The webinar is presented by Polina, focusing primarily on the importance, complexities, and legal context of making wills in New Zealand. The webinar covers important topics such as how joint ownership impacts inheritance, the effects of marriage or separation on wills, appointing guardians for minors, and managing international assets and trusts.

Key Insights

⚖️ Wills and Relationship Property Act Interplay:  relationship property can override wills to ensure fair division of joint property like homes, often leading to disputes. This requires estate planners to have a nuanced understanding of the relationship property law and personal relationships to avoid unintended consequences for beneficiaries.

🧑‍⚖️ Family Protection Act Claims: The Family Protection Act allows spouses, partners, and children to contest a will if they believe reasonable provision has not been made for them. This legislation provides significant protection to dependents but introduces complexity in estate planning, underscoring why a will should clearly state reasons for exclusions where relevant, which can protect against costly legal challenges.

💻 Limitations and Dangers of Online Wills: While online will-making platforms are cheaper and faster, they often fail to capture important personal and legal details, such as joint ownership of property or family circumstances. This can lead to invalid wills or unintended asset distribution, resulting in long, expensive court proceedings. The hosts stress that professional legal advice safeguards families by ensuring wills are valid, comprehensive, and tailored.

🌍 Managing International Assets: For residents with assets in multiple countries, estate planning becomes significantly more complicated. Different legal jurisdictions govern real estate and movable assets, requiring coordination between lawyers across countries to avoid conflicts and ensure that assets are correctly distributed as per the testator’s wishes. Neglecting this can cause delays and additional legal costs.

👩‍👧‍👦 Guardianship Provisions and Comprehensive Estate Planning: Including provisions for appointing guardians for minor children in wills is essential. Although guardianship can be addressed separately, it is more practical and safer to combine these instructions with the will, ensuring that the care of minors and the management of assets are coordinated seamlessly after a parent’s death.

🔍 Executor Duties and Trusts Act Responsibilities: Executors hold a fiduciary duty analogous to trustees, responsible not only for distributing assets but also managing and investing estate funds prudently. They can be held liable for mismanagement, and as such, appointing competent executors and clearly outlining their responsibilities in the will is crucial to protecting both the estate and beneficiaries.

💡 Complex Family Situations Demand Specialist Legal Support: Cases involving blended families, multiple marriages, or business assets require careful, customized legal advice. The speakers highlight real examples where neglecting complexities like joint ownership or previous marital relationships led to costly disputes. Proper legal counsel helps streamline these challenges and prevents long, expensive litigation.