Common mistakes made by newly weds and their wills

Dear friends and readers

Val Antoff  who works with me on the www.affordablelaw.com.au website has written a new article about wills and their relevance to newlyweds. I am sure if you are newlywed, or planning to wed, the article will be of interest.

Do call me for a consult if you feel the article has raised an issue or two regarding your estate planning.

Common mistakes made by newlyweds in relation to their estate plans

1. Not having a valid Will

If you are one of those highly organised people then you are likely to have had a duly executed Will at the time of your wedding. However, unless you made your Will in contemplation of your marriage your Will has been revoked by operation of the law. Do not assume that if you die without a Will your spouse collects everything. This is not always the case. Your estate will be distributed under your legislated Will and the outcome might be significantly different from what you would have liked to happen with your assets.

2. Forgetting to execute or review your Living Will.

A Living Will ensures that all financial, healthcare and lifestyle decisions will be made by the person or people you trust most if you became mentally incapacitated. A Living Will is made up of an Enduring Power of Attorney, Enduring Power of Guardianship and an Advance Health Directive. 

3. Forgetting to update the beneficiaries of your superannuation funds.

Superannuation investments do not form part of your estate. Unless you have made a binding death nomination one of your beneficiaries may benefit from your superannuation proceeds to the detriment of another beneficiary as was the case in Katz v Grossman in NSW. 

4. Forgetting to update the nominated beneficiary of your life insurance policy.

If you intend the proceeds of your life insurance policy to go to someone else than the nominee, then you must not forget to change the nominee. If you are uncertain whether you have nominated a beneficiary then you should consult your insurance company.

5. Forgetting to make certain that your children from your prior relationship receive a fair share of your estate.

If you have made a Will and left the bulk of your estate to your present partner and you rely on the moral obligation of your partner to provide for your children from a prior relationship than those children are at risk of not getting what you would have wished for them. Your current spouse may remarry after your death and have further children and leave the assets inherited from you to her children forgetting about any moral obligations to your children. By now you should have seen the pitfalls of leaving the whole of your estate to your present spouse if you have children from a prior relationship.

So if you are planning a wedding, give this article some serious thought before walking down the aisle.

 Good night.

My son Tyzton and his bald head in honour of his grandmother who passed away on 14 Jan 2012 from cancer

Dear friends and readers,

My son Tyzton was very close to his maternal granny. He was her favourite and she was missed very much by Tyzton. In honour of her passing, Tyzton decided to participate in this year's World's Greatest Shave which raises funds for blood cancer.

I was pleased that he wanted to take part and gave him full encouragement.

Here is an email I sent to friends and clients who generously supported him.

Dear friends and clients,

As some of you are aware, my son Tyzton is taking part in the  World’s Greatest Shave. This is in honour of his grandmother who passed away on 14 Jan this year after a long fight with cancer.

Please see  his before and after pictures which are attached.

Tyzton with mum and dad with a full head of hair

His head was shaved at   920 am       today.

Does he not look bald and sad?

Thank you to all my friends and clients who have already donated for this good cause.

He had raised $1866 up till the midnight of 14 Jan 2012. I have matched the donation as I promised him when I first found out he was participating in the event. His total is now $3552 on the day before the shave.

For those who have yet to donate, please go to

http://my.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=430563&langPref=en-CA&Referrer=http%3a%2f%2fwww.worldsgreatestshave.com%2f

Just donate under the name Tyzton Tan.

This was my message to him last night before his shave.

My Dearest Younger son,

Tomorrow, your head will be just like the 1st month of your birth when according to Chinese tradition it was shaved bald. Daddy is proud that you are willing to sacrifice all your locks for a good cause and in memory of your grandma who passed away on 14 Jan 2012 after a long battle with cancer. She would have been so proud of you.

Daddy said I would match what you raise when your target was $500. It has jumped to nearly $2000 much to the pained expression in my face every time the figure went up. However it is a good cause and you should be proud of what you have done and what you will do tomorrow. Mummy and Daddy will be there tomorrow when you lose your hair as we always support and love you. Good luck and well done.

The girl badminton players at the National championship will have to watch out for Speedy Baldy next month.

Yes, the family will be going to Tasmania next month for my 2 boys to compete in the National Under 17s Badminton championship.

Have a look at http://badmintonwaunder17s.blogspot.com.au

Tyzton will feel the chill in Tassie without his trademark locks.

I am sure many of the girl players will like to feel his bald head, so that is a consolation.

So what has all these got to do with the law. 

I think that lawyers should contribute to society more often than less often. Fundraising for a good cause is always a good start.

If we instill such character in our children and our colleagues, the world will I hope be a better place.

My favourite charity is still the St Vincent De Paul Society CEO Sleepout where we raise funds for the homeless by sleeping as a homeless person for a night.

I am in the process of setting up a foundation for the Edie and Royce Hoy Poy Family. Edie who was a very influential person within the Asian community in Perth passed away last year. She bequested half of her estate for the purpose of setting up a foundation to provide services for Aged care in WA.  I will keep all updated on the work the trustees are doing to make sure that her bequest is benefited  by the old folks of WA for whom Edie had a special place in her heart.

Good night.

Getting the MOJO back

Dear friends and clients,

I have been recalcitrant. I have not been blogging on this blog for a long long time.

The last blog was in June 2011 when I did the CEO Sleepout. My god, that was a long time ago and so much has happened.

Well, the sad news first. My mother in law finally succumbed to her fight with cancer. My time has been spent between ensuring she gets the best treatment and looking after my 2 boys.

Anyway, after a long fight, she passed away in Jan 2012. I supposed many readers may say, what the heck, she was just a mother in law. Well, to me she was very much a person of influence in my 2 boys' lifes. She was in charge of looking after them including driving them back from school while she could.

She lived with me for over 2 years from the date she discovered her fight with cancer. She moved in with her dog, which I had to bury. Her eldest daughter Jenny also moved in. So my mother in law was a huge part of my life. The house was never empty.

And then she passed in her sleep at the hospital and I am getting to have the house without the mother in law, the dog, the sister in law. The last few months before she passed was the hardest.

And then a week later, her grand daughter gave birth to a new boy. Such is the circle of life.

So I hope my readers will understand why I have not been blogging on this blog. I have however been blogging on the http://badmintonwaunder17s.blogspot.com.au/.

My eldest son was in the WA State team that won bronze at the  Australian Under 19s Nationals. He is only 15. My youngest son Tyzton was also in the Under 15s team that made history by winning bronze in the Under 15s nationals last year. He is 13 yrs of age.

That means I have spent lots of time at badminton courts for the last 8 mths. Is that a good excuse for not blogging.

My 2 boys got into the State Under 17s team which will travel to Tasmania in April. My wife being the Umpire will be travelling with them. I am tagging along as the team driver and cook. Sigh, the things we do for our kids. That is where I have been focussing my energies recently leading to a decline in my legal blogging.

Well today, being a Sunday is a usual training day for both of them. However both are injured so they skipped training.  Which meant I had a whole day to myself. But what can you do when it is  40 degrees outside. I finally managed to spend some time reading. I have been reading the E Myth Attorney by Michael Gerber. So many ideas, so many visions. I was inspired.

I know there are lots more to  be done to bring Tan and Tan Lawyers to the next level. I have been inspired to take the next step and I am sure you will hear of our progress.

I will be blogging about recent changes to Landgate's requirements due to identity theft. Keep posted and good night.