Your will is one of the most important documents you will ever create. Our estate planning lawyers work with you to:

• Draft clear, legally sound wills that reflect your wishes.
• Structure your estate to minimise tax and maximise benefits for beneficiaries.
• Establish testamentary trusts for asset protection and tax efficiency.
• Create death benefit nominations for superannuation accounts.
• Review and update existing wills as your circumstances change.

We bring clarity to complexity with strategies that work in practice – protecting your wealth, minimising disputes and securing your family’s future.

Protecting your wishes and your family’s future starts with clear, legally sound documentation. Our estate lawyers work with you to prepare comprehensive documents, including:

• Wills tailored to reflect your family circumstances, asset structures and long-term estate planning objectives.
• Wills incorporating testamentary discretionary trusts, to provide asset protection and tax-effective wealth transfer for beneficiaries.
• Letters of Wishes setting out your personal wishes for the guardianship and upbringing of your minor children and providing guidance to your executors and trustees as to how you would like their inheritance to be managed.
• Enduring Powers of Attorney and Enduring Guardianships appointing trusted decision-makers to manage your financial and personal/ health affairs if you lose capacity.
• Advance Health Directives documenting your wishes in relation to future medical treatment and care.
• Binding death benefit nominations to ensure your superannuation is distributed in accordance with your estate planning objectives.

We ensure your documents are legally sound, unambiguous and structured to minimise the risk of challenge – giving you confidence that to the fullest extent possible your wishes will be given effect to.

High-net-worth individuals, business owners and families with diverse assets and demographics require sophisticated estate planning strategies. Our estate planning lawyers help you navigate:

• Blended families, including strategies to balance the interests of a current partner and children from a previous relationship.
• Business succession planning, shareholder agreements and buy-sell agreements and funding agreements.
• Asset protection strategies.
• Tax-effective wealth transfer across generations.
• Superannuation strategies for self-managed superannuation funds.
• Family investment companies and private wealth structures.
• Charitable giving and philanthropic structures.

We bring clarity to complexity with advice that works in the real world, not just on paper.

Succession planning is critical for business owners who want to protect the enterprise they have built. Our estate lawyers help you:

• Develop comprehensive business succession strategies.
• Structure ownership transitions to minimise disruption and tax.
• Create buy-sell agreements, funding agreements, shareholder arrangements and company powers of attorney.
• Integrate business succession with personal estate plans.
• Plan for disability, retirement or unexpected events.
• Protect family wealth across generations.

We understand the commercial drivers behind succession decisions and work to balance family dynamics with business continuity.

Administering a deceased estate requires careful attention to legal obligations and timeframes. Our probate lawyers guide executors through:

• Obtaining grants of probate or letters of administration.
• Identifying and getting in estate assets.
• Managing estate debts, liabilities and tax obligations.
• Distributing assets in accordance with the terms of the will or intestacy laws.
• Finalising superannuation and insurance claims.
• Dealing with the sale of property and investments.
• Handling complex or international estates.

We support executors with clear advice and practical assistance, making a difficult time as straightforward as possible.

Estate disputes are emotionally charged and can be legally complex. Our estate litigation lawyers act for both applicants and defendants in:

• Family provision claims.
• Will validity challenges (undue influence, lack of capacity, allegations of fraud).
• Disputes between executors and beneficiaries.
• Claims for breach of executor duties.
• Trust disputes and beneficiary claims.
• Mediation and alternative dispute resolution.

We aim to resolve disputes sensitively and efficiently, protecting your interests while minimising family conflict wherever possible.

Planning for potential incapacity is just as important as planning for death. We prepare:

• Enduring powers of attorney for financial matters.
• Enduring powers of attorney/ Enduring guardianships for health matters.
• Advance health directives.

These documents ensure your affairs are managed according to your wishes if you are unable to make decisions yourself.

Managing significant wealth across generations requires strategic counsel and seamless coordination. We provide ongoing advisory services including:

• Governance frameworks for family wealth management.
• Integration with existing advisors such as accountants and financial advisers.
• Multi-generational wealth transfer strategies.
• Philanthropic and charitable foundation structures.
• Family constitution development.
• Succession planning for family enterprises.
• Dispute resolution and mediation between family members.

We work as part of your broader advisory team to build and maintain the legal foundations that protect your family’s legacy.