Will Guide: Who should I choose as Executor of my Will?
Selecting an executor (or executors) for your will is a crucial choice that could have serious repercussions for your loved ones. The following advice will assist you in selecting the ideal executor for your will:
Select a person you can trust: After your passing, your executor will be in charge of managing your estate and carrying out the directives in your will. Therefore, it's crucial to select a trustworthy person to take care of these duties. This may be a member of the family, a close friend, or a qualified individual like a financial planner or attorney.
Think about their knowledge: Selecting an executor with knowledge in finances, law, or estate planning might be beneficial because it will make the process of managing your estate easier and more effective.
If your executor lives in a distant city or country from you, it could be more challenging for them to carry out the duties outlined in your will. The selection of a local executor may be more practical.
Take into account their workload: If your chosen executor is already preoccupied with their own obligations, it could be challenging for them to handle the additional duties of administering your inheritance. Picking a person with the time and energy to complete these jobs is something to think about.
Choosing an executor who is younger than you is a good option since they are more likely to survive you and be able to carry out your wishes as outlined in your will. However, if you do select an older executor, it's crucial to take their health and capacity for the job into account.
Consult with your executor about your choice: You should consult with the potential executor about their willingness and capacity to serve in that capacity. In case your initial candidate is unable or unwilling to serve as executor, you should also think about naming a backup.
You can select an executor who is qualified to manage the crucial chores of managing your estate and carrying out your desires after your passing by using the advice in this article.
Digital Estate Planning and How It's Shaking Up the Estate Planning Game
Digital Estate Planning is changing the way we prepare for our futures.
Estate Planning is the process of laying out a framework of instructions for how to handle and/or distribute your assets in the event of your death, disability, or incapacitation. The motivation behind it is the comprehensive care of your loved ones in the event you become unable to care for them yourself.
Traditional Estate Planning involves preparing a raft of legal documents including a Will, Enduring Power of Attorney, Advance Healthcare Directive, Insurance Plans, Living Trusts, and more. However, in the 21st century, all of us have a growing Digital Estate, and the traditional method of Estate Planning doesn’t cover Digital Assets.
The importance of Estate Planning can’t be understated. No matter your age, health, or financial position, it is the only way to have a say in the circumstances surrounding the end of your life. A solid Estate Plan protects against family disputes and frivolous litigation and stops the state from interfering in your final wishes.
So how does Digital Estate Planning come into it, and what is it all about?
Digital Assets Management
The emergence of Digital Assets and the issues surrounding them has revolutionised Estate Planning. It’s no longer a simple process – we all live in a multifaceted, intertwining web of real and virtual property and possessions, some of which have real value and some of which do not – so Digital Estate Planning has increased in depth and complexity to encompass it all.
Because Digital Asset Management is a relatively new field, most lawyers will not have the knowledge or expertise to properly guide you through it. Traditional Estate Planning methods were never cut out to deal with things like cryptocurrency holdings, digital wallets, payment accounts, web domain ownerships, intellectual property stored online or on smart devices, rewards programs, social media accounts, and so on. For a simple series of zeroes and ones, Digital Assets carry a lot of value, and failing to properly protect them will cause issues for loved ones after your death (for example, in trying to access documents only stored online, or get money stored in digital wallets refunded).
The question then becomes – how do you manage your Digital Assets and include them in your Estate Planning?
It is very important to include your Digital Assets in your Estate Plan to protect against things like identify theft, online fraud, and other nightmarish scenarios. The good news is that there are lawyers knowledgeable in Digital Asset Management and all its complexity who can help you.
Digital Estate Planning now – What is available?
Digital Estate Planning is a constantly evolving field, but as technology races ahead, savvy Digital Estate Planners are keeping up with the changes and have developed ways of securing your Digital Assets for your future beneficiaries.
There are practical solutions such as printing online documents and storing them in security lockers or nominating heirs to access your information and accounts after you pass.
Facebook has put a lot of emphasis on Digital Estate Planning. They have developed an infrastructure for handling a deceased person’s Facebook account, such as options for memorialisation or giving the immediate family the right to deactivate and delete it.
Cryptocurrency is still a fraught area and solutions are still developing. There are issues with giving another individual access to your wallet or vault, and the very real possibility of losing access to the virtual funds altogether worries investors.
There is no historical playbook for Digital Assets. Digital Estate Planners need to adapt and stay abreast of all the issues involved to develop a valid solution to the concerns involved.
The NSW Government Law Reform Commission is in the middle of reviewing Digital Estate Planning laws, conscious of the importance of controlling data after death. It’s a significant issue being taken seriously, with hopes that changes will serve as a precedent for other states to follow.
One final word – at OneWill, Digital Asset Management and Digital Estate Planning is our everyday reality. If you’re not sure where to begin, contact us and we can get you started on the right track.
Will Planning and Estate Planning are related, but many people may not know they are two different things. It’s important to understand the difference because a Will is only one component of a proper Estate Plan.
Your Will is your “last will and testament” – your final word about your property and assets and who should receive them after you die. Your Will can only be executed (that is, acted upon and your wished carried out) after you die.
