Wills and Estates

Our Approach to Succession Planning

Regardless of your personal or family position, you want to know that your affairs have been carefully considered and adopted to suit your situation. This is why estate planning is so important.

Our estate planning lawyers in Toowoomba, Gold Coast and Brisbane are able to work with you through every step of the way, and each eventuality to ensure an adaptive outcome. At MacDonald Law, we do not adopt a ‘one size fits all’ approach. 

An Enduring Power of Attorney is an important document as it allows you to nominate who is to be in charge of financial and personal/health decisions in the event that you are unable to make your own decisions, or at another point that you nominate.

An Advanced Health Directive is a separate document which can be included in your succession planning. It is separate to an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA). Where an EPA allows you to give the decision making power to a person or persons about health or personal matters; an Advanced Health Directive allows you to directly tell a medical professional through the correctly completed form about your health or personal wishes.



Preparing a Will is an important part of succession planning for your family. A Will enables you to properly set out how your wishes as to how your assets and liabilities should be managed in the event of your passing. It is estate planning at its core.

Generally, we will take the following the steps to be able to assist you in appropriately estate planning for your circumstances:-

1. Our estate planning lawyers take steps to understand your particular family and financial circumstances. This enables us to provide bespoke advice personal to your situation. This can include perusal of trust deeds, company documents or speaking with your Accountant.
2. We will prepare drafts of the documents that you have requested and provide legal advice specifically for your situation. You then have an opportunity to review these documents at length, consider any questions posed by the documents or discussions we have had and review any other ancillary matters as needed.
3. We will then attend with you to execute the finalised documents you have approved. This creates your personalised succession plan.

Whilst it might seem simple, it can be complicated and any mistakes have the potential to effect your family after your passing. That is why we are very careful to ensure that your wishes are properly recorded, and that the documents comply with the Succession Act requirements. At the end of the process, you want a valid last will and testament Qld.

Understanding

Sarah-Jane MacDonald, Director, together with Stephanie Wentzel, Solicitor, are well versed in a variety of personal situations: from complicated rural farming situations, a family discretionary trust, companies to more simple matters involving only one or no real property (houses). 

We want to help understand your financial and personal circumstances and complete the estate planning process in a way that is specific to your individual needs. Estate planning will allow us to comprehensively understand your situation and assist with asset protection for your future generations.

We take the time to truly understand what you hope to achieve with your drafted documents so that we can ensure that your 'why' is incorporated in any drafting. In some instances, this can include guardianship of children or provision for funds for any family law litigation upon your death. For others, this can include consideration of superannuation, a testamentary trust and bank accounts. More again it can be about generational asset protection.

Our team are well versed in understanding and providing for the complexities of testamentary trusts, tax planning, real property, family law difficulties, or any business that you may have. We provide bespoke strategic advice to assist you with asset and wealth protection.

Whether your Estate might be large or small, we are able to assist you to properly prepare a Will to provide for your loved ones.

When the inevitable happens and your family need support, and guidance in utilising your Advanced Health Directive or Enduring Power of Attorney, our office is available to aid in the release and understanding of these documents. 



It is important that you obtain comprehensive advice legal advice about these documents as they can have serious impacts if not carefully considered. However, not having an Enduring Power of Attorney can also have significant consequences. It can assist you and your family to avoid financial difficulties and to streamline the decision making process.

No matter your situation, you can rest assured that our knowledgeable team will be able to assist you and your family.

Our Approach to Estate Administration

Inevitably, loved ones will pass away. This difficult time does not need to be burdened by the day to day responsibility of the administration of an Estate. That is where our team come in. We are able to work with you as Executor, Administrator or as beneficiaries to finalise the administration of your friend or family member's estate.

Our approach to Deceased Estates Administration is led with compassion and experience. Our Ms Stephanie Wentzel, Solicitor, is one of our experienced  probate and estate lawyers. Steph will speak with you as Executor upon the passing of your loved one to indicate if there are any funeral or burial wishes contained within.

Thereafter, we recommend you book an appointment for all of the Executors to see our Deceased Estate Lawyers Brisbane and Toowoomba after the funeral has taken place and the death certificate has been received. This period of time is for you to mourn the loss of your loved ones.

When you attend for your initial appointment, we take this opportunity to explain to you the wishes contained within the Will, and to identify the assets and liabilities contained within the Estate. We can then identify the steps which will need to be undertaken and whether an Application for Probate or Letters of Intestacy will be required to be made to the Supreme Court of Queensland.

If your loved ones pass away, we are able to assist you in understanding the legalities and intentions which are now formed by their last Will and testament.

MacDonald Law is a law firm which is well versed in the administration of Deceased Estates, both complex and relatively simple or minor in value. Our Estates Team are regularly filing Applications in the Supreme Court of Queensland for Probate or Letters of Intestacy. This means that we understand the process and can make it as simple and easy to understand as possible. 

We assist with the preparation and filing of any Application to the Supreme Court of Queensland for either Probate or a Grant of Letters of Administration, depending on the circumstances.

We also take care of calling in all of the assets, dealing with any liabilities of the estates, take care of property, a testamentary trust, assist in the wind up or continued operation of a business, and otherwise comply with the terms of a Will or the Succession Act generally.

We understand that there is a lot of things to be finalised during the Estate Administration process. You can leave the legalities and processes with us, to be expertly handled with dignity and care.

Our Approach to Estate Litigation

Jag MacDonald, Director, together with Stephanie Wentzel, Solicitor, are pragmatic in their approach to litigation of estate matters. We are not in the business of excessive fees which are usually borne from your loved ones estate.

Estate litigation mainly encompasses applications for further and better provision (also known as family provision claims) and applications to contest the validity of wills.

Other less common estate litigation can include applications regarding informal wills, clarification of the terms of a will, issues relating to the practical administration of an estate, removal of Executors, determining proper beneficiaries or administrators when someone passes away without a Will, among other things.

Basically, it encompasses all court applications regarding the law under the Succession Act.

Jag and Steph will meet with you regularly to identify the basis of any claim that you may have against the Estate, or any vulnerabilities the Estate may have to being contested. This includes a review and consideration of any further and better provision claim, or challenging the validity of a will.

It is important to remember that there are very strict time limits which apply to Estate litigation. We ensure that you do not miss those time limits and that litigation is finalised in a timely manner.

We understand how heart breaking it can be to be involved with estate litigation or estate disputes. It is lengthy and complicated. That's why we take steps to involve the best people in the field to assist you.

Our Estate disputes team work with knowledgeable and skilled Barristers across Queensland and Australia to ensure that you have access to the best legal knowledge and support during your matter.

It is important that you obtain legal advice from experienced solicitors who are accustomed to this area of law and are able to properly advise you and your family.

Our team are able to assist you with making an application, and are well versed at acting for the Estate and defending these types of applications.

Our Estate Litigation lawyers have extensive experience in litigation of both further and better provision claims and challenging the validity of a Will. Our estates lawyers will draw on this extensive experience to understand your concerns, provide expert advice and to assist you with your litigation before the Supreme Court of Queensland.