really do get what you pay for. In fact, the less you pay the more likely it is that you will be … [Read more...]
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