Your Estate Plan, on the other hand, describes how you want your property and assets divided up and distributed both before and after you die. It is usually executed straight away, rather than waiting for you to pass away.
Further, your Estate Plan has a much broader scope than your Will. It doesn’t just cover distribution of your assets – it can cover healthcare instructions for if you become incapacitated (via a “living will” or advanced healthcare directive), or it can delegate responsibility for handling all your affairs to another individual (via enduring power of attorney).
It’s important to understand the difference between a Will and an Estate Plan. While your Will can only come into effect after you die, an Estate Plan can cover situations involving your property, assets, and finances prior to your death. Your Estate Plan is a contingency plan for different scenarios leading up to your death as well as afterward.
How is a Will and an Estate Plan related?
A Will is commonly confused with an Estate Plan because a Will forms part of your Estate Plan. Also, any adult can tell you what a Will is, whereas Estate Plans are not as commonly known and understood. Therefore people conflate the two.
A Will contains instructions for actions required after you die. Your Will speaks about the people you want to:
Raise your children,
Inherit your assets,
Execute your Will.
An Estate Plan makes the distribution of your assets a bit easier by allowing for additional instructions. Your Estate Plan covers different scenarios in the case you are unable to handle your affairs but haven’t died yet. An Estate Plan can contain:
A Living Will – also known as an Advanced Healthcare Directive. This is similar to a Will, but instead of your death, a Living Will is activated when you become unable to make decisions or take care of yourself for health reasons. Scenarios could include being in a coma or on life support, suffering from neurodegenerative conditions (e.g. Alzheimer’s or dementia), being admitted to geriatric care, etc. A Living Will takes significant pressure off family members by making decisions for yourself before the fact and making your wishes clearly known while you can still communicate them.
A Living Trust. This legal document assigns a trustee to handle your assets for the benefit of your eventual beneficiaries. A Living Trust protects your assets for who you want to receive them and can be executed when you specify, even long before your death, so you can make changes as you see fit. A Living Trust can also pre-empt any problems with Probate and is a good way to protect your beneficiaries in case someone contests your Will.
So, what is the actual difference between a Will and an Estate Plan? While your Will covers the event of your death and can only be activated after you die, an Estate Plan is more detailed, can be activated before you die, and offers better protection for your loved ones and intended beneficiaries. The two are related because a Will is a necessary part of an Estate Plan.
If I have a Will, do I need an Estate Plan?
Once you have a Will, you might think the job is done. You may think “I don’t have that much to give away anyway, so an Estate Plan is probably overkill, right?”. In fact, your Estate is probably worth far more than you realise. Your car, your house, your savings, your investments or any businesses you own or have an interest in, your possessions and your valuables, even your digital music or game library – all of these count as Assets in your Estate, and you leave them all behind when you die. If you are survived by loved ones, especially children, you want to do as much as you can to make sure they are taken care of. Not to mention there are scenarios that can happen before you die in which you are unable to protect and take care of both your assets and your loved ones where they may be exposed to unnecessary risk. Having a Will is essential, but it may not be enough.
An Estate Plan gives you the opportunity to cover several contingencies and protect your assets and your beneficiaries, plus it gives you the chance to see your wishes fulfilled before you die. It gives you peace-of-mind that everyone you care about are well taken care of and adds a protective barrier against greedy hands that you haven’t foreseen.
What happens if I don’t have a Will or an Estate Plan?
While it’s not something any of us want to think about, we simply don’t know when our time will come, and you can’t assume you will have advance warning of your death. If you leave this world with your affairs in disarray, it is your family and loved ones who will be left with the mess.
The sad fact is that most people die without an Estate Plan, and many even without a Will. This opens the door to family disputes, state intervention, and taxes no-one told you about springing up without warning.
If you die without a Will or an Estate Plan, the State has to step in and resolve matters, which usually leaves no-one happy or satisfied with the outcome.
In Australia, if you die without a Will, the courts appoint a legal administrator whose job it is to collect your assets, handle your debt repayments, cover your funeral expenses, and distribute what’s left to your beneficiaries. The issue here is they will distribute your assets according to your country’s probate laws, not according to what you may have wanted, and probate laws are not renowned for being fair! If you leave a spouse and children behind, they will be entitled to a portion of your estate, not all of it. If your children are minors at the time of your death, the court will hold their inheritance until they come of age. This removes any ability to invest their inheritance in trust or protect it from fees. In the unfortunate event that both parents die, the court will appoint a guardian for them as well, and they will do so according to how they see fit, not you. Any verbal agreements you had with friends or family members will go out the window and you’ve lost all say in who gets your assets and who takes care of your family.
What about if you lose your ability to speak, make decisions, or move? Again, it will be up to the State to dictate how your assets are used for your care, not you or your loved ones. You will be put under the care of a state-appointed guardian in an expensive and drawn-out process that might not end for a long time, even if you recover. You and your assets will become someone’s job, and the people who care about you may have no say in the process at all.
