Throughout life we all have many documents that help to guide, protect, outline and advance us in life. But, would it surprise you to know that the most important of all of these documents, is the one for what happens at the end of your life?
Having a current Will and Enduring Power of Attorney (EPOA), are more than just important, their essential documents when it comes to your Estate Planning. Having these in place will ensure that your wishes are adhered to, in the event that you have a loss of capacity or worse still, you die.
Many people are unaware that should you die without a Will, you are said to have died Intestate. This can cause huge detriment to your family. For example, should you have a partner and children, your partner will receive the first $150,000.00 of your estate (including household chattels) and then the rest is to go to your children. Your estate does not automatically pass onto your partner in this example. You can search more into dying intestate on the Public Trustee of Queensland’s Website for more information.
In the untimely event that you should ever lose capacity, and therefore you are unable to make financial and health decisions for yourself. An Enduring Power of Attorney is vital in this situation. Reason being that you can appoint someone to look after your affairs, whilst you are still alive who is known as an Attorney. Your attorney, can either be appointed for Financial, Health (or both) matters. Should you not have an EPOA, and you lose capacity, it is likely that a member of your family, or the Public Trustee of Queensland will apply through QCAT to be your financial administrator. This can be a very distressing and costly process which can cause some unrest within your family.
All being said and done, we strongly recommend that you review your Will and EPOA every 12 months. As we all know from the recent years events, life can change rapidly. Events like having children, getting married or even divorced can greatly impact your Will and final wishes, even revoking the Will altogether.
To ensure you get the essential advice you need, book in today, so we can rest easy knowing that your wishes are in place!