Wills, Intestacies, Estates and Funerals

Things to do before Death

There are some things a person can do to reduce the difficulties and expense of administration after death.

The first and most important thing is to have a professionally drafted will. (This is discussed more fully at The Need for a Will and Making a Will.

Second, one could consider putting assets in joint names (see Glossary of Legal Words Used, under "joint tenancy"). Transferring bank accounts into joint names, or, if, say, one party to a marriage has a relatively short expectation of life, into the name of the healthier partner, will save delay and expense, because the contents of the bank account will not have to pass through the estate. Further, the bank account will be frozen if it is in the name of the deceased person, and this can be very inconvenient. The same applies to shares and other investments.

So too, in some jurisdictions, for instance the ACT and New South Wales, real property (such as houses, units and so on) can be transferred from the name of one partner into the joint names of both, and the transaction is subject only to nominal Stamp Duty. This will mean that the dwelling automatically by operation of law becomes the sole property of the survivor on the death of one joint tenant, and does not pass through that joint tenant's estate. This will result in a considerable saving of time, as the administration of the estate can take many months, while the formalities for the passing of joint property to the survivor takes only a few days: see Glossary of Legal Words Used, under "joint tenancy", and also Size of the estate. It also saves expense, as to some extent the cost of administering a deceased estate is proportional to the value of the assets in it, and, as we have noted, property owned by a joint tenant who dies does not form part of or pass through the estate of that person at all. However, in all cases where the ownership arrangements of substantial assets are being changed, the capital gains tax implications may need to be considered.

Third, one should get professional advice on the best way to prepare for the payment and investment of the proceeds of life insurance policies and superannuation. Superannuation and life insurance policies should be checked to make sure that there they contain no long-forgotten or unwanted nominations of beneficiaries, as these nominations will by statute override any will, even a will executed after the nomination was made.