How do we preserve my deceased father's estate when my mother remarries?

My father died last year, leaving a sizeable estate. He handled all the finances, so I took over with power of attorney to handle finances for mom. My mother is now already contemplating remarriage. A pre-nup has been discussed. What needs to be included to preserve the estate for my sister and myself as my father intended?

I found this question here
How do we preserve my deceased fathers estate when my…

I have a similar problem. but i am not happy with the answer .
I am looking for more detailed answer.

Thanks

 

Safest way would be to split the estate right now.
Is it residential property?

 

I agree with BV.
Also shouldn't this be something you discuss with your solictor?

Cheers,

Dan

 

Hi ammygadley,

The question your pose is full of challenges. Estate planning is complex and the answers will depend on the nature of the assets your mother owns. A pre nup is a good idea and will protect against the relationship breaking down but much more needs to be done to protect the estate should your mother die.

Firstly you need to analyse what the assets actually are. Are they physical property such as houses, jewlery antiques etc. These need to be dealt with under your mother Will. She can direct these whereever she likes however depending on what state she lives in she will need to ensure she makes fair provision for any dependents (eg her new husband) to minimise the risk of a successful challenge to her estate. Another solution is to minimise the estate and move assets into trusts or Superannuation funds where they are not dealt with under the will. This gets complex and considerations such as capital gains tax need to be considered.

Superannuation assets can be protected and sent where intended via binding nominations and you should get advice on this from a good financial planner. Sometimes it is necessary to change Superannuation funds to facilitate a satisfactory nomination although most funds these days have a basic BN facility.

For substantial wealth outside of the superannuation environment trusts can be used to bypass the estate with control of the trust passing to the designated person and avoiding a challenge to the estate.

You can see this is very much a case by case situation where your mother need to get some professional advice.

Regards

Jason Bragger
Brisbane Financial Planners | Financial Advice | Financial Advisor

This is a general comment only and does not constitute advice. Before making legal or financial decisions you should seek advice from a professional adviser, who can take into account your specific circumstances and investment goals.

 

Preservation

Hi ammeygadley, as stated previously there are a lot of complexities with estate planning. You need to determine the value of the estate. This will assist you in determining what action needs to be taken. Does your mother's future partner have children? If so are they dependant? Will your family home remain as your mother's principal residence once she is married? Issues such as life tennancies may also need to be considered if the future partner doesn't own a property. Consult a good solicitor in relation to your mothers will, pre-nup and possibly a testamentory trust. I believe the hardest challenge will be trying to take the emotion from the situation. You and your sisters emotion in trying to protect your inheritance and your mother's emotion whilst moving to a new phase in her life.

 

When i was young my dad died and my family ended up losing his house to the new wife. At the time I didn't care about the estate, but now that I look back things are different.

Similar thing happened to my grandfather when his girlfriend put a claim on his house and then took all his furniture etc - things my mum was expecting to inherit from her deceased mum via her dad.

I assume your mum inherited everything from your dad. They are her assets now and she can dispose of them or do with them as she pleases. She may have intentions of leaving everything to you, but wills can be made and changed, circumstances change and wills can be challenged.

The only completely safe route is to sell/transfer or dispose of the assets now. This may not be ideal for tax/revenue reasons though.

You need to sit down and make a list of those assets and work out a plan. The plan should consider prenups, wills, transfers and anything that can possibly go wrong.

 

This is a good idea -Just got to be careful mum can't control the trust so that she can spend the lot on her new boyfriend.