So, the question becomes – who do you want handling your assets and affairs if you can’t, and do you want a say in it or not? If you want your wishes to have any bearing and you want your loved ones taken care of properly, a Will or an Estate Plan is not optional.
What is a Living Trust, and how is it different from a Will?
A Living Trust is considered a better option than a Will for one big reason – a Living Trust might make probate unnecessary.
Australian probate laws dictate that most of your assets need to go through the probate process before they can be distributed. Even your Will must be approved before probate is granted. It’s not a standard process as it varies from state to state. The probate process carries court costs, legal fees, and executor fees along with it which can really add up and take big chunks out of your Estate. It can take years after your death for the process to conclude, and to top it all off, it’s controlled by the State and not your family. A court can refuse to grant probate if it’s not satisfied with your Will or if there are disagreements over your assets.
A Living Trust, however, gives privacy to the process, is valid in all states of Australia, keeps the State and the probate process out of your affairs, and can be altered or amended as many times as you need. It puts the power back in the hands of your family for full control of your assets and eventual Estate. With a valid Living Trust in place, your family can avoid the need for probate altogether.
The only possible downside to a Living Will is it can be expensive to get sorted up-front. But on the flipside, a Living Will avoids court and probate interference and the associated expenses after your death. In a way, you are just pre-empting possible costs that need to come out of your Estate and keeping them under control now. Looking at it this way, the expenses of setting up a Living Will are a much wiser investment on behalf of your loved ones.
What are the benefits of having an Estate Plan (instead of just a Will)?
Peace of mind
You can make the decisions now and you know that your wishes won’t be interfered with. You can plan the care of your family and loved ones and rest assured your plan will be carried out as intended. Whether your children are adults or minors, you know they will be covered and get the best you can offer them without the State or selfish third parties interfering in their lives. This is perhaps the biggest benefit of an Estate Plan – you can rest easy knowing that your legacy will remain intact.
No need for probate
If you only have a Will, probate is necessary to prove its validity and to give authority to your executor to carry out your wishes. It’s an expensive and painstaking process that chips away at your Estate and can take years to resolve, adding more stress and financial burden on your grieving loved ones.
Living Trusts can be executed with no need for probate. Your Estate stays whole, and no-one can interfere or put their “two-bobs-worth” into how your assets are distributed.
Protects all your intended beneficiaries
A Living Trust especially benefits your young children because you choose their guardian and you choose who holds onto their inheritance, not the State. You can also instruct how your beneficiaries use their inheritance to ensure it is used responsibly and for their maximum good. Going further, a Living Trust protects your beneficiaries in the event of a divorce, bankruptcy, of other unplanned or unforeseen events that might impact their inheritance.
Estate Planning isn’t always expensive
You might be put off by the costs of developing an Estate Plan compared to those of drafting a Will. Don’t be! Yes, there are costs involved, but it doesn’t have to be expensive. With the right legal guidance, you can develop a watertight Estate Plan that covers every detail required without blowing past your budget.
An Estate Plan is the kindest thing you can do for your family because it’s a kindness that extends beyond the grave. With the right guidance, your Estate Plan can give crystal-clear instructions for how you want to see out your days and how you want your family supported when your life is over. And most of all, an Estate Plan ensures that all your wishes will be carried out exactly the way you intend with no outside interference.
If you’re convinced about the importance of an Estate Plan but aren’t sure where to begin, you’re already on the right website! Get in touch with us as soon as you can and we will get you started on the right track.
Digital Assets – How Do I Include my Digital Assets in my Estate Planning?
Digital Assets are becoming a bigger part of our lives as each day goes by. It might be strange to think of things like social media accounts, online shopping programs, Frequent Flyer points, and other online memberships as “assets”. But they all have value in one form or another, and as such, we should include all our Digital Assets in our Estate Planning.
The questions are – what exactly are our Digital Assets, how do we include them in our Estate Planning, and what are the options available?
What are Digital Assets?
Digital Assets are defined as anything that exists as binary data, is self-contained, and carries a “right to use”. This is a broad definition and covers almost everything you can think of that exists in digital form that you have the right to use – the photos on your smartphone, the digital content you’ve purchased such as audiobooks, movies, or video games, your social media accounts and content, any data stored in web apps you use, any digital artwork you’ve created, documents you’ve stored in cloud storage – the list goes on.
Digital Assets don’t include anything that’s not a discreet thing or that you merely have permission to access but don’t actually own (such as your Netflix subscription or podcasting aggregator).
Why should I include Digital Assets in my Estate Planning?
The digital content that comprises your Digital Assets have value – photos of you, words you’ve written, media you have purchased – and anything of value you own, real or digital, forms your Estate. If you don’t give proper consideration to your Digital Assets after you die, they may be lost or misused.
How do I include Digital Assets in my Estate Planning? In this article we will focus on four main areas for consideration:
How to prepare your social media accounts
How to prepare your professional accounts
How to prepare your points programs
How to prepare your online shopping accounts
There is more to Digital Assets than these four but in our experience, these are the most important to ensure are covered.
