Shared from the 2/15/2018 The Sydney Morning Herald eEdition

Journey towards peace of mind begins online

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The Astute Wheel online tools are designed to make the process of estate planning more straightforward for professionals and their clients.

When it’s time for your estate to be passed on, will it be a gift or a burden?

The greatest intergenerational transfer of wealth in the nation’s history is set to take place in coming decades. An estimated $3 trillion will change hands, from baby boomers to their beneficiaries.

However, surveys show Australians are unprepared for it. It is estimated about half of Australians don’t have a valid will, a problem that experts in estate planning say will lead to unnecessary heartbreak, confusion and expense. With no will, estates often end up before the courts and assets can go to people the deceased didn’t intend to benefit.

Hans Egger, managing director of Astute Wheel, believes many people don’t make a will because they believe it’s too hard, too stressful or too expensive. That’s why his company has created an online engagement system that can make it faster and easier for professionals to guide their clients through the process. Software available at astuteestate.com.au handles every aspect of estate planning, sends personalised questionnaires and informational videos to clients and automatically generates a host of visuals such as digital family trees and entity diagrams.

“Our system makes the whole process a lot easier, not only for financial advisers, accountants and lawyers, but also for their clients,” Egger says. “People who want an estate plan, but don’t have an adviser, can visit the site and we’ll refer them to one of our facilitators. Professionals can use the software to bring them to the cutting edge of estate planning and have the advantage of sending completed briefing papers to any of our online legal partners who will provide legal advice and the legal documents at discounted rates.”

Egger says the initial steps in estate planning can be done privately at home, and that working out the basics by yourself will substantially reduce costs and create a clear understanding of your financial position and intentions.

The first step is to gather all relevant information about you, your extended family, assets and liabilities and how they are owned and controlled – individually, jointly, in a company, family trust or in superannuation.

The second step is to decide who will act on your behalf if you become mentally or physically incapacitated and unable to make financial, medical or lifestyle decisions for yourself. The needs of any orphaned children should also be addressed at this time.

The third is to decide how your assets will be distributed after you pass, and who will be responsible for doing that for you. This can involve specific items or amounts of money going to certain people or sharing in your assets.

“All these steps can be done at home using common software to guide you through the process before meeting with your adviser to expand on your decisions, explore strategies that may reduce tax and protect assets and produce a tailored report outlining your wishes,” Egger says.

“The final step is to find a qualified lawyer who will confirm your decisions and create the legal documents that reflect your wishes.

“It has never been more important to get an estate plan in place, whether it’s for your own circumstances or for your parents who will one day pass their wealth to you.”

‘It has never been more important to get an estate plan in place . . . for your own circumstances or for your parents.’

- Hans Egger

See this article in the e-Edition Here