The asset test threshold amounts have been updated in the wills retainer instruction precedents.
Wills – resignation of trustee
A provision has been included in the will precedents to provide for the resignation of a trustee without being replaced, provided one remains.
VIC – Land tax smart form for deceased estates
New land tax online smart form Deceased estate – Commencement or completion of administration (LTX-Trust-18).
This form replaces the paper forms LTX-Trust-13 and LTX-Trust-14, which will not be accepted beyond 30 September 2017.
Estate filing fees
The costs agreements and retainer instructions have been updated to reflect changes to the Supreme Court filing fees.
Assets and liabilities list
A new ‘tear off’ assets and liabilities list has been added to the retainer instructions Wills, powers of attorney precedent. This list may assist clients when they wish to provide more detail in their planning, as well retained by the client with their personal documents.
QLD – Stepchild includes child of party to de facto relationship
The definition of a stepchild has been extended to include the child of a party to a de facto relationship, so a stepchild of the de facto testator is capable of bringing a claim against the testator’s estate as the deceased step-parent: s 40A Succession Act 1981.
QLD – End of de facto relationship – Revocation of executor
The end of a de facto relationship with a testator has the same effect as a divorce, namely, it revokes the ex-de facto’s appointment as executor of the will and revokes any benefits the testator gave to the former de facto partner under the Will: new s 15B of the Succession Act 1981.
Wills January 2017
New Commentary. Challenging a will questions its validity. Contesting a will questions the fairness of its provisions. The circumstances and processes when challenging a will are similar across all the states in legislation and in the common law principles that govern this interesting area of the law. This addition to commentary covers helpful tips for practitioners if they are faced with a client wishing to challenge the validity of a will.
VIC – Powers of attorney
On 1st May 2017 the Powers of Attorney Amendment Act 2016 and Powers of Attorney Amendment Regulations 2017 came into operation. The Act clarified a number of ‘operational’ matters, discussed below and in the article Powers of Attorney – Evolution. The regulations substituted the majority of prescribed forms
VIC – Family provision claims
This publication is under author review.