A will is an important document because it appoints someone to make arrangements for your estate after you die. It sets out your wishes about who should be in charge and who should benefit. If you do not leave a will then the laws of intestacy apply and this apart from anything else can be an expensive way to finalise an estate. 

If you have young children you can nominate a guardian for your children to make decisions for the care of those children.

Even if you think you do not have very many assets, it is still important to put someone in charge to make arrangements for your funeral and finalising your bank accounts credit cards and maybe selling your car or terminating your leases and utilities accounts. All these things may need to be done and especially these days with identity and privacy requirements it makes it hard if no will exists. 

Preparing a will is in some ways just like taking out an insurance policy to protect your family and your assets. 

Wills need to be updated when you have a significant change in your life (marriage or divorce for instance) But wills only operate to control your estate after you die.

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During Your Lifetime it is sensible to think about whether you should appoint a Power of Attorney to assist in the management of your financial affairs if for some reason you need help or are unable to do things on your own behalf. We have experience in many situations where in an emergency a Power of Attorney is needed but none was in place. 

THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF POWER OF ATTORNEY APPOINTMENTS, ‘GENERAL’ AND ‘ENDURING’. 

A general Power of Attorney is useful for a specific purpose arrangement such as in business or if you will be travelling for a period of time and need someone ‘at home’ to access your accounts or sign a document on your behalf.

An enduring Power of Attorney is one which continues if you lose mental capacity to make decisions or act on your own behalf. This is an important document, which should be in place before you need it- because it is too late to make such an appointment if you do not have the mental capacity. Examples of loss of capacity include persons with dementia but also persons who are seriously injured in accidents and even if the loss of capacity is not permanent, not having appointed someone to manage your financial affairs, access your bank accounts pay your bills and so forth, will be a problem.

 If there are serious issues to be managed then an application to the NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal to appoint a financial manager might become necessary. If at all possible it is better to think about who you would trust to manage your financial affairs and make your own appointment under a Power of Attorney of a person you trust.

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Another consideration is whether you need to appoint an Enduring Guardian for health matters. This document is useful for people with health problems and as we get older we do need to think about who we want to be making decisions for us. If a person has not made any advance arrangements, it can lead to problems about who is authorised to speak to hospitals and health professionals on their behalf and once again an application to the NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal to appoint a health guardian might become necessary. Most people would prefer to have their own choice as to who is best placed to assist them if the need arises, so it makes sense to prepare 'estate planning documents' and appoint the persons you want to be taking charge of your financial and health affairs if the need arises.