Estate planning Hampton — wills, trusts and looking after your family's future

Hampton families often relocate to the bayside for the schools, the space and the lifestyle — and bring with them the kind of financial picture that needs more than a basic will. The estate plan we draft for a Hampton family usually has to think about young children, an appreciating bayside home, a parent's business or professional practice, and sometimes a second-marriage layer. Done properly, the whole thing fits together and gives you one less thing to worry about.

At a glance — estate planning in Hampton

Estate planning for a Hampton family

What we typically need to work through with a Hampton client:

• The family home — usually a substantial asset, often jointly owned, passing by survivorship to a spouse and only later forming part of an estate. Drafting needs to deal with that sequence.
• The kids — guardianship if they're under 18, testamentary trust to hold their inheritance until they're ready.
• Professional practice or business — a separate succession question that needs to coordinate with the will rather than fight it.
• Super — for many Hampton families, super is the second-largest asset; binding death-benefit nominations need to be in place.
• Blended-family layer — if there's a second marriage, adult children from an earlier relationship need to be considered.

It's not impossibly complex — but it does need someone who'll think it through with you.

What we cover

• Wills drafted for your actual family situation, with executor and trustee appointments that suit the complexity.
• Testamentary trusts — staging when the kids receive capital, protecting their inheritance from future divorces or business risks.
• Guardianship appointments for minor children.
• Family-provision planning — particularly important for blended families.
• Business succession — coordinating the will with shareholders' agreements and buy-sell arrangements.
• SMSF and superannuation death-benefit nominations.
• Enduring Power of Attorney + Medical Treatment Decision Maker documents.

Frequently asked questions

Do I really need a lawyer to draft a will, or is a DIY kit enough?

For straightforward small estates a kit can technically work, but the cost of getting it wrong is enormous — invalid execution, ambiguous wording, missed superannuation, missed family-provision risk. For most families in Hampton, where there are real assets, blended-family considerations or a business, paying a lawyer once costs less than what a contested estate or a probate dispute will eventually cost the people you love.

What's a testamentary trust and do I need one?

A testamentary trust is a trust created by your will that holds your estate for the benefit of your beneficiaries (often your children or grandchildren). The main benefits are tax effectiveness (income to minors is taxed at adult rates inside a testamentary trust), asset protection (the assets are not personally held by the beneficiary so they're harder to lose in divorce or bankruptcy), and control (you can stage when beneficiaries receive capital). It's not for everyone — but for families with reasonable wealth or business interests, it's often worth the additional drafting cost.

How often should I update my will?

Update it when life materially changes: a separation or divorce, a new partner, a child or grandchild born, a death of a named beneficiary or executor, a significant change in assets (buying a business, selling the family home), a move interstate or overseas. As a general rule, if you can't remember when you last looked at your will, it's probably time.

What's a Family Provision claim and why does it matter to my estate plan?

Under Part IV of the Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic), certain people (children — adult and minor, a spouse, a former spouse in some cases, a dependent) can challenge a will on the basis that adequate provision wasn't made for their proper maintenance and support. The Court can re-order the estate. Good estate planning anticipates this — we identify who has standing, what the realistic claim risk is, and structure the estate (often via testamentary trust, sometimes with statements of wishes, sometimes with inter vivos gifts during life) to minimise the disruption.

Should I appoint a professional executor or a family member?

It depends on the complexity. A family member who is organised and on good terms with the other beneficiaries is often the right choice for straightforward estates. For complex estates — business interests, blended families, beneficiaries who don't get along, significant philanthropic bequests, or assets in multiple jurisdictions — a professional executor (a solicitor or a trustee company) takes the burden off the family and provides neutrality. We can discuss the right choice for your circumstances.

What's an Enduring Power of Attorney and a Medical Treatment Decision Maker — and do I need them?

Yes. A will only operates after you die. An Enduring Power of Attorney (financial and/or personal) appoints someone to make decisions for you if you lose capacity. A Medical Treatment Decision Maker (under the Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 (Vic)) appoints someone to make medical decisions. Without these, your family may need to apply to VCAT for an administration or guardianship order — which is slow, public and stressful. Putting both in place at the same time as your will is straightforward and brings real peace of mind.

My spouse and I own the home jointly — does my will affect it?

If you own as joint tenants (which most spouses do), the home passes by survivorship to the surviving owner outside of the will — so on the first death, the home doesn't enter the deceased's estate. On the second death, the whole home passes through that estate. The will needs to be drafted with that sequence in mind, particularly if there's a blended-family layer where the first death's spouse and the second death's children may not be the same group.

My business has a buy-sell agreement — does the will need to know about it?

Yes. A buy-sell agreement typically operates outside of the will (the business interest passes by the terms of the buy-sell, often funded by insurance), but the proceeds of that sale or the residual interest in the business still ends up in the estate or in family hands. We coordinate the will and the buy-sell so they're consistent and don't double-count or contradict each other.