'Nothing Is Certain But Death and Taxes' - an EOFY Plan

(1)

Do you have a current Will in place?

If not, make an appointment with your solicitor or the Public Trustee to draw one up. If you already have a Will in place, review it every three to five years or on the occasion of a major life event such as marriage, divorce, death of a partner, the purchase or sale of a property and/or business and so on^[1].

(2)

Check your assets and liabilities are accounted for.

The Will is one piece of the estate planning pie. The other pieces include:

(i) Drawing up a list detailing all your valuable tangible assets (property, jewellery, cars etc) and intangible assets (bank accounts, shares, life insurance policies etc). If you would like to gift certain assets to certain people, make a note of this on the list and make sure it the gift is in line with your Will.

(ii) Listing any debts (credit cards, loans) with details on the location of the paperwork.

(iii) Listing your memberships and any charitable organisations. If you wish to support them on your death, note down the donation you wish to make.

(iv) Checking your beneficiaries on your superannuation account and life insurance policy. These beneficiaries will receive the benefit on your death, irrespective of any wording to the contrary in your Will.

(v) Noting down in a hard copy “little black book” or a secure password register your passwords for your phone, computer, any business websites and social media accounts. Keep the little black book or access to your password register secure, along with your other estate plan documents, and let your executor know of its whereabouts. Both Facebook and Google give you options to appoint someone to have access, either on death (Facebook^[2]) or as a trusted contact (Google^[3]).

(3)

Have you appointed an Enduring Power of Attorney and Enduring Guardian^[4]?

An Enduring Power of Attorney grants a person the power to make financial and legal decisions on your behalf and the power continues even if you lose the ability to make decisions for yourself. 

Enduring Guardianship grants a person the power to make healthcare, lifestyle and medical decisions on your behalf if you become unable to make those decisions on your own.

If you have these documents in place, revisit them to check that your appointed attorney or guardian is still your choice. The appointee may have died, lost capacity or your relationship with them may have changed.

If you do not have these documents in place, speak with a solicitor or the Public Trustee about organising them.

(4)

Do you have an Advance Care Directive?

An Advanced Care Directive outlines your wishes in relation to your medical care when you no longer have the capacity to communicate those wishes. Using service providers like Touchstone^[5], you can now have this document stored digitally so that hospital doctors can access it and respect your wishes.

(5)

Do you know your financial position?

As we enter our senior years, questions around down-sizing, moving to a retirement village, seeking in-home care or relocating to residential care constantly hover in our minds. “Can I afford it?” you ask.

To release yourself of this constant stress, talk to a licensed financial planner^{[6 & 7]} to establish your options. There are licensed financial planners who specialise in the area of aged care. We are able to refer several who we work closely with.

While speaking with the licensed financial planner, run through your estate plan to make sure all financial aspects have been covered.

End-Of-Life Planning Checklist

Life Ready Register^TM

This checklist will help you or a loved one go through a preparation process to reduce the anxiety often felt at the end-of-life, whether for yourself or for a close loved one.

This register is a convenient way to record your important documents in the one place, allowing you, or those carrying out your wishes, to find key information quickly and easily.