Create the life you want
We are presently helping a family deal with the repercussions and issues arising from the sudden loss of their father.
What is becoming abundantly clear is that the legal world at death is complex, technical and fraught with dangers. It’s a very difficult thing for family members to navigate the emotions and conflicting interests without confrontation. We all know war stories of siblings who were close before the death of a family member and now don’t talk to each other.
It made me think that this might be a timely opportunity to write to you and ask the question again……….
Who’s getting your money?
Wills
Have you completed your own Will and Power of Attorney?
Did you know that divorce and marriage immediately renders a Will invalid and you need to establish a new one?
Other events that should cause you to revisit your Will are……a birth, acquisition of property, disposal of property. You should make a call to your lawyer every 3 – 5 years to confirm things haven’t changed at law.
Super
Have you recently checked to make sure your super and/or allocated pension beneficiary nomination is correct?
Did you know that there are only 4 acceptable parties that can be nominated as a valid beneficiary of your super? Those parties are:
- Your Spouse (including Defacto and Same Sex)
- Your Children (including step, adopted and children of your spouse)
- Someone who you have an ‘Interdependent Relationship’ with (You live together, care for each other and share financial resources)
- Your Estate (via your Will)
That’s it. You can’t nominate a charity, a church, your parents, your siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews, friends (unless they are interdependent as per point 3 above).
Superfunds do not typically check the validity of your nominations when you do them and send them in. They check them at the point of death but then it is too late if the nominated person is not a valid beneficiary. It’s so important to get this right now and will save lots of legal fees too!
So please check who you have nominated and contact us if you have any questions or want help making any changes.