How to prepare your Social media accounts
How do I prepare my Facebook account before I die?
What happens to my Facebook account when I die?
When you die, if a friend or family member informs Facebook of your passing, they can request your account be “memorialised” upon presentation of evidence that you’ve passed. This basically freezes the account in time and limits the interactions that the account can perform. No-one can access a memorialised account unless they have been nominated as a “legacy contact”.
What is a Legacy Contact on Facebook?
Your legacy contact is the individual you nominate to administer your account after your death. They will receive a notification when they are nominated, and again once the account has been memorialised. It is highly recommended to appoint a legacy contact for your Facebook profile so they log into your account to post tributes, change your profile picture, and manage friend requests.
What if I don’t appoint a legacy contact?
Without a legacy contact, your friends or family will need to provide evidence to Facebook that you have passed away so your account can be memorialised.
What if I don’t want my account to be memorialised?
You have the option for your Facebook account to be permanently deleted on your death. You can select this option in your general account settings on your profile (Settings > General > Memorialisation Settings). Only your immediate family can request deletion of your account if you don’t select any options in your memorialisation settings. They will need to complete the Special Request for Medically Incapacitated or Deceased Person's Account form to do this.
How does Facebook find out if someone has died?
Facebook will only know someone has passed away if they are notified by the person’s friends or family. They will only memorialise the account on receipt of evidence of the person’s death.
How can my family notify Facebook of my death?
This Facebook help centre article describes the documentation they will need to provide when filling out the Special Request for Medically Incapacitated or Deceased Person’s Account form.
What happens after my account has been memorialised?
The word “Remembering” will appear in front of your name. All your previously shared content will remain visible according to the sharing settings used at the time. Depending on your privacy settings, your friends and family will still be able to post and share content on your wall and tag your account in posts.
How do I prepare my Instagram account before I die?
What happens to my Instagram profile when I die?
Instagram will memorialise an account on the notification that the account holder has passed. But unlike Facebook, you can’t nominate a legacy contact, nor will they give access to your account after you’ve died. Your executor can request removal of your account, so if you want this to occur you need to include these instructions in your Estate Planning.
How does Instagram find out if someone has died?
A friend or family member can notify Instagram for someone who has passed away using the Request to memorialise a deceased person's Instagram account form. They will need to provide evidence of the person’s death, but this can be a link to or a screenshot of an obituary or news article. Once processed, the account will be memorialised.
What happens when an Instagram account is memorialised?
The word “Remembering” will appear next to the person’s name. No-one can log into the account and it will not appear in public spaces (such as the “explore” section). All the shared content will still be visible, but the profile will become frozen in time, with no further changes possible to the account and no ability for it to share any more posts.
What if I want my Instagram account deleted instead of memorialised?
Only your executor or estate administrator can request deletion of your Instagram account, and they will need evidence such as both your birth and death certificates and proof of the executor’s authority. This is why it’s vital to include your Instagram account in your Estate Planning if you want your account deleted upon your death.
How do I prepare my Twitter before I die?
What happens to my Twitter account when I die?
Nothing will happen to your account unless a verified family member and your executor request deactivation of your account.
How does Twitter find out if someone has died?
Twitter does not actively search for accounts of deceased individuals. They will only know if your verified family member and your executor request deactivation. If you don’t want your Twitter deactivated, tell your family members not to request this.
Does Twitter memorialise deceased accounts?
No. The only option for change to a deceased individual’s account is deactivation. If you want a form of memorialisation, you can provide login details to someone you trust and ask them to manage your account after your death, along with instructing your family members and executor not to deactivate it.
How can my family notify Twitter of my death?
Again, only if you want your family to deactivate your account, they can go to the Twitter privacy policy inquiries page, select the “I want to request the deactivation of a deceased or incapacitated person's account” option, and complete the form that appears. They will need your Twitter username, your full name, and their relationship to you, along with providing their full name and email address, along with any optional additional information. Twitter will then contact them by email regarding the deactivation.
How do I prepare my Snapchat account before I die?
What happens to my Snapchat account when I die?
Similar to Twitter, nothing will happen to your Snapchat unless someone notifies Snapchat of your passing, at which point they will remove your account.
How does Snapchat find out if someone has died?
Snapchat relies on other users to notify them on the death of a Snapchat user. Once they have verified the request is legitimate, they will remove the account.
Next to “Need help with something else?”, select YES
The person passed away
They will need to provide your Snapchat username and a copy of your death certificate.
How do I prepare my professional accounts
How do I prepare my Gmail and/or Google account before I die?
Your Google account is a goldmine of information about you, and if you use Google wallet, may even contain financial assets forming part of your estate. It’s important to record your wishes regarding your Google account and any assets within it as part of your Estate Planning so your executor has the ability to handle the data and assets as you intend.
What happens to my Gmail and/or Google account after I die?
Google introduced the “Inactive Account Manager” feature allowing users to notify nominated people and share part or all of your account data with them. It allows you to set up a succession plan for your data, but it only kicks in after the period of inactivity you specify.
