Estate Planning

Creating a will is the most effective way to ensure that your intentions are honoured and that your loved ones are cared for after you are gone.  A will clearly outlines how you want your estate to be distributed, providing clarity and guidance for your family during a difficult time and also helping to minimise potential disputes among family members, ensuring that your wishes are honoured and reducing the stress for those you leave behind.  We do not administer estates, ensuring our advice is truly independent, impartial and focused solely on your needs.  You can trust that there will be no hidden fees or unexpected costs after your passing.  

 

If you have more than $15,000 of assets anywhere in the world, probate would be required. If you have a will, then the executor named in the will applies for a Grant of Probate, which confirms the validity of the will and authorises them to manage and distribute the estate.  If you pass away without a will (or if the will is invalid), Letters of Administration are required, and the court appoints an administrator to handle the estate according to intestacy laws.  Letters of Administration are legal documents issued by the court that authorise an individual to manage and distribute the estate of someone who has died without a valid will.  

 

While it would be possible to handle the process without a will, the Letters of Administration are the much more time consuming and costly option.  A New Zealand will is a general document, set up with the intention that it can stand the test of time and is about distributing your assets. The individual assets are not listed, so this means you do not have to update the will each time you buy a new asset.

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Enduring powers of attorney are equally essential, particularly if an accident or illness prevents you from managing your own affairs.  They allow you to designate trusted individuals to make decisions about your personal care and property, ensuring that your preferences are upheld even when you are unable to communicate them.  For instance, we recently had a client who was involved in an accident and ended up in a coma.  Although we had discussed enduring power of attorneys with him, he hadn’t yet taken the necessary steps to establish one.  As a result, a family member had to go to court to obtain an urgent order that would allow them to be able to act on our client’s behalf.  This process was expensive, time-consuming, and added significant stress to an already difficult situation.

 

There are two separate enduring power of attorney documents - one covers property matters while the other pertains to your personal care and welfare.  You can appoint joint property attorneys, but the personal care and wellbeing attorney is to be just one person.  You can have successor (back-up) attorneys in the event the first attorney is unwilling or unable to act.  It is crucial to appoint someone you trust for these responsibilities and ideally, someone based in New Zealand if possible.   Enduring powers of attorney also allow you to designate someone to take responsibility for your assets on your behalf while you still have mental capacity. This is useful in many specific situations, such as when you are traveling overseas.   

 

Our goal is to provide you with peace of mind, knowing that you have taken the necessary steps to protect your loved ones and ensure your wishes are fulfilled.​