Estate Planning Packages
Wills & Powers of Attorney
BlueRock charges fixed fee packages to cover off all of your Estate Planning needs.
BlueRock's Estate Planning Team includes members from multiple divisions within the BlueRock Group to ensure that all facets of your personal and professional financial world are taken care of should the unexpected happen.
BlueRock Estate Planning offers 3 key engagements, catering for individuals or couples looking to get a basic plan in place to high net worth business owners and families.
Estate Planning Package | Basic | Comprehensive | Bespoke |
Single Engagements (incl GST) | $1,320 | $4,400 - $6,600 | $8,000 - $30,000+ |
Couple Engagements (incl GST) | $1,980 | $6,600 - $8,800 | $10,000 - $30,000+ |
Executors | X | X | X |
Specified Beneficiaries | X | X | X |
Specific Gifts | X | X | X |
Default Provisions | X | X | X |
Guardians of Children | X | X | X |
Personal & Financial Powers of Attorney | X | X | X |
Medical Decision Makers | X | X | X |
Testamentary Trusts | X | X | |
Superannuation Proceeds Trusts | X | X | |
Protecting the Principal Residence via Rights to Occupy | X | X | |
Estate Equalisation | X | X | |
Review of Existing Trust & Company Structure incl Recommendations | X | X | |
Communication with Trusted People | X | X | |
Letter of Wishes | X | X | |
Review of Existing Estate Plan | X | ||
Tailored Estate Planning Brief incl Key Components of Estate Plan, Succession Flow Charts & Strategy Summary |
X | ||
Drafting of Bespoke Succession Documents for Client’s Circumstances such as Deed Amendments, Successor Appointor Provisions, Shareholders Agreements etc | X |
Basic Estate Plan Package
The BlueRock Basic Estate Package includes:
- 1.Basic Will
- 2.Appointment of Enduring Powers of Attorney (Personal & Financial)
- 3.Appointment of Medical Treatment Decision Maker
- 4.Meetings with both your Estate Planning Adviser and Specialist Lawyer
- 5.Storage of your signed, original copies of your Will and Powers of Attorney and the provision of certified copies of both
Comprehensive Estate Plan Package
The BlueRock Comprehensive Estate Planning Package includes:
- Trust Will with provisions for Testamentary Trusts
- Superannuation Proceeds Trusts
- Rights to Occupy and Estate Equalisation (if appropriate)
- Provision of a Letter of Wishes
- Appointment of Enduring Powers of Attorney (Personal & Financial)
- Appointment of Medical Treatment Decision Maker
- Group Structure Review including recommendations for amendments to improve succession mechanisms
- Meetings with both your Estate Planning Adviser and Specialist Lawyer
- Storage of your signed, original copies of your Will and Powers of Attorney and the provision of certified copies of both
- Communication with your nominated trusted people
Fees may vary according to the complexity of the estate structure required.
Bespoke Estate Plan Package
Phase 1 - Discovery and Health Check
The initial stage is an overall health check and deep-dive review of the client's current structure with particular attention being paid to the flow of assets and control of the numerous entities.
Upon this being completed we will have a clear picture of how the client's structure currently sits and how this ties into their succession planning. Completing Phase 1 will affect both Phase 2 and 3 as it will identify potential issues or shortcomings and what, if any, changes or adjustments need to be implemented to ensure it all falls in line with the client's wishes.
Phase 1 will provide:
- A comprehensive review of your group structure and relevant entities
- A comprehensive review of current Wills and Powers of Attorney
- Construction of a detailed group structure flow chart with detailed Estate Planning implications
- Detailed and documented review report of the current and proposed succession mechanisms of your private and business group structure
Phase 2 - Management of Estate Assets
This phase will involve the drafting of Trust Wills and Powers of Attorney (Comprehensive Estate Plan Package) which, based on the outcome of Phase 1 and complexity involved, can vary.
This will essentially handle the estate assets and ensure that the appropriate people either remain or are transitioned into positions of control should something happen.
Fees may vary according to the complexity of the estate structure required.
Phase 3 - Management of Non-Estate Assets
This phase involves implementing the necessary agreements and making the necessary updates to trust and company structures to ensure the succession of these assets falls in line with the client's estate plan.
Phase 3 will provide:
- The appropriate succession of your private group structure (including Superannuation) and proposed changes to business succession mechanisms
- Implementation of the necessary adjustments to trust and company structures to ensure the succession of these assets fall in line with succession planning objectives
- Documented Group Structure and Flow Charts of Succession Planning strategy
We will seek the shortest path to resolution, whilst ensuring the correct outcomes are achieved. We will provide a more tailored fee range for this fee phase as part of Phase 2.
Our Industry Leading Process
Important & Trusted People In Your Life
We work closely with you to determine who the most trusted and appropriate people in your world are to bestow upon the responsibility of managing your estate and financial affairs should you become incapacitated or upon your death.
This step involves you filling in a short online, educational questionnaire and a meeting with an Estate Planning Adviser to provide feedback on and discuss the nature of the different roles in your estate and highlight potential issues.
Your Estate Planning Brief
Upon receiving your completed questionnaire, BlueRock will draft your tailored Estate Planning Briefing Letter, addressed to you that aims to summarise your wishes in the event something were to happen to you and how you would like your estate to be managed, avoiding the legal jargon that can often be associated with the process. Upon discussion and changes that are made to your plan throughout the process, this letter will be continually updated, with the aim to get this to the point of reflecting your wishes upon your loss of capacity or passing.
Structuring Your Estate Plan
Once we have a detailed understanding of your personal world, BlueRock Private Wealth then begins to work closely with our Specialist Estate Planning lawyers on reviewing your unique circumstances and begin drafting tailored solutions for each of the key components of a comprehensive Will that include:
- Testamentary Trusts
- Rights to Occupy
- Superannuation Proceeds Trusts
- Strategic gifting of share ownership in companies
- Guardianship of Children
- Personal and Financial Powers of Attorney
- Medical Power of Attorney
Presentation and Execution of Estate Plan
Upon finalising your wishes and drafting your Estate Planning documents, we organise a time to meet with you and our Specialist Estate Planning Lawyer to present and sign off your Wills and Powers of Attorney. This involves a page turn of your documents, explaining all of the mechanisms that are included in your comprehensive plan.
Communication To Your Nominated People
We advise our clients to inform the trusted people in their life whom they have nominated in their Estate Plan, of their role and responsibilities, which at times can be a confusing process, with clients perhaps feeling like they are not effectively communicating the role and what is involved should something happen.
With your permission, we are able to reach out to your nominated individuals and provide them with plain English yet detailed information on their role and answer any questions they may have, leaving both you and your trusted people confident that everything is understood and under control.
Ongoing Review
Our commitment does not end once your Will is signed. We will continue to work with you to ensure that your estate plan is reviewed and updated over time, to take account of any changes or major events in your life. It is likely that wishes regarding provision for the family and the appointment of trustees and appointors of testamentary trusts will change over time. For this reason, it is important to revisit Wills on a regular basis to ensure that they remain current and accurately reflective of your wishes.
What is an Estate Plan?
An estate plan is not just about your Will. An effective plan involves reviewing and considering your assets and liabilities and your family situation to put in place a plan which meets your wishes and the needs of your family. BlueRock has extensive experience in project managing the Estate Planning process with our clients and specialist lawyers. We provide a comprehensive service to ensure you take control of how the wealth you have worked to build for your family can be transferred, protected, and enjoyed by the next generation. Elements of Estate Planning will vary depending on your needs and circumstances, but typically include;
- Understanding your wishes, including the distribution of your Estate and specific gifts
- Understanding any family issues that may affect the strategy of your Estate Plan
- Understanding who the important people are in your life. These include beneficiaries, but also persons who may be appointed to certain roles in your estate plan (executor, powers of attorney, and guardians of children)
- Estate Plan structuring. This includes understanding how assets and liabilities should be dealt with on your death and the establishment of Testamentary Trusts in a manner that is tailored to your specific circumstances and objectives
- Superannuation planning, including nominations of beneficiaries and other possible options
- Tax structuring to ensure minimisation of tax payable on death but also in the future given that an effective Estate Plan can put in place trusts and strategies that can exist long after death for multiple generations
- Life insurance advice to ensure appropriate levels and types of insurance are in place to ensure the required asset base is transferred to loved ones on death
Depending on your circumstances, it may also be appropriate to consider other matters such as the protection and succession of business, trust, and company assets and the intricacies involved in appropriately planning for the transition of ownership and control. BlueRock works closely with clients to ensure their entire group structure, whether small and simple or large and complex, falls in line with their wishes should something happen to them.
Why Is It Important?
Putting in place a valid Will as part of a comprehensive estate plan means you control how your assets pass on your death. If you do not have a valid Will when you die, you will be “intestate”. This means that instead of you determining who will receive your estate, it will be divided up in accordance with a formula set out in legislation. This can lead to unexpected and unintended results.
If you make a Will you can avoid your family being faced with complications and administrative issues at an emotional time. Making a Will gives certainty to your family, and helps to avoid disputes arising amongst family members. No one wishes their legacy to be a family conflict.
An effective estate plan can also enable you to protect and support your family and secure the wealth you have built up. You can structure your Will to ensure that your family’s wealth is protected against adverse outside influences. In some cases your family may also need protecting from themselves.
Estate planning and in particular, Testamentary Trust Wills are a means of ensuring that the wealth you leave to secure your family’s future is not quickly lost through poor financial decisions, or as a result of divorce or family conflict.
See more important reading on testamentary trusts in ‘Testamentary Trusts Information Sheet’.
Importance for Business Owners
In most instances, the majority of a business owner's wealth is in their business itself. Not only is it important to ensure that the wind down of the business in the event something were to happen to the business owner is appropriately planned for, but it is also critical to ensure the control of and interests in the business are transferred to the appropriate people in such an event.
Protecting Your Family Home
For business owners and directors of companies, it is common practice for the family home to be owned in the name of the spouse with less exposure to outside liabilities (creditors, litigation etc). In this instance, there is the risk that if something happened to the unexposed spouse that the family home would then be transferred into the name of the surviving spouse with the outside exposure.
Our Comprehensive Wills include clauses that protect the family home in this instance, whilst allowing the surviving spouse to maintain control of the property for them and their family. This is referred to as a 'Right to Occupy.'
Contact
Ready to take the next step? Contact your BlueRock Adviser or the details below!
EMAIL: [email protected] | PHONE: 03 8682 1116
www.thebluerock.com.au