If you have been working all your life to provide for your family and you want to protect your hard-earned wealth and loved ones, there are three documents you need to have. It does not matter how old or healthy you are. These documents can help you protect the most important things in your life, not just your assets.
The 3 Must-Have Documents in Your Life
1: Will
A will is a legal document that lists all your wishes that should be executed when you pass away. If you have family or close friends you want to be the new owner of your financial or physical assets when you are gone, you can specify and break them down in your will. Having a will can give you peace and comfort, knowing your assets would be distributed to the right people.
If you die intestate (without a will), your assets shall be divided between family members according to the law. If you disagree with any clauses in the law, you would have no power to argue about it.
2: Enduring Power of Attorney (EPOA)
The EPOA will protect your assets and yourself when you suddenly become incapacitated to make any financial or health decisions for yourself. Since you are still alive, your will would not be implemented yet.
Let us say you got involved in an accident and became temporarily sick, injured, or you lost your mental capacity to make judgments and resolutions. With an EPOA, your trusted individual, family member, lawyer, or a trustee company would make the decisions and take action on your behalf. This document will give power to whomever you assigned to take over and care for your financial affairs and health decisions.
They can take care of your bills, make investments on your behalf, access your cash, sell your property, and whatever things you give them the power to handle.
3: Binding Death Benefit Nomination (BDBN)
The superannuation is one of the biggest assets any Australian can have. Unlike what most people think, the owner’s will has no direct power over it. Superannuation is not precisely an estate asset. You need to have a separate BDBN if you want to be specific about how you want your super fund death benefits to be distributed. Otherwise, your Trustee will distribute it however they want.
BDBN is a document containing all your specific orders related to your super fund, which a chosen trustee would enact. The document should be executed properly to be considered valid, and it can be lapsing or non-lapsing depending on your wishes.
Conclusion
While pertaining to the sensitive matter of death, these documents mentioned above are necessary to any asset owner. Acquiring them is a responsibility. Remember that you can no longer make decisions when you are gone, so while you are still here and healthy, take the opportunity to put things in order.
As soon as you turn 18 years old or encounter huge life changes, such as buying property, getting married, having children, and acquiring more assets, consider updating your important life documents.
If you need help from wills and estate lawyers in QLD, contact us at Springfield Legals. Our firm will ensure that you would receive quality service expected from a leader in the field. We will help you create or contest wills, and ensure your final wishes are followed accordingly.