By signing a Power of Attorney you do NOT lose control over your affairs while you are able to manage them.
As long as you retain your capacity, you can always vary or revoke your own power of attorney, and you can place limitations on your agent which vary according to your requirements.
Most people execute an unrestricted Enduring Power of Attorney.
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COVID has been scary and frustrating for most of us, and the future remains uncertain.
But if you were looking for a silver lining in all this, I can maybe offer two observations:
1. People have had to learn how to connect digitally a lot more efficiently, so we are all a lot more familiar with zoom meetings now.
This will hopefully mean that we stay connected a bit better from now on, no matter how busy the world gets again.
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I’ve been trying to educate people for years that trying to DIY the most important legal document in your life is a really bad idea.
Wills and estates are specialised areas of law, and when you don’t know what you’re doing, it is very easy to make critical errors trying to do this yourself.
Any mistakes you make won’t become apparent until you die, and it’s too late for you to fix them, so it will be your family who has the stress and cost of dealing with it all.
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I did a test today, and researched the cost of buying a parachute.
The prices varied between $200 for a used army surplus item, through to $10,000 for a brand new high performance competition model.
In between I found a few reputable Australian manufacturers with decades of specialist experience, quality assurance, compliance with safety certification, and transparent in-depth information about the company and their staff and processes on their website.
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Superannuation has grown to become the largest or second-largest asset for the majority of Australians.
The combined total of superannuation accounts in Australia means that this country has the third largest pension fund assets in the world (behind only USA and UK with their much larger populations).
It is a surprise to most Australians to learn that their retirement savings are held in trust, and a shock for them to discover that the terms of that trust frequently reserves discretionary powers to the trustee(s) of that trust.
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YOYO stands for You’re On Your Own, and it has never been truer for Australian retirees.
In the 1980’s when Bob Hawke and Paul Keating changed government policy to encourage us all to save enough money for our eventual retirement, we did so with an expectation of mastering our own destiny to enjoy a wonderful and carefree retirement.
The idea was to reduce the dependence upon government funds for the old-age pension.
There has been a tremendous change in the social culture of Australia in the 40 years or so since superannuation commenced.
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I remember when I was young, the world had just begun, and I was happyi.
When I was younger, so much younger than todayii.
One more hour and my life will be throughiii.
Can you name the classic pop songs in which these timeless lyrics were sung? If so, then you’re probably at least as old as me, and you are a “Baby Boomer” (born between 1945 and 1965).
So what does this have to do with Estate Planning? Well quite a few things, really.
If we’re old enough to remember when these songs first made an impact on popular culture, then we’re at an age when we need to confront some harsh realities about our continued existence.
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Estate planning requires some tough conversations and occasionally involves thinking about worst-case scenarios for you or your loved ones.
That’s why a lot of people treat it like the dentist, something that they know they ought to do but they keep putting it off.
Planning your estate and the more difficult aspects that come with it can be made even harder by dealing with a chronic illness, whether it’s your own or your spouse’s.
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During these unique and unprecedented times, we at Genders and Partners are still working hard to help our clients and their families create and update their estate plans efficiently, while also focusing on keeping everyone safe through social distancing practices.
We take very seriously the need to protect you and our staff.
As part of a client’s estate plan signings, we review all documents that our clients will be signing in-depth with them and discuss their overall plan before any documents are signed.
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Estate planning lawyers are getting mobbed with questions. So, here is some timely advice on what families should be doing to prepare in case the unimaginable happens.
The economy and job market has recently been in a free fall. The world has not experienced this level of fear since the days of the polio epidemic in the 1940s and 1950s.
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