Does a child in a blended family lose their inheritance if their parent dies?

A Contractual Will Agreement might provide the answer to this difficult question.

Many blended Australian families wanting greater certainty in their estate planning choose to make a mirror Will with their spouse - effectively leaving everything to each other.

Who can make emergency medical decisions for you when you can’t?

Most adults are presumed to have the mental capacity to give consent themselves.  But what happens when you can’t make decisions for yourself?

The person next in line to make decisions for you is referred to as the person responsible and it might not be your next of kin.

Why you can’t leave your superannuation to your parents, even if you wanted to

Most people have some form of superannuation and it’s not long until the question gets asked, 'Who gets my Super if I die?'

Here's our fun explainer video about what is Modern Estate Planning

Estate Planning Quick Tips

What can be written in a Letter of Wishes?

A Letter of Wishes is part of your family backup plan documents and its purpose is to provide general guidance to the Executor or Trustee of a person’s estate following their death.

If you have kids, you need to name a Guardian for them as part of your Will — this is how you do it.

How to choose a Guardian for your children

Getting your Will in place probably feels a lot like flossing — it's uncomfortable work for no current obvious result — we know we should do it but we either put it off or fall into the bad habit of simply finding more reasons to keep putting it off completely.

Modern Estate Planning is about a workable plan—not a just a Will

It involves a powerful combination of 5 key documents and an ongoing management system that works quietly in the background for you like a personal backup system.

So what’s your plan?

A common trait of successful people is they accept that life is always unpredictable.

The problem we all face is when we don’t understand something or its relevance to our lives, it’s easier not to think about it.

Sometimes just not knowing where to start or where to go for advice can freeze many people into inaction.

There are many ways to own property with other people

Different ownership structures bring different rights and responsibilities so it makes sense to understand the basics.

When a single property is owned by more than one person (or company) it can be owned either as;

Why every parent needs a Plan B for their children's future

The effect of the death of a parent on our children's future

Can we measure the future impact of the loss of a parent? While this is different family to family, what is measurable is the effect of the financial loss during the most difficult time in a child's life.

A report by ING Australia studied the future impact the loss of a parent can have on a family and the role sound financial advice can play in helping families pick up the pieces. Additional research was conducted 5 years later by ANZ with similar results.

Measuring the financial impact on a child's future when they loose a parent

The study found the loss of a parent can have a devastating effect on a family’s lifestyle adding to the already significant impact on the lives and mental well-being of children – with almost a third (32%) of families having to move house within two years as a result of financial pressure,

Important: If you have professional insurance in place specifically for this eventuality, make sure to review it annually.

If you don’t have insurance in place or you're not sure what you're really covered for, consider carefully the impact that sickness, injury or even unexpected death, would have on your family, your business and those that rely upon you.

Better still Contact us today for a chat.