When Should You Make A Will

When Should You Make A Will

How old should someone be when they make a will? The lawyer in me says that as soon as someone’s an adult, they should make a will. As soon as they’re 18 would be ideal. However, the practicality is that that’s not going to happen for everyone. People that age don’t think that they’ve got anything of any value. If you want your child to have some control over his or her inheritance or if you want to set up a family trust to benefit your child, it’s important that your child has some say in how property is distributed within the family after your death.

However, people are often quite older than 18 when they make their will. It’s really about what ages then or what points in someone’s life should they be thinking about estate planning? The topic I did a couple of weeks ago about the sandwich generation is similar; it’s not an actual age but rather a stage in life when people should be thinking about estate planning.

When someone turns 18, they are legally able to make a will because they are considered an adult. However, if they have been working already and have saved money in industry superannuation funds, they will have life insurance policies worth up to $250,000 on their life. This money can come to their children if they die young–even if they don’t have much else in the bank and all they own is their car and some debt otherwise.

Superannuation is something important to think about, particularly because someone of that age doesn’t often have a eligible beneficiary for their super. The only eligible beneficiaries for superannuation are spouse, children, or someone who’s financially dependent on you. People of that age don’t have someone who’s financially dependent on them and usually don’t have someone that you would consider a spouse.

That’s why it’s important to do a will. The young adult could then say who the superannuation was to go to rather than what the law would probably do is split it between their parents. That may not be what they want. They may want it to go to a brother or sister. Their parents may have separated. They may be estranged from a parent. They may want it to go to someone else. They need to do a will for that. That’s why it’s important for someone of that age.

Then the next stage in life is probably once you are married. When you marry, it invalidates any will you’ve done beforehand. Marriage is another point in time to do a will. Having children is another good point in time to do a will. Mainly, at this point, you’re thinking about guardianship for your children. Again, your assets might not be very big at this point. You may have a home with some equity in it. It may have very little equity, but again, you’ve got superannuation with death benefits and you’ve got your children to think about. Guardianship is the most important thing to think about at that point. Again, making sure your biggest asset, which is your super, going to where you want it to go to, being held in trust for your kids until they’re old enough. If you don’t specify in the will, your kids will inherit that at 18, which I believe is too young. Again, doing a will to cover that is very important.

The next stage in life might be either growing a business, growing your wealth. You may have set up a trust, you may be running a business, so you’re thinking about asset protection, and then you’re thinking about making sure that whilst asset protection’s the most important objective for you at that point in your life, your estate planning and succession is still important about where things go. That might be the next point, as would be a separation. You’d want to do as a will as soon as you are separated. Don’t wait to be divorced. A remarriage, again, marriage is a good point in time to redo a will.

If you’re approaching retirement, you may want to think about consolidating your assets. Asset protection may not be as important at that point, or tax minimization. You’re starting to look toward retirement and might need to get assets out of your name. There might be succession into the next generation; that would be another point in time when it would be worthwhile approaching your estate planning.

Then, of course, once someone has been in retirement for some time and they’re starting to have health problems, it might be time to review. Primarily, the will may not have to change, but powers of attorney are certainly crucial to make sure that they’re right and up to

We know that estate planning can be a touchy subject, but we think it’s important to get it done. It’s not just about money and property—it’s also about your legacy and the people who mean the most to you.

So when should you do it? We recommend starting as early as possible. Why? Because if an unexpected accident happens, you’ll want your family to be able to access your funds without any delay or hassle.

If you need some help with this process, let us know! Our team is here for you. Get in touch with our team at 1300 043 103 or send an email to admin@tbalaw.com.au