Blog & insights

Collaborative family law is a structured, advisor-assisted process that helps families resolve inheritance and estate disputes without resorting to court proceedings.

The federal Budget has lit up a lot of feeds this week. “Death tax.” “Trust tax.” A trillion-dollar wealth transfer suddenly under threat.

Picture this. You’ve put off (but definitely thought about) doing your Will for years – you have a pretty good idea of what you want, who will benefit, and you’ve finally mustered the courage to book that scary appointment with an estate planning lawyer.

Picture trying to navigate your smartphone using instructions written in 1903. Sounds like insanity right?

But a Will can only deal with assets that actually form part of a person’s legal estate – and a significant portion of what most Australians own sits entirely outside it.

Most people who find themselves in an inheritance dispute never expected to be there. Loss is disorienting enough. When money and family dynamics enter the picture at the same time, the situation can feel overwhelming, and the decisions made in those early weeks matter enormously.

When making a Will, you’ll need to appoint an Executor. You might also need to appoint Trustees. Sometimes the same person does both jobs. Sometimes they’re different people with different roles.

One initial question people ask when considering a family provision claim is how long it will take.

Being appointed as the executor of a Will is often seen as an honour — a final act of trust from someone who has passed.