Estate planning undervalued among clients
Many Australians do not realise the importance of estate planning until it is too late, despite a high number leaving significant estates and assets after they die, according to HLB Mann Judd.
Head of wealth management, Michael Hutton, said when people talked about their wealth, they talked about a family home, superannuation balances and other miscellaneous assets, but did not realise that this comprised of a significant amount of wealth.
The family home itself could be worth over $1 million under the current housing market situation in Sydney, he said.
"I think it's alarming that one in two people in Australia die without a valid will — so that's leaving your estate to the vicissitudes of the Government formula and intestacy laws as to where the money goes and where the estate goes," he told a media briefing in Sydney yesterday.
The comments came as the firm revealed it had established a legal entity called HLB Estate Services, under which it had appointed an expert estate planning lawyer, who was also the legal director of the company.
Advisers would provide the lawyer with the clients' complete financial situation while the lawyer would compile documentation drafts.
"He's forearmed, forewarned on what the client's financial situation is and what we understand their wishes to be and that gives him a bit of a head start on making it happen," Hutton said.
The entity was set up in December last year, but began operating two weeks ago.
"What happens [more] often than not is a client says ‘oh yea, I've got a lawyer, I've got someone I can speak to about estate planning', and usually it's the local solicitor that did their conveyance the last time they bought or sold a house," Hutton said.
He added the entity gave the firm an opportunity to drive the estate planning process rather than simply refer clients to a lawyer.
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