Estate planning isn't one document. It's a set of documents that have to agree with each other: a will, powers of attorney, super nominations, trust deeds, company constitutions. Most problems we see aren't a bad will. They're a good will that doesn't match the super nomination, or a family trust whose control nobody planned, or an executor who can't work with their siblings.
This checklist is written for Australians with something to protect: a home, super, a business, a family trust or company, or a family member who needs extra care. Legal documents are prepared by your solicitor. We read them side by side from the tax and structure angle, flag the gaps, and brief your solicitor. It's general information, and the rules vary by state, so check the detail for yours.
What does an estate plan in Australia include?
| Document | What it does | Who prepares it |
|---|---|---|
| Will | Says who receives the assets you own personally, who administers the estate, and sets up any testamentary trusts | Solicitor |
| Enduring power of attorney (financial) | Lets someone you choose manage your money and property if you lose capacity. Ends on death | Solicitor (state form) |
| Enduring guardian, medical decision maker or advance care directive | Covers health, medical and lifestyle decisions. The name and form differ by state | Solicitor (state form) |
| Binding death benefit nomination | Tells your super fund who receives your super and insurance | You, on the fund's form, or a solicitor for an SMSF |
| Family trust deed | Decides who controls the trust after you, usually through the appointor | Solicitor |
| Company constitution and share register | Decides who controls your company and what happens to your shares | Solicitor and accountant |
| Letter of wishes | Explains your intentions to trustees and executors. Not binding | You |
The estate planning checklist
Work through each group. Anything you can't tick is worth raising with your solicitor or with us.
Your will
- You have a will, and you've read it in the last three years.
- It was signed in front of two witnesses present at the same time. In some states a gift to a witness (or the witness's spouse) can fail, so beneficiaries shouldn't witness.
- It reflects your current relationship. Marriage generally revokes an earlier will unless it was made in contemplation of that marriage.
- If you've divorced, it's been updated. Divorce generally revokes gifts to a former spouse, but the rules differ by state. The end of a de facto relationship often doesn't revoke a will at all, which catches people out.
- It deals with your share of jointly owned property, or you know that property passes to the surviving joint owner outside the will.
- It uses testamentary trusts where children or grandchildren would benefit. See our testamentary trust guide.
- It provides properly for any family member with a disability, through a special disability trust where they rely on the Disability Support Pension.
- It names backup beneficiaries if someone dies before you.
- It deals with super paid to your estate, including which beneficiaries should receive it to reduce death benefits tax.
- The original is stored safely and your executor knows where.
Your executor
- You've named an executor and at least one backup.
- Your executor is willing, organised and likely to outlive you.
- Co-executors can work together. If they're unlikely to, you've considered an independent executor.
- Your executor knows where your documents, accounts and passwords are recorded.
Powers of attorney and health decisions
- You have an enduring power of attorney for financial matters on your state's current form, properly witnessed.
- You have the matching health or lifestyle appointment for your state (in some states and territories one document can cover both).
- Your attorneys know your wishes and how your business and trusts work.
- If you're a member of an SMSF, your attorney can step in as trustee or director if you lose capacity. See SMSF incapacity and succession.
- You've signed your super nominations and will yourself while you have full capacity. An attorney can't make your will, and their power to sign super nominations is limited and often contested.
Super and insurance
- Every super account has a nomination, and you know whether it's binding, non-binding or reversionary.
- Binding nominations in industry and retail funds are current. Many lapse after three years unless the fund offers a non-lapsing option.
- Your SMSF nomination complies with the fund's deed, which decides whether it lapses. See SMSF death benefit nominations.
- Nominations name a dependant under super law or your legal personal representative (your estate), not someone the fund can't pay.
- You know who your tax dependants are. Spouses and children under 18 generally receive super death benefits tax-free. Independent adult children usually pay tax on the taxable component, unless they're financially dependent or in an interdependency relationship with you.
- Life insurance outside super has the right beneficiary or passes to the estate as intended.
- Your nominations and will agree. If super is meant to reach a testamentary trust, it's nominated to your estate.
Family trusts and companies
- You know who becomes appointor of your family trust if you die or lose capacity, and the deed allows it.
- Your will deals with any appointor or guardian role the deed lets you pass on.
- Each trustee company has a plan for who becomes director and who inherits the shares.
- Loans you've made to your trust or company are recorded. Money owed to you is an estate asset, and it can cause disputes if nobody knows about it.
- Unpaid distributions owed to you by a trust are known and documented.
- The trust's vesting date is known. Our family trust guide explains why it matters.
- Business partners have a buy-sell agreement, ideally funded by insurance.
Property and ownership
- You know whether each property is held as joint tenants (passes to the survivor) or tenants in common (passes under your will).
- You know the main residence position if the home will be sold after your death. A sale within two years of death is often exempt.
- Records of what you paid for each asset, and improvements, are kept where your executor can find them.
Tax and the 2027 changes
- Assets held on 30 June 2027 have a plan for valuation, because growth before and after 1 July 2027 is taxed differently. See our 30 June 2027 checklist.
- Any pre-CGT assets (bought before 20 September 1985) are identified. From 1 July 2027, growth from that date is taxable. See pre-CGT assets 2027.
- You've considered the proposed 2028 minimum tax on discretionary trusts. It's a Bill, not law, and as introduced it excludes genuine testamentary trusts.
- Your executor knows to lodge a final individual return and, if needed, estate returns.
Special circumstances
- Blended family: everyone you might owe a moral obligation to has been considered, so the estate is less exposed to a family provision claim.
- If you live in NSW or own assets there, you've had advice on notional estate (below).
- A vulnerable beneficiary is protected by a trust, not given assets outright.
- Overseas assets are covered by wills that work together.
