Estate Planning for Problem Children in SA

Estate Planning for Problem Children

Estate Planning, Trusts & Guardianship, Young Children
Estate Planning for Problem Children

For most parents, providing for their children is a fundamental motivation for estate planning. Yet for a growing number of families, the question of how to provide for an adult child is far from straightforward. When a child has a gambling problem, a substance dependency, an unsuitable or unstable relationship, or simply a demonstrated inability to manage money, leaving them an unconditional inheritance may do more harm than good.
This article addresses the estate planning options available to South Australian Will-makers who are concerned about leaving assets to vulnerable or financially unreliable adult children, under the Succession Act 2023 (SA) and related legislation.

Genders and Partners

Accommodation After Death: Providing a Home for Loved Ones Through Your Will

Death Benefits, Estate Planning, Trusts, Wills

For many South Australians, the family home is the most valuable asset in their estate. It is also deeply personal – associated with decades of memory and, in many cases, currently occupied by a surviving spouse, a dependent child, an elderly parent, or another family member who has nowhere else to go. The prospect of that person being displaced shortly after the Will-maker’s death, because the home must be sold or transferred to satisfy the terms of the Will, is a genuine source of anxiety for many people making estate planning decisions.

Testamentary trusts in South Australia — protecting beneficiaries, minimising tax, and building flexibility into your Will

Testamentary Trusts: Building a Will That Protects Your Beneficiaries

Testamentary Trusts, Wills, Wills and Estate Planning
Testamentary trusts in South Australia — protecting beneficiaries, minimising tax, and building flexibility into your Will

When most people think about making a Will, they imagine a straightforward document that says who gets what when they die. For many Australians, that basic Will is all that is needed. But for others — particularly those with significant assets, complex family structures, or vulnerable beneficiaries — a Will that simply transfers wealth outright may not be the wisest choice.

What Happens When You Die Without a Will in South Australia

What Happens When You Die Without a Will in South Australia?

Estate Administration, Succession Law, Wills and Estate Planning
What Happens When You Die Without a Will in South Australia

Approximately half of all Australian adults do not have a Will. For some, this reflects a deliberate (if misguided) choice; for most, it is simply the result of procrastination — of assuming there is plenty of time, that it will not matter, or that the law will sort things out. In practice, dying without a Will — a state known as dying ‘intestate’ — can have significant and sometimes distressing consequences for the people left behind.

Enduring Power of Attorney in South Australia — choosing the right person to manage your financial affairs if you lose capacity

Enduring Powers of Attorney in South Australia: Choosing the Right Person to Manage Your Affairs

Elder Law, Enduring Power of Attorney, Wills and Estate Planning
Enduring Power of Attorney in South Australia — choosing the right person to manage your financial affairs if you lose capacity

The decision to grant another person authority over your financial affairs is not one to be taken lightly. Yet it is a decision that every adult should address, because the alternative — having no plan in place if you lose capacity — can be far more disruptive, far more expensive, and far harder on your family than any act of foresight could be.

Advance Care Directives in South Australia — planning for incapacity, appointing a substitute decision-maker, and end-of-life wishes

Advance Care Directives in South Australia: Planning for When You Cannot Speak for Yourself

Advance Care Directive, Elder Law, Wills and Estate Planning
Advance Care Directives in South Australia — planning for incapacity, appointing a substitute decision-maker, and end-of-life wishes

None of us likes to contemplate a time when we may be unable to communicate our own wishes about medical treatment. Yet illness, accident, or the gradual decline that can accompany old age may leave us in precisely that position. An Advance Care Directive (ACD) is South Australia’s legal mechanism for ensuring that your voice is heard even when you cannot speak — and it is one of the most important documents an adult can have in place.

Digital asset estate planning in Australia — managing cryptocurrency, social media, and online accounts after death

What Happens to Your Digital Life When You Die? A Practical Guide to Digital Asset Estate Planning

Digital Assets, Wills, Wills and Estate Planning
Digital asset estate planning in Australia — managing cryptocurrency, social media, and online accounts after death

When most people think about estate planning, they think about property, bank accounts, superannuation, and personal possessions. Few think about their email inbox, their cryptocurrency wallet, their Netflix subscription, or the thirty thousand photographs stored on a cloud service. Yet for many Australians in 2026, the digital estate is substantial — and it is almost entirely unplanned for.

Business succession planning for Australian business owners — integrating your Will with your business structure

What Happens to Your Business When You Die? A Business Owner’s Guide to Succession Planning

Business Succession, Wills, Wills and Estate Planning
Business succession planning for Australian business owners — integrating your Will with your business structure

For a business owner, the question ‘what happens to my estate when I die?’ is inseparable from the question ‘what happens to my business?’ The death of a business owner without a succession plan can destroy value that has been built over decades, trigger crippling disputes among partners or shareholders, leave employees without direction, and saddle the surviving family with an asset they cannot manage, cannot sell, and cannot afford to run.
Business succession planning is the process of ensuring that your business has a clear, documented path forward in the event of your death or incapacity — and that your estate plan is properly integrated with that path.

Wills and Estate Planning Adelaide Baby Boomers - Are You Bequeathing Disaster to Your Family

Baby Boomers: Are You Bequeathing Disaster to Your Family?

Genders and Partners

Baby Boomers were born between 1945 and 1965.  As a segment of Australian society we represent a BIG chunk of our national population, and account for a massive percentage of the nation’s private net-worth.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics people aged 65 years and over made up 13% of Australia’s population at 30 June 2007. This proportion is projected to increase to 25% in 2056 and to 28% in 2101.

As we prepare to transition into retirement & beyond, we are about to witness the greatest transfer of wealth ever in Australia’s history.

However 2010 Australian research commissioned by the Salvation Army from Roy Morgan Research reveals that nearly two thirds of the adult Australian population does not have a Will. The research also shows 40% of Australians aged 25+ have experienced or know someone who has experienced family conflict as a result of a family member not leaving a Will.

Dying without any Will is called intestacy.  When that happens, the government of the State where you die will determine what will happen to your assets.  This can lead to unintended people (or even the government) gaining ownership of your hard-earned assets.

Many Australians have no idea what happens to their assets after they die, and sadly many rely on the misguided notion that a Do it Yourself Will is sufficient to protect their family and assets.

Genders and Partners

Don’t Make These Common Mistakes with Your Discretionary Family Trust

Genders and Partners

Discretionary trusts (often called family trusts) are very powerful planning tools you can use for all kinds of purposes. Trusts can simplify & minimise or even avoid probate, protect your beneficiaries from creditors or divorcing spouses and

Don’t Make These Common Mistakes with your Discretionary Family Trust

can provide for education for grandchildren or your favourite charities.

When a trust is part of your overall comprehensive estate plan, you should try to avoid these common trust mistakes:

Mistake 1: Failing to title assets in the name of your trust

If you have not put your assets into your trust, also called “funding” your trust, you have lost some of the benefits of your trust.

Any assets that are in your own name at the time of your death will probably need to be probated. However, any assets that are titled in the name of your trust at the time of your death will avoid probate and usually result in lower after-death administration costs.

In order to receive the protection and benefits capable of being provided by the trust, generally (except for superannuation funds and certain annuities) most of your assets would need to be transferred into your trust during your lifetime.