How does Google detect inactivity?
You have to turn this feature on and specify the time period after which Google should deem your account inactive. The default setting is three months.
Will Google try to contact me before marking my account inactive?
Google will attempt to notify you using the recovery email and mobile phone number you’ve set in your account. If you haven’t set these, you will need to do so before turning on Inactive Account Manager.
Can I choose who gets my Google data in the event of my death?
You can choose up to ten people to notify when your account becomes inactive. When you choose these people, you can also choose to grant them access to some or all of your Google data. Your Google account data includes all of your public data along with access to your Gmail, anything in your Google Drive, access to your Blogger sites, access to your YouTube account, and any other of your Google activities.
As part of this process you can set up an auto-reply to respond to incoming mail after your account is marked inactive, and you can choose to send to all or just to your contacts.
Can I request permanent deletion of my account in the event of my death?
Yes, when setting up Inactive Account Manager, you can choose whether to permanently delete your account after the set period of inactivity. If you’ve nominated people to receive your data, Google will give them three additional months to download it all before they wipe it from their servers.
How do I set up Inactive Account Manager?
You can find Inactive Account Manager in your Google account settings in the “Data & Personalisation” tab under “Download, delete, or make a plan for your account”. Click on “Make a plan for your account” and follow the steps. If you’re logged into your Google account now, you can find it here.
What happens if I haven’t set up Inactive Account Manager?
Your immediate family, executor, or other legal representative can submit a request to Google for access to your data, refund of funds held in your name, or deactivation of your account, using this form.
What information would my family need to request access, refunds, or closure of my Google account?
In all three cases, they will need to provide:
Your full name and Google email address
Their full name and email address
Their address
Your date of death
Which accounts they wish to access, get refunds from, or delete
A scan of their driver’s licence
A scan of your death certificate
A scan of legal documents giving them authority (if applicable)
To close your account, they will need to state their relationship to you (i.e. whether they are your immediate family or your legal representative or executor).
To get a refund, they will need to provide the name of the desired payee for the account.
To gain access to your data, they will need a court order issued in the United States. Google can assist with wording for the application.
How do I prepare my LinkedIn account before I die?
What happens to my LinkedIn account when I die?
LinkedIn has no way to prepare your account for the event of your death. Nothing will happen to your LinkedIn account unless someone reports it to them.
How does LinkedIn find out if someone has died?
LinkedIn relies on reports from family members or other users in the event of a death. Once notified, they will validate the information then remove the deceased person’s profile.
How should my family or colleagues notify LinkedIn if I die?
What information will they need to provide to get my account deleted?
Your name
The URL of your LinkedIn profile
Their relationship to you
Your email address (the one you used to sign up to LinkedIn)
Date you passed away
Link to the obituary or relevant news article
Any additional information that may be relevant
How to prepare my Points Programs
How do I prepare my FlyBuys points before I die?
What happens to my FlyBuys points when I die?
FlyBuys has no options to prepare your account for your death. It also states in their terms & conditions that points are non-transferrable, non-saleable, and non-giftable. However, FlyBuys have demonstrated willingness to discuss options when an account holder dies which they will assess on a case-by-case basis. If the deceased person was a secondary member of an account, the account owner can simply remove their membership from the account.
How does FlyBuys find out if someone has died?
FlyBuys relies on your family or executor notifying them of your death. As mentioned above, they are willing to discuss options such as closing the account and transferring points which they will assess on the merits of the case and who the proposed recipient of the points is.
How should my family or executor notify FlyBuys of my death?
They should call FlyBuys on 13 11 16 or by mail to the address noted on their Contact Us page.
How can my family or executor close my FlyBuys account?
They should contact FlyBuys as stated above. If there are multiple account holders and they have not given their approval for closure, they will need to supply evidence that they have authority to act on behalf of your estate.
How do I prepare my Frequent Flyer Points before I die?
Airlines have tighter restrictions on their points programs, so it’s important to leave clear instructions for what to do with your points in the event of your passing.
What happens to my Qantas Frequent Flyer points when I die?
According to the Qantas Frequent Flyer terms & conditions, all points are forfeited when the member dies and are not accessible or transferrable. Ideally, you should transfer your points to an eligible family member before you pass away. You can only transfer a maximum of 600,000 points in a 12-month period but it’s better than them being lost forever.
What happens to my Virgin Velocity Frequent Flyer points when I die?
According to the Virgin Velocity Frequent Flyer terms & conditions, your points can be administered by the executor or administrator of your estate for a 12-month period following your death.
How do Airlines find out when someone dies?
The only way they will find out is if someone notifies them.
How to prepare my Online Shopping accounts
How do I prepare my Amazon account before I die?
What happens to my Amazon account when I die?
Amazon is an interesting case because it includes so many different types of services. With your Amazon membership you may have access to:
Amazon.com or Amazon.com.au for online shopping
Audible.com and Kindle for e-books
Prime Video for video streaming
Amazon Music
Amazon Drive for cloud storage
Prime Photos
Amazon Appstore purchases
Your customer profile including reviews, discussion posts and customer images
Your account history (including credit card information, order history, etc.)