- Digital assets, online accounts and the location of passwords are recorded.
How do you choose an executor?
An executor collects your assets, pays debts and tax, and distributes the estate. It's real work, sometimes for a year or more, and it goes badly when the people chosen can't cooperate.
| Option | Works well when | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Spouse | Simple estate, assets passing mostly to them | Age, grief, and whether they can manage the paperwork |
| One adult child | Siblings trust them | Resentment if they also benefit or control trusts |
| All adult children jointly | They get on and live nearby | Deadlock. Every decision needs agreement |
| A trusted friend or adviser | Family friction, or a complex business | Willingness, and fees if they're a professional |
| Professional or statutory trustee company | No suitable person, or high conflict | Fees, usually set by scale or agreement |
Courts can remove co-executors who can't agree and appoint an independent administrator, at the estate's cost. In a blended family, or where children don't get on, an independent executor alongside or instead of family is worth discussing with your solicitor.
What is the NSW notional estate rule?
New South Wales is the only state where a court hearing a family provision claim can treat assets outside your estate as if they were in it. This is called notional estate, under Part 3.3 of the Succession Act 2006 (NSW). It can reach assets you transferred or arranged before death, including super death benefits paid directly to a beneficiary.
| Transaction | Can be designated as notional estate if |
|---|---|
| Within 3 years before death | It was made with the intention of denying or limiting provision for someone who could claim |
| Within 1 year before death | It was made when you had a moral obligation to provide for the claimant that outweighed other reasons for it |
| Taking effect on or after death | For example, super paid by nomination, or jointly owned property passing to the survivor |
NSW courts can apply this to assets outside NSW if you were domiciled in NSW. Blended families and estranged children are the usual setting. If either applies to you, get advice from a NSW succession lawyer. Schemes that try to empty an estate through gifts and loan-backs can be caught by these rules, and we don't recommend them.
How long does someone have to challenge a will?
Every state allows certain people, including adult children, to apply for further provision from an estate. The time limits differ, and they start from different events.
| State or territory | Time limit | Runs from |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | 12 months | Date of death |
| Queensland | 9 months to file (notice within 6 months) | Date of death |
| Victoria | 6 months | Grant of probate or administration |
| Western Australia | 6 months | Grant |
| South Australia | 6 months | Grant |
| Tasmania | 3 months | Grant |
| ACT | 6 months | Grant |
| Northern Territory | 12 months | Grant |
Courts can extend these in some cases. Executors should generally hold off distributing until the period has passed, unless their solicitor advises otherwise.
When should you review your estate plan?
At least every three years, and whenever one of these happens:
- marriage, separation, divorce or a new de facto relationship
- a birth, adoption or death in the family
- a child's own separation, bankruptcy risk or health problem
- buying or selling a business, or setting up a trust, company or SMSF
- a large change in your super or insurance
- moving states or overseas
- a diagnosis that could affect capacity. Act while you can still sign.
- a change in tax law that affects your structures, such as the 2027 CGT changes.
What to send us
- your current will and any codicils
- enduring powers of attorney and health appointments
- each super fund's latest statement and nomination
- trust deeds (with every variation) and company constitutions and share registers
- a list of assets, how each is owned, and any loans to or from your entities
- your family tree, noting blended family, dependants and anyone needing extra care.
How BPAG helps with estate planning
We look at your estate plan the way an executor will have to deal with it: every asset, who controls it, and what tax arises. Our estate planning check agent reads your will, powers of attorney and super nominations side by side and flags gaps and conflicts. Our trust deed agent summarises who controls each trust and what happens on death. Your accountant reviews every finding with you, and nothing is sent to you or your solicitor without a person approving it.
Your solicitor prepares the will, powers of attorney, nominations and any deed changes. Recommendations about super contributions, pensions or insurance come from a licensed financial adviser, and we work alongside them. When it's time to act, our succession and estate planning service brings it together, and our guide to trusts and family law covers what happens to trusts if a child's relationship ends.
Frequently asked questions
Is a will kit or online will good enough?
For a simple estate, everything to a spouse and then to adult children, with no trusts, companies or blended family, it can be. Once super, a family trust, a company, a blended family or a vulnerable beneficiary is involved, the risk sits in what a kit doesn't ask about. Those are the estates where a solicitor's fee is cheap by comparison.
Does super automatically go to my estate?
No. Super is paid by the fund trustee, not under your will. Without a valid binding nomination, the trustee generally decides who receives it among your dependants or your estate. If you want it to reach a testamentary trust, it usually has to be paid to your estate first.
Can my attorney sign a new will or super nomination for me?
No. An enduring power of attorney lets someone manage your financial affairs, but it doesn't let them make your will. Whether an attorney can sign a binding super nomination depends on the power and the fund's rules, and it's often disputed. Make these decisions yourself while you have capacity.
Is estate planning tax deductible?
Generally no. Fees for preparing a will or powers of attorney are private expenses. Tax advice can be deductible in some cases, such as fees for advice on managing your tax affairs from a registered tax agent. Ask us how your invoice should be treated.
Do I need a separate will for overseas assets?
Sometimes. Some countries won't easily recognise an Australian will over local property, and a later will can accidentally revoke an earlier one. If you own property overseas, raise it with your solicitor so the wills are drafted to work together.
What happens if I die without a will?
Your estate is divided under your state's intestacy rules, which set out who inherits in a fixed order. There's no testamentary trust, no chosen executor, and nothing for anyone outside the statutory list. The process is slower and can produce results you wouldn't have chosen.
Official sources
General information only, current as at 18 October 2026. It is not personal tax, legal or financial product advice and doesn't take your circumstances into account. Talk to us before you act. Where a recommendation needs a licensed financial adviser or a solicitor, we work alongside them.