A Comprehensive Guide To Writing A Will Online
Writing your Will is an important part of planning for your future. Not only does it allow you to express your final wishes clearly, but it also helps your family and loved ones to reduce the emotional and administrative stress should you pass away unexpectedly.
Traditionally, writing your Will has involved an expensive and time-consuming visit to the lawyers, where they charge you by the hour. But through new digital platforms such as Willed, writing your Will is cost-effective and straightforward - you can even write it from the comfort of your couch in the time it takes to make dinner!
There are a number of prerequisites to write a Will online.
- You must live in Australia
- You must be over the age of 18.
- You must have a residential address in Australia.
Firstly, the Willed platform will ask you about your current status.
Are you married, de facto or single?
If you have a partner, we'll offer you 50% off your partner's Will!
Start your WillChildren
If you have children or dependants, the next step is to ensure they will be cared for by appointing a legal guardian. This could be a family member or trusted person of the family who will have the ability to take on the role of a guardian in your absence. You can also allocate or 'gift' part of your estate to cover any costs related to raising or caring for the children to their guardians.
Within the Willed platform, you can also divide your estate and gift any specific assets or heirlooms to your children.
We recommend dividing your entire estate by percentage (instead of gifting items such as shares or property) to your children, as the value of these assets can dramatically change over time or may not exist when you pass away.
Pets
At Willed, we know that our furry friends or fur-children are just as important, and their futures after you pass need to be legally valid and protected. Under Australian estate planning law, pets are classified as assets and therefore cannot be named as a beneficiary in your Will. However, you can ensure that they are looked after by ‘gifting’ them to an individual or organisation, in your Will, who can then look after them.
You can dictate a number of things that can happen to your pets, such as 'gifting' them to a family member, transferring ownership to a close friend, transferring ownership to a charity, or having them relocated in any other sense.
Executors
This is arguably one of the most important steps when creating a legally valid Will.
An executor is a person, or professional service provider, appointed under the Will to administer your estate after your death. Basically, an executor is responsible for collecting and protecting estate assets, paying estate liabilities and distributing the assets of the estate to the beneficiaries (i.e. partners or children) in accordance with the Will.
Special Offer
To help you along the way, please find a 10% discount code below that will help you get started on your online Will with Willed.
Promo code: GUIDECOMPLETE10
Start your WillDisclaimer: The content of this blog is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. This blog should not be relied upon as legal, financial, accounting or tax advice.