July
Six questions to ask your adult kids before writing a will
Not everybody has the financial literacy and emotional intelligence to handle a significant inheritance.
- Nina Hendy
- Opinion
- Opinion
What’s a close personal relationship? The ATO has its own idea
There are limited circumstances in which superannuation benefits can be passed on tax-free, and a lot depends on the relationship definition.
- Peter Townsend
New $3m super tax is ‘stealing my children’s inheritance’
Family enterprises face hard questions about whether to abandon their succession and retirement plans by selling their shops, farms and factories,
- Duncan Hughes
Court denies deathbed wish to award $1.2m to estranged lover
A bitter family fight over a super inheritance highlights the role of binding death nominations, how they work and why it is necessary to regularly review them.
- Duncan Hughes
June
When bank of mum and dad comes with interest
Retirees are increasingly expected to live with, care for and financially support older and younger family members. Here’s your guide to avoiding strife when it comes to wills, means testing and elder abuse.
- Duncan Hughes
What to do with $400,000 inheritance when you have no super
A windfall could give a woman living in her daughter’s granny flat access to three income streams.
- John Wasiliev
May
Decades after tycoon’s death, his family is suing each other over a mansion
Tech tycoon’s widow says she felt ‘used and abused’ in a dispute that pitted her three children against her – and each other.
- Duncan Hughes
Why there is no such thing as a simple will
You’ve got to understand what you’re giving up when you sign a simple will – and how there are better ways to protect your loved ones.
- Peter Townsend
April
A child won a share of her dad’s estate – despite planning to kill him
A 75 per cent success rate in contesting wills is encouraging more family members to sue for a bigger share. Here’s how to protect your final wishes.
- Duncan Hughes
March
The most ‘dangerous’ phrase in inheritance planning
“To be shared equally between my children” sounds simple, yet it’s anything but.
- Penny Pryor
What to do with a big inheritance
Around $10 billion worth of shares, cash and property is bequeathed every month in Australia. Experts weight in on how to manage a windfall.
- Duncan Hughes
February
The inheritance promise that will rip your family apart
Small businesses and farms are potential battlegrounds where future generations dispute verbal agreements about who gets what.
- Duncan Hughes
This bygone inheritance strategy is making a comeback
Unborn children and grandchildren are taking precedence over in-laws and other new arrivals as blended families raise the stakes in estate planning.
- Duncan Hughes
December 2023
- Opinion
- Inheritance
How to claim your spouse’s super after they die
There’s a way to move their retirement savings to your super – this is how to get things going.
- Meg Heffron
November 2023
Our son is demanding an early inheritance. Should we give it to him?
It’s not always a good idea, but there are ways that make it watertight and fair to everyone.
October 2023
Ex-girlfriend may get super despite ‘drifting off’ when dad got ill
The trustee of a leading public offer fund is refusing to pay the children of a man who thought he’d got his affairs in order before he died.
- Peter Townsend
Sporting icon’s family in 71-year inheritance spat
Walter Lindrum is considered one of the nation’s all-time great sporting heroes. His legacy has lessons on avoiding being snookered in family disputes.
- Duncan Hughes
- Opinion
- Inheritance
The procrastination that sliced $75,000 off an inheritance
A delay in passing on a reversionary pension to a woman after the death of her husband had big tax implications for her two adult children when she died.
- Peter Townsend
September 2023
How to avoid a crisis in family wealth transfers
Calling time on the financial capacity of a loved one could be one of life’s toughest conversations. These strategies can aid a successful outcome.
- Duncan Hughes
One family trust and three kids – what can go wrong?
What happens when one son doesn’t need the capital, another wants to develop a property with a huge loan and the daughter needs money ASAP for a new home.
- Peter Townsend
