A valid Will is a simple way to spell out your final wishes. It gives your executor specific instructions on who your estate should be left to. You may be leaving a legal and financial tragedy in your wake if you don’t have a Will or if your Will is defective.

It’s possible that you died intestate if you don’t leave a Will or if your Will is invalid. Intestacy law has a predetermined list of beneficiaries, some of whom you might not want to leave anything to.

Should they be entitled to a share of your estate, some beneficiaries may lose important benefits such as social security payments. Prepare your own Will rather than leaving your estate to chance. When an application for a Grant of Probate is filed, many homemade or will kits are defective, costing your beneficiaries thousands of dollars to fix. We can help you avoid these situations at Stratus Legal Group.

Once all of the assets and liabilities have been gathered, they must be valued as of the date of death. The Executor may require the assistance of a valuer to accurately value the assets, which must be sworn in an affidavit before the court. The next step in applying for probate is for the Executor to publicise their intention to do so. After the advertisement, there is a time limit before the application for probate can be made. This enables any creditors to contact the Executor and seek payment from the deceased estate.

Our probate lawyers are experienced in preparing court applications and detailed accurate affidavits. Furthermore, our probate lawyers have access to all internal departments at major banks and building societies in order to locate any unidentified assets. Our probate lawyers’ goal is to find, identify, and value all estate assets before calling them into the estate for maximum distribution to the estate’s beneficiaries.

Another critical step is to determine whether a caveat has been lodged against the deceased’s Will. Our probate attorneys conduct the necessary searches of the court’s records, keep you fully informed, and provide you with the legal advice you require.

It is critical to consider estate planning before drafting your Will. This is a procedure in which we evaluate your current legal affairs and take them into account when distributing your estate to your beneficiaries. We also look into the lives of your beneficiaries and how your legacy will affect them. Prior to drafting your Will, you must first plan your estate.

A life interest is a benefit that lasts for the rest of a person’s life or until a specific event occurs. When a Will maker gives a person a life interest in a property, that person has the right to live in that property for the rest of their lives. Following the death of the person who received the life interest, the property is distributed according to the will’s instructions.

• prepare all of the required court documents,
• communicate with all banks and financial institutions,
• dealings with insurance companies
• search for and manage share market clearance house transactions,
• search the registers of the land title office;
• oversee the payment of any retirement or lodging bonds;
• look into foreign assets; and
• carry out asset searches in other states.”

In addition, we can arrange for the completion of final tax returns as well as the settlement of any outstanding debts.

We also provide administration services, where our expert probate lawyers can relieve you of the burden of administering the estate. Our probate lawyers will arrange for the sale of shares, the call in of term deposits and bank funds, and the preparation of any real estate to be sold. To ensure that the estate recovers as much money as possible, our probate lawyers will enlist the help of experts and tradespeople to arrange cleaning, gardening, maintenance, insurance, and the best real estate agents to maximise the estate’s return.