Wills and Estates

Last Will and Testament

A Last Will and Testament, or a ‘Will’, is the document which stipulates the distribution of a person’s possessions after their death. The Will can also provide for testamentary trusts or discretionary trusts for the provision of disabled adult children or other beneficiaries, the nomination of Guardians for the care of children under the age of 18, specific gifts to other individuals or charities, provision of a ‘life interest’ in a residential property for any surviving spouse/de facto partner/children, or preferences for funeral/cremation options, for example.

A well-drafted Will is clear and unambiguous and greatly reduces the scope of conflict for those left behind after the passing of a loved one. Any (and every) Will can be challenged by the beneficiaries or those excluded in the Will, but a well-drafted Will, properly executed and witnessed, makes it much harder for any challengers to be successful in the subsequent litigation.

It is particularly important to update/re-do a Will following a Family Law event, as both Marriage and Divorce invalidates a previous Will.

JosephDavid Lawyers are able to guide you through the process of Estate Planning to give you sound legal advice for your particular financial situation and circumstances,

Powers of Attorney

Powers of Attorney documents, unlike a Will, does not have any effect after a person dies, but only while they are alive. They are very useful for people who have lost capacity to care for themselves either indefinitely or temporarily (those in an accident or hospitalised, elderly parents), or those not able to attend to specific matters by reason of absence (a holiday/other commitments).

An Enduring Financial Power of Attorney allows the Donor to appoint an Attorney to act on the Donor’s behalf and for the Donor’s best interests in dealing with all financial matters. The Attorney can, in effect, represent themselves as if they were the Donor, to banks, financial institutions, almost any financial transaction.

A Medical Treatment Decision Maker (formerly a Medical Attorney), allows the Decision Maker to make medical decisions on behalf of the Principal, where the Principal is incapacitated or unable to provide cogent instructions to medical personnel themselves. It makes the Doctors’ job much easier to know that a pre-appointed individual has the authority to provide input where the Principal cannot, without having to worry about conflicting instructions from other family members.

Find out More

We charge a Fixed Price for standard Wills (those with testamentary trusts or disability trusts require additional work) and Powers of Attorney documents (Financial and Medical).

• A Single Will – $550.00 incl GST; or $990.00 incl GST for a Couple;
• A Single Power document (Financial/Medical) – $440.00 incl GST; or $770.00 incl GST for a Couple;
• Two Power documents (Financial and Medical) – $770.00 incl GST; or $1,320.00 incl GST for a Couple;
• Will and One Power documents (Financial/Medical) = $880.00 incl GST; or $1,650.00 incl GST for a Couple;
• Will and Two Power documents (Financial and Medical) = $1,100.00 incl GST; or $1,760.00 incl GST for a Couple;

Included in our Fixed Price packages is an initial conference (either in person or by phone and email, at your convenience), drafting the documents and amendments as required to finalise, attendance in person at our convenient Chadstone location to duly execute the documents and storage of the finalised Deeds, at no additional charge. We will also provide Certified Copies of the executed documents for your use, at no additional charge.

Contact Us Now for Free to see how we can help assist in drafting and properly executing your Wills and Powers of Attorney Documents.