Sun Wills & Estates

Sun Wills & Estates We create estate plans to protect families and build a legacy of love.

06/06/2026

Can you imagine seeing your child going through a heart-breaking horrendous time and you just sit back not helping them?

No? As a mum, I couldn’t either.

As a mum AND estate planning lawyer, I wish other parents understood that if they’re choosing not to have an estate plan then they’re also choosing not to have a plan in place to support their child if the worst happens.

You haven’t nominated who’s going to step in as your child’s guardian. You haven’t planned out finances to cover your child’s education, living costs, housing, or other needs. The person now parenting your child doesn’t have any guidance on how you wanted decisions being made.

Want your child to have a safety net if the unthinkable happens? Please sort your estate plan.

06/06/2026

"When we understand that each day isn't one more day, but one less, we'll start giving more value to the things that truly matter."

Most couples think they're on the same page.And in many ways, they are. They know who they would want making decisions. ...
05/06/2026

Most couples think they're on the same page.

And in many ways, they are. They know who they would want making decisions. They know who they would trust. They know they would want the best for each other and their family.

But when you start getting more specific, things become less clear.

What does quality of life mean to you?
If you could no longer make decisions for yourself, what would you want your future life to look like?
Would you prefer burial or cremation?
Who would you want at your funeral?
What would you want your spouse to prioritise in the months after your death?
How would you want your children to be supported?

These aren't questions that usually make it to a rare child-free evening. So assumptions get made.

Assumptions can leave the people we love in a position where they're trying to make important decisions without knowing whether they're making the decisions we would have wanted. Often they’re also left trying to navigate legal systems and processes without clear guidance.

A Will, Letter of Wishes, Enduring Power of Attorney, and Advance Health Directive are used to document your wishes. These conversations help identify what matters most to you.

Reading this on social media? Using your smartphone? Then this applies to you.We live in a digital world. Your digital f...
30/05/2026

Reading this on social media? Using your smartphone? Then this applies to you.

We live in a digital world. Your digital footprint needs to be considered both if you lose capacity and when you die. It’s something everyone should be planning for.

A “digital estate” is an umbrella term for your digital assets, devices, and accounts.

Virtually every adult in Australia has one.

Think you don’t have much to deal with? Check slide 3. It adds up quickly.

Planning for your digital estate takes time, strategy, and care.

This is not an area to DIY:
🌐 get advice on the right structure for your situation and wishes
🌐 include the right terms in your estate planning documents to