Rod Genders is a senior Australian lawyer specialising in Wills and Estate Planning, Probate and Estate Administration, Trusts and Guardianship and Inheritance Claims and Contested Estates in South Australia. His boutique specialist law firm, which was founded on 1848, is one of the oldest and most respected in Australia. Rod is an international author and speaker. Rod is the 3rd generation of Genders in the law and has been practising specialised law since the mid 80’s. For over 10 years he served on the Council of the Law Society of South Australia and is a senior member of its Succession Law Committee. For 8 years Rod was a founding committee member of the South Australian branch of the London-based Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and was the founding Chair of the international STEP Digital Assets Special Interest Group. For over 25 years Rod has chaired a private committee enquiring into the affairs of protected persons. He is a member of the Law Council of Australia, a member of the Notaries Society of South Australia and an associate member of the American Bar Association.
YOYO stands for You’re On Your Own, and it has never been truer for Australian retirees.
In the 1980’s when Bob Hawke and Paul Keating changed government policy to encourage us all to save enough money for our eventual retirement, we did so with an expectation of mastering our own destiny to enjoy a wonderful and carefree retirement.
The idea was to reduce the dependence upon government funds for the old-age pension.
There has been a tremendous change in the social culture of Australia in the 40 years or so since superannuation commenced.
To help implement your wishes, trusts and estate lawyers need to ask some tough questions.
Some of them might make you squirm.
Thinking about the following issues in advance can help you prepare for a meeting about your estate plan.
#1. What if you all die in a common disaster?
Choosing a person to care for your children is difficult. In fact, for many families, it’s the hardest part of planning their estate.
It’s not easy to think of anyone else, no matter how loving, raising your child.
The problem only gets harder if your child has a disability.
Yet, you can make a tremendous difference in your child’s life by planning ahead.
With Australians living longer than ever, their physical health is often declining slower than their mental capacity, requiring close family members to assume the role of agents and substitute decision makers for financial and legal matters, generally by way of an enduring power of attorney.
It is not surprising if you have never heard of ‘ademption’. Ademption is a legal term derived from a Latin word meaning ‘a taking away’.
Ademption occurs when property (either personal or real estate) gifted under a Will is no longer in the Will-maker’s (Testator’s) estate when they die.
2022 has been a terrible year for losing heroes of my youth.
Cricketers Rod Marsh and Shane Warne, were followed by singers Judith Durham and Olivia Newton-John.
Now John Farnham has just undergone surgery for throat cancer.
This brought up some recollections about the time when I was young:
You only have to look at the newsfeeds and internet chat forums to see that people are talking about the increasing numbers of challenges to Wills and deceased estates nowadays.
Here are the seven main reasons why:
No Will
Recent research reveals 52 per cent of adult Australians don’t have a Will.
The majority of Australians are letting their families down in one key area — more than half of Australian adults don’t have a Will, even though it could mean their families are left out in the cold in the event of their death.
In my profession we have an expression: “You never know anyone until you share an inheritance with them”.
It is a true revealer of character. In my work as a lawyer specialising in Wills and estates, I am witness to some appalling human behaviour.
Due to the popularity of this series of articles, here are some more examples as cautionary tales:
An old man lies dying in a hospital bed. His Will was made less than a year earlier, leaving everything equally between his 3 kids.
In my work as a lawyer specialising in Wills and estates, I am witness to some appalling human behaviour.
Due to the popularity of this series of articles, here are some more examples as cautionary tales:
In my 35+ year career I have frequently had to try to deal with joint executors in a deceased estate, some of whom could not agree on the colour of an orange.
In my work as a lawyer specialising in Wills and estates, I am witness to some appalling human behaviour.
Due to the popularity of this series of articles, here are some more examples as cautionary tales:
Probate fraud can take many forms and, like many other types of fraud, it has steadily increased in recent years, more so during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coercive Control, Granny Napping and Predatory Marriages are all occurring with increasing frequency.
There have been 2 Royal Commissions already exploring some of these issues, with more to come. The common theme is the financial exploitation of vulnerable older people in western society.
Financial exploitation disproportionately affects older people in Australia, UK and USA.
