Your home will always be an important part of your Estate Plan. For many Australians, their home will be the single most important part of their Estate Plan. But do you know whether you own your home as a “Joint Tenant” or a “Tenant in Common”? It’s a question that few property owners have the answer to, yet it can have massive implications on Estate Planning.
The Public Trustee (“PT”) of Queensland is a body that seemingly offers prospective Will-makers an Estate Plan, often free of cost and stress. But for those who employ the PT to write their Will and act as Executor, is this the reality? As more Australians recount their damning experiences with the PT, it becomes more apparent that the answer to such a question is no.
By now, it’s a trite point - the world has gone digital. The wealth of information stored online grows by the second, and now, practically every person has left behind some digital footprint, especially when it comes to social media. Further, the rise of various Cryptocurrencies (“crypto”) has presented an unprecedented level of risk when it comes to digital estate planning. We all need to begin considering what digital impression we will leave behind when they die.
This article will outline two of the most significant components of digital Estate Planning that we come across, Social Media and Crypto, and present some options to prompt some initial considerations of risk and planning.
A well-written will should give peace of mind that your final wishes will be respected. Yet even clear and valid wills can still lead to family conflict.
