Wills & Estates
Estate Planning
Estate Planning is more than just preparing a Will.
Estate planning gives you the opportunity to direct your assets to your chosen beneficiaries in the most tax effective and efficient manner during your lifetime irrespective of your personal circumstances. Estate planning is important to put you in control of the ultimate distribution of your wealth, and to nominate those most trusted persons in your life to look after your interests in the event of suffering from impaired capacity.
By having a plan in place, your wishes will be clearly set out to those around you. Whilst a Will is one tool in the estate planners tool kit, it is ultimately an important document, which, in the absence of a valid Will can cause expense, time and stress for your family at an already difficult time.
Our experienced lawyers at MobbsMarr Legal, led by Jarrad Mobbs, an Accredited Specialist in Succession Law, will provide you with peace of mind that your affairs will be handled as you wish in the event of impaired capacity or death. Peace of mind is particularly important in the event of complex family and/or financial circumstances.
- Wills
- Enduring Powers of Attorney
- Advance Health Directives
- Testamentary Trusts
- Superannuation
- Life insurance considerations
- Structuring and asset protection advice
- Asset protection advice
- Blended families
- Business succession planning
- Farming succession planning
- Beneficiaries with special needs
Estate Administration
When it comes time to carry out the wishes of a deceased loved one, we can help.
We take a compassionate and empathic approach to our engagements at this very unsettling time for our clients.
We are very experienced in acting for executors and trustees throughout the deceased estate administration process including advising on tasks including:
- Applying to the Supreme Court of Queensland for a Grant of Representation (i.e. Probate or Letters of Administration);
- Acting for administrators where the deceased has died intestate (i.e. without leaving a valid will);
- Acting for executors and trustees to advise on their obligations;
- Acting for beneficiaries of wills and trusts to advise on their rights;
- Defending legal proceedings against the deceased estate;
- Acting for guardians in court proceedings;
- Collection of assets on behalf of executors and administrators;
- Advising on claims made against the deceased’s estate and the payment of debts;
- Advising on testamentary trusts.
We also accept appointments as independent litigation guardian for minors and disabled beneficiaries, and as court appointed administrators over deceased estates where there are disagreements between the beneficiaries of a deceased estate.
We recommend using professional services to administer deceased estates particularly when there are risks of litigation or dispute among beneficiaries or family members over the terms of wills.
Our professional service is second to none. We are professional, we provide our advice in a timely manner. We are pragmatic in our strategies when advising our clients. We explain complex legal matters in simple plain English so that we are confident that our clients understand the advice we provide.
Estate Disputes
Disputes can arise during some of the following circumstances:
- No will
- Poorly drafted will
- Administration of deceased estate
Our experienced estate dispute litigation lawyers at MobbsMarr Legal, led by Jarrad Mobbs, an Accredited Specialist in Succession Law, can provide you with advice in the following areas:
- Application for the removal of executor
- Statutory will applications
- Challenging a will based on incapacity or undue influence or duress
- Application for the rectification or construction of a will
- Seeking directions from the court in regard to a will on the basis of a dispute or uncertainty
- Applications to the court in regard to constructive trusts or equitable interests
- We act for executors defending claims for further provision
- We act for beneficiaries seeking further provision
- Applications to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal - removing an attorney
We understand that disputes can be stressful, and our team is here to guide you through that process and alleviate that stress for you.
Superannuation
Superannuation represents a substantial part of many people’s wealth.
It is important to understand that as a non-estate asset, superannuation and life insurance policy proceeds may be payable in accordance with your Will or, in accordance with the terms of the trust deed, policy documents and contracts of life insurance.
There are a range of nominations that are available to be made including:
- Binding Death Benefit Nominations;
- Binding Non-lapsing Death Benefit Nominations;
- Non-binding Nominations;
- Reversionary Pension Nominations; and
- Death Benefit Rules in Self Managed Super Funds (SMSFs).
There are a range of taxation consequences that arise depending upon the recipient of your superannuation death benefit. As each client’s personal and financial circumstances differ, there is no set rule about the type of nomination to be implemented and bespoke advice is required.
Our experienced team can assist you with advice in the following areas:
- Advice to trustees of SMSF
- Changing the Trustee or amending your SMSF
- SMSF transactions including borrowing arrangements
- Death Benefit Nominations for SMSF and retail industry funds
Statutory Wills
An application can be made to the Supreme Court of Queensland pursuant to the Succession Act 1981 to approve a will for an individual who is a minor or who does not have testamentary capacity to make, alter or revoke their will.
Any individual can apply on behalf of another person to make an application for a statutory will although the court must determine whether that is the appropriate person to make the application. In most cases the individual making the application would be a family member or attorney under an enduring power of attorney.
When making an application for a statutory will, certain information must be included, such as the following:
- The reasons for making the application;
- Evidence of the lack of testamentary capacity of the person and evidence of the person regaining testamentary capacity;
- An estimate of the size of the person’s estate;
- A draft of the proposed will, alteration or revocation in relation to which the order is sought;
- Any evidence available to the applicant of the person’s wishes;
- Any evidence available to the applicant of the terms of any will previously made by the person;
- Details of anyone who may bring an application for family provision against the person’s estate; and
- Any evidence available to the applicant of any persons who might be entitled to claim on intestacy.
The court may order that the costs of the application be paid out of the person’s assets.
Guardianship and Administration Applications
An application can be made to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) to be appointed as an individual’s administrator and/or guardian when that person lacks the capacity to make decisions for themselves and they do not have a valid form of Enduring Power of Attorney.
Our experienced team can assist individuals in applying to be appointed as an administrator and/or guardian and appearing for them before the QCAT Tribunal.
We can also assist individuals in defending complaints made by the Office of the Public Guardian in respect to administrator and/or guardian orders.
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