Wills and Enduring Powers of Attorney
Do you have a Will? Do you need one when you are separated? Does your old one still work if you have separated?
What happens if you died and the house is in joint names? Do you want your ex-partner to receive the whole property?
What about your Enduring Power of Attorney? Is your ex still the person you would like to see managing you affairs if you were too ill to do so? You may need a new Will as soon as possible.
And if you die, do you want your ex to get your estate and manage your affairs? Chances are, if you have been married and have property, a Will, or an Enduring Power of Attorney with your ex partner named in it, you need to address these matters urgently.
We can sever the joint tenancy so that your house or land does not automatically go to your ex (they don’t have to sign a thing). You should consider a new Will (at least a basic one) and an updated Enduring Power of Attorney.
Also what about your superannuation? It doesn’t go according to your Will every time. All Superannuation Trust deeds are different. Sometimes they are not distributed in accordance with your Will. You need to contact your Super fund immediately if there is a chance you have named your ex as a beneficiary.
We can help you with this.
It is impossible to imagine every circumstance that readers of this page may face. Your case must be considered individually.
Contact us at Journey Family Lawyers and ask about your circumstances if you have any concerns. We prepare straight forward wills for clients in an easy, 3 step process. It takes about an hour of your time, and you can know your family will be cared for if the worst should happen.
Hi,
My partner and I have reached an agreement for him to buy me out of my house but is not going any further with the conveyance, it has been four months now .We separated five yrs ago so there is no family court help.
I need to know how do I make him honour his agreement in a quick manner.
He is living in the home and the house is in my name only.
Hi Cathy,
You should talk to a property lawyer about evicting him given the house is in your sole name.
If you are out of time, so is he to bring any claim.
If he does have some claim, then threatened or actual eviction will motivate him to negotiate to take over the property or bring the matter to court. Either way you get progress. While he is happily living in the property with no consequences there is no motivation for him to do anything.
Hi
My wife is with a new partner for 12 months. She is pregnant to him. We are not divorced. We have one adult son. I live in a house which we are joint tenants in. We have agreed that if I bare all the costs of paying the mortgage and running the home, I can live in the house and not have to sell it. If my wife dies with a will do I have grounds for any valid claims upon her estate any more so than if we were divorced.
Are there any advantages or disadvantages in either staying marred or getting formally divorced? Am I better off financially?
Hi Harry,
Divorce is treated separately from financial matters, if you get divorced it will start a 12 month time limit to complete property settlement but your entitlement in property settlement will be the same whether you are divorced or not so you might as well get the divorce – you will just have to ensure you sort our property within 12 months from your divorce. In the first instance you can sever the joint tenancy so if one of you dies then the other does not automatically take over the whole title to the property, however it sounds like you need to do property settlement properly as well because you will still need to have the property transferred into your name. Consent orders (where its by agreement) are usually your best option and if you both agree you should keep the house then you should have the house and mortgage transferred to your sole name and avoid any problems. A divorce will void a Will to the extent that a Husband or Wife is a beneficiary and she could make another Will, don’t leave it until one of you dies and then try to sort it out.