Gift Cards
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Amazon has no structure in place to handle the death of account holders. Because Amazon accounts are a mixture of actual digital assets along with digital access rights and services that don’t form part of your estate, giving another individual access to your account is more complex. In the event of your death, your executor or loved ones should contact Amazon to discuss how to handle the digital assets held in the account.
Is there a workaround for digital asset issues to do with my Amazon account?
In short, yes - Amazon offers family sharing with Amazon Household. By setting up Amazon Household now, you can give your family members access to all your Amazon account benefits and services at no additional cost.
What is Amazon Household?
Amazon Household allows you to share your Prime Benefits and Digital Content with one other adult, four teens, and four children that live with you. The other adult and any children don’t need their own Amazon account but teens will need their own login, which you can set up when setting up Amazon Household.
What Amazon Prime benefits can I share?
Shipping benefits (e.g. Prime Shipping, Prime Now and AmazonFresh)
Digital benefits (e.g. Prime Video, Prime Reading, Amazon Photos, Amazon First Reads, discounts and exclusives)
Yes, if things don’t work out the way you wanted them to, you can remove an adult from your Amazon Household. You can do the same thing if a spouse or partner dies by removing them from your account in your account dashboard.
What happens to my Alexa Routine/s?
There is no succession planning for Alexa Routines at this point in time, but anyone with access to the account can delete routines in the Alexa app. For more information go to the Create Alexa Routines for Smart Devices web page.
Can my family request closure of my Amazon account when I die?
Your family members can contact Amazon via their Contact Us web form and request closure of your account. Remember though that once your account is closed, all your content, including content on Amazon Drive and Prime Photos is erased which can’t be undone. Your Appstore purchases, customer profile information, reviews, photos, discussion posts, credit card information, and order history will also be erased. You can find out more information on the About Closing Your Account web page.
How do I prepare my Apple iTunes account before I die?
What happens to my iTunes music library when I die?
There is no succession planning for your music library, and there are reasonable grounds to assert that you do not have the right to bequeath ownership of it.
Is there a workaround for this?
You can get around this with Family Sharing, which lets you share your purchases with nominated members of your family who have iTunes or Apple app store accounts (they don’t have to live with you). Content shared with family through Family Sharing will still be accessible as long as the main account remains open.
What is Apple Family Sharing?
Family Sharing is Apple’s service that lets you create a family group to share purchased content with, including iTunes, Apple Books, and app store purchases. Also available is an Apple Music family subscription, a single iCloud storage account, and more. The main adult account holder is the Organiser and they choose the features to share and invites the family members that make up the Family Sharing profile. Each member of this Family Sharing profile has access to all the purchases made by other members. To set up Family Sharing, go to this web page and follow the steps.
What happens to the content on my Apple devices (e.g. iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV) when I die?
Apple has no policies concerning access to a deceased person’s devices. Here is one example where a questioner on Apple Communities was directed to bring an Apple Watch and the death certificate into an Apple store to gain access to the device. Beyond that there is no official policy from Apple.
Can my family access my Apple devices after I die without my account login details?
Again, there are no official policies. Here is one unfortunate example of a questioner on Apple Communities being advised to commence the process of wiping the machine to get access without a password – not an ideal scenario.
How do I prepare my eBay account before I die?
What happens to my eBay account when I die?
eBay offers no options to prepare your account prior to your death. They will remove the account of a deceased person when they are notified of the person’s passing.
How does eBay find out if someone has died?
Your family members or executor will need to notify eBay that you have passed away; eBay has no way of detecting the death of account holders outside of this.
How should my family nofity eBay that I have died?
PayPal has no framework for preparing your account prior to your passing. They will, however, close the account of a deceased person and refund any balances to the estate.
How does PayPal find out if someone has died?
PayPal relies on the executor notifying them of the death of the account holder. The executor also needs to request account closure and refund of any balances.
How should my executor notify PayPal of my death?
The process is quite involved and can only be done by the executor or account administrator. All of the details are on this article in the PayPal help centre. It’s very important to note that if the account holder does not have a Will, PayPal will NOT process the request and any claims for funds will need to be made to the ASIC Unclaimed Money Unit.
How does my executor request closure of my account and refund of any money?
There are different requirements depending on if the executor is a statutory body or a person.
If the executor is a statutory body, they will need to provide:
A cover sheet that states that the account holder is deceased and that the account's executor wants to close the account
The email address of the account provided in the cover letter
A copy of the accountholder’s Death Certificate
A Statutory Certificate identifying the statutory body as the Administrator of the Deceased Estate
If the executor is not a statutory body, they will need to provide:
A cover sheet that states that the account holder is deceased and that the account's executor wants to close the account
The email address of the account provided in the cover letter
A valid government-issued photo ID of the executor
A copy of the accountholder’s Death Certificate
A Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration; and
A copy of the Executor/Administrator’s government issued photo ID (such as a driver’s license, passport or state-issued ID)
Another important note is that the executor MUST request transfer of any money in the cover letter.
Are my debts forgiven on death?
This does not have a straightforward answer as there are a number of different scenarios which may affect whether the debt is forgiven or not. But in general, part of the executor’s job is settling up any outstanding debts and liabilities attached to the estate.
What happens once my PayPal account is closed?
Once your account is closed it is gone forever – and the transaction history with it – and cannot be reopened.
Digital Assets – a vital part of your Estate Planning
Your digital assets carry value like any other asset. As we’ve outlined above, it’s vitally important that you leave clear and detailed instructions for how to distribute your digital assets after you die. If you don’t, important content, personal information, and even real money, may be lost forever.
It can get very complicated with Digital Assets, so if you need help, don’t be afraid to approach a qualified Estate Planning Attorney, preferably one with experience in Digital Assets
And of course, don’t forget – OneWill offers the most comprehensive all-in-one place to include your Digital Assets in your estate planning. We make the process easier!
An Estate Plan is not the type of thing most people think about very often.
As an adult student in my first-year of Law School, I felt far more prepared for what the future held than many of my fresh-faced counterparts. Our Property Law professor introduced us to the importance of estate planning by saying “if you don’t think you have anything of value, feel free to leave it all to me in your Will”.
He was a great lecturer well versed in property law, and he understood what most of his students didn’t. Besides a wardrobe full of clothes or an iPhone, we have many things of value we might otherwise consider worthless, and without an estate plan, we have no way of knowing for sure.
The moral of the story is that YES, everyone needs a sufficient and up-to-date Estate Plan no matter what stage of life we are at – and the sooner we get one, the better.
What is an Estate Plan?
In Australia, an Estate Plan broadly consists of three key documents:
Your Will – your Will should be a detailed list of instructions for how to divide up and distribute everything you own (referred to as your Estate) after your death. It’s important that your Will covers all your real, financial, material, and digital possessions and that it clearly instructs the executor how to distribute them and to who. Your Will can also include other instructions concerning guardianship of children, funeral arrangements, organ donation wishes, charitable bequests, and more.
Enduring Power of Attorney – this is a legal document granting another individual the authority to handle your personal and financial decision-making in the event of your death or mental incapacity. In the eyes of the law, Enduring Power of Attorney gives the person you nominate equal standing with yourself with respect to any decision regarding your life and finances.
Advance Health Directive – also referred to as a “Living Will”, an Advance Health Directive is a set of instructions specific to your future health care and allows you to make decisions regarding your health ahead of time. Like Enduring Power of Attorney, you nominate an individual to have authority to execute your wishes as outlined in the document and to make decisions on your behalf in the event you are unable to.
An Estate Plan may consist of extra components but in high-level terms, these three documents are essential in proper estate planning.
Why do I need an Estate Plan?
Much like my fellow first-year law students, most of us underestimate the true scope of our Estate by a long way, and without proper estate planning it may not end up where we want it to after we pass. There are many reasons, but there are three main reasons that apply to everyone:
Taking Care of our Loved Ones
Your death will be hard enough on your family already; you don’t want to leave them a financial and legal mess on top of it. You want to make sure spouses, children, and grandchildren are properly taken care of, and unfortunately, you can’t just vaguely trust that “the right thing” will be done. A clear, comprehensive, and explicit Will ensures there is no room for doubt or interpretation and that none of your loved ones suffer excessive financial or emotional stress.
You can protect minors with a guardianship agreement and financial trust arrangements to see them through to adulthood. By properly quantifying your whole estate, you can ensure there are no items left “up for grabs” by greedy third parties. And with some discussion and agreement beforehand, you can distribute heirlooms or items of sentimental value without any fighting or debate.
Besides a Will, there are other things you can do to take care of your loved ones as part of your estate planning before you die. Australian property law allows property assets (or “real” assets) being held in multiple names, for example by spouses or partners, in which case ownership automatically transfers to the living spouse on the death of the other. It is highly recommended to consider Death and Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) insurance as part of your estate planning. Above all, communicate with your loved ones thoroughly and honestly about your estate plan while you still can!
Avoiding Unnecessary Probate Costs
When someone passes away, even with a Will and Estate Plan in place, Probate is required before any of your instructions can be carried out.
Probate is the legal process whereby the Supreme Court validates your Will and gives authority to the Executor to commence distribution of your Estate. Once the process is complete, the Court issues a “Grant of Probate” – a legal document confirming the validity of the Will and authority of the Executor. Financial institutions holding the financial assets of the deceased will usually require a copy of the Grant of Probate before releasing any funds.
The Grant of Probate is a powerful document and the Supreme Court will not issue it lightly. If you don’t have a Will in place, have an unclear, incomplete, or poorly drafted Will, or even multiple differing Wills at the time of your death, the Probate application can become a long, drawn-out, and very expensive exercise. On top of the emotional and financial stress it can place on families, Probate may be tied up for years or, in extreme cases, not be issued at all.
With a comprehensive, clear, and detailed Will and Estate Plan in place, the Probate process goes a lot smoother with no unnecessary hold-ups or expensive legal hassles.
Protecting Assets
This predominantly applies to financial assets, but if your Will and Estate Plan is non-existent, unclear, or incomplete, the Court may make determinations about your asset distribution that are contrary to your intentions. Proper estate planning needs to include complex asset structures and clear instructions to go with them. If you have family or discretionary trusts, these need to be comprehensively described and covered in your estate plan. They may protect your family from unnecessary tax and lawsuit issues now, but they add complexity and could cause issues if not properly quantified and accounted for in your Will.
The most sure-fire way to do this properly is to engage a qualified Estate Planning Attorney and Financial Advisor – it is worth the investment for the future of your family beyond your death. Also – don’t forget to include your digital assets in your estate planning.
Bonus: How Do I Apply for Probate in my state?
Queensland
To apply for probate in Queensland, you must advertise your intention to apply for probate to allow others to disagree with your right to obtain probate. You must also file several legal documents with the QLD Supreme Court.
New South Wales
In NSW, you will need to publish an online notice of your intention to apply for probate. After waiting a minimum of 14 days, you can file your probate application with the NSW Supreme Court.
Victoria
In Victoria, you will need to declare your intention to apply for probate. After at least 14 days, you will need to complete the required documents and submit them to the VIC Supreme Court probate office.
South Australia
To apply for a grant of probate in South Australia, you will need several documents:
The original Will
Death Certificate
Details of assets and liabilities of the deceased person
Credit card to pay the lodgement fee
You will then need to complete the application on the CourtSA website.
Northern Territory
In the Northern Territory, you will need to submit your application for probate to the NT Supreme Court.
Western Australia
The Supreme Court of WA has an online portal with which you can prepare your application. The application can take 3 to 6 weeks for processing.
Australian Capital Territory
A checklist for all the things you will need for probate is available on the ACT Supreme Court website.
Probate Registries Are Going Digital – What This Means for Probate In Your State
Probate is the process by which the Supreme Court in each state validates Wills and gives authority for distribution of an Estate. When Probate is granted, the Supreme Court issues a legal document called “Grant of Probate”. This confirms the Court’s decision that the Will is valid. This “Grant of Probate” must be issued before the executor can start distributing assets.
Applying for Probate used to involve filling out paper forms and submitting copies of identification and other documents to the Probate Registry (a division of the Supreme Court). But now, in many states of Australia, you can apply for Probate digitally.
What is the Probate Registry?
The Probate Registry is the division of each Supreme Court that handles Probate applications, including the application itself and any other relevant documents. The Court maintains a register of all Grants of Probate and related matters granted by the Court.
Once Probate has been processed, the documents involved are made public, at which time members of the public can request access to Wills and other documents involved.
Note that Supreme Courts exist at state level, therefore Probate is handled according to the rules in each state. Probate is not handled at a federal level and there are no overarching Probate rules. The state the deceased person’s assets are in determines which state’s Supreme Court has authority to process Probate.
This post describes the different Probate Registries in each state of Australia. To find out how to apply for Probate in your state, please refer to our post on “Do I Need an Estate Plan”.
The CourtSA Probate Registry
South Australia’s Probate Registry was the first to go digital, with registration and lodgements available via the CourtSA online portal. Since November 2018, all probate lodgements in SA must be done electronically – there is no paper option anymore.
Usually, applying for Probate is a complex process and often needs the help of an estate planning attorney. But with CourtSA’s online lodgement process, you are guided through a series of forms designed to streamline the process, making it a lot easier for everyday people to apply for Probate. This self-serve option is easiest when the Will is straightforward, but the increased access means more people can save a trip to the lawyer’s office. Regardless, it is highly recommended you view all the information on the Courts SA website prior to applying.
The NSW Online Registry
In NSW, you can apply for Probate via the NSW Online Registry. You will need to register an online account before you can apply for Probate, but anyone can search the probate noticesor any records published online from the 21st January 2013 onwards.
QLD eCourts
In QLD, the steps to apply for Probate aren’t quite as straightforward as in other states.
The Queensland Supreme Court does offer some limited options online concerning Wills and Probate. But Queensland is the only state in Australia where Probate is not required in every case, so the Court doesn’t always have the related documents stored. You can use the eCourts online search facility to confirm whether they have the documents before requesting a copy.
In Victoria, you still need to submit your application in person to the Court, and if you want copies of Wills and probate-related documents, you need to request them in person and pay a fee. The Victorian Probate Register does, however, offer an online search to confirm whether the documents are available before requesting them (the fee is payable on request, whether the documents are available or not). For a full rundown of the procedure, visit the Supreme Court of Victoria website.
The NT Supreme Court
To apply for probate in the NT, you still need to submit your application in person to the Court. It is recommended you contact the probate officer for all the documents you will need and the fee payable.
The WA Supreme Court
To apply for probate in WA, you can either submit your application in person to the Court or apply online using the Probate Wizard. The Supreme Court of Western Australia website has information on which documents you need.
