Yesterday
Why there is no such thing as a simple will
You’ve got to understand what you’re giving up when you sign a simple will – and how there are better ways to protect your loved ones.
- Peter Townsend
April
A child won a share of her dad’s estate – despite planning to kill him
A 75 per cent success rate in contesting wills is encouraging more family members to sue for a bigger share. Here’s how to protect your final wishes.
- Duncan Hughes
March
The most ‘dangerous’ phrase in inheritance planning
“To be shared equally between my children” sounds simple, yet it’s anything but.
- Penny Pryor
What to do with a big inheritance
Around $10 billion worth of shares, cash and property is bequeathed every month in Australia. Experts weight in on how to manage a windfall.
- Duncan Hughes
February
The inheritance promise that will rip your family apart
Small businesses and farms are potential battlegrounds where future generations dispute verbal agreements about who gets what.
- Duncan Hughes
This bygone inheritance strategy is making a comeback
Unborn children and grandchildren are taking precedence over in-laws and other new arrivals as blended families raise the stakes in estate planning.
- Duncan Hughes
December 2023
- Opinion
- Inheritance
How to claim your spouse’s super after they die
There’s a way to move their retirement savings to your super – this is how to get things going.
- Meg Heffron
November 2023
Our son is demanding an early inheritance. Should we give it to him?
It’s not always a good idea, but there are ways that make it watertight and fair to everyone.
October 2023
Ex-girlfriend may get super despite ‘drifting off’ when dad got ill
The trustee of a leading public offer fund is refusing to pay the children of a man who thought he’d got his affairs in order before he died.
- Peter Townsend
Sporting icon’s family in 71-year inheritance spat
Walter Lindrum is considered one of the nation’s all-time great sporting heroes. His legacy has lessons on avoiding being snookered in family disputes.
- Duncan Hughes
- Opinion
- Inheritance
The procrastination that sliced $75,000 off an inheritance
A delay in passing on a reversionary pension to a woman after the death of her husband had big tax implications for her two adult children when she died.
- Peter Townsend
September 2023
How to avoid a crisis in family wealth transfers
Calling time on the financial capacity of a loved one could be one of life’s toughest conversations. These strategies can aid a successful outcome.
- Duncan Hughes
One family trust and three kids – what can go wrong?
What happens when one son doesn’t need the capital, another wants to develop a property with a huge loan and the daughter needs money ASAP for a new home.
- Peter Townsend
July 2023
- Opinion
- Superannuation
How to stop your new partner pinching your kids’ inheritance
This is also helpful if your children’s parent is the remaining spouse because it quarantines the estate from potential new relationships.
- Peter Townsend
When it’s time to let the kids get involved in your finances
This is how to plan for a little help as you get older without causing a family feud.
- Michael Hutton
June 2023
- Opinion
- Inheritance
When families don’t like the will, there’s a way to change it
If dad cuts mum out of the family home (to protect her from the ageing Lothario down the street), she and the kids can get together to rearrange things.
- Peter Townsend
May 2023
Five steps to pass on wealth without blowing up your family
These strategies can help to create a successful transition that secures wealth, values and legacy.
- Duncan Hughes
April 2023
Wills made during COVID-19 challenged by courts
Documents signed electronically are being ruled invalid, forcing people to redo them to avoid problems.
- Duncan Hughes
March 2023
‘So stressful’: A widow’s struggle to claim husband’s super
Bungling a binding death nomination can create tax traps and long delays.
- Duncan Hughes
February 2023
How lost inheritances tear blended families apart
Lawyers warn that parents are bequeathing assets that may have been sold by the time they die, creating bitter family rows.
- Duncan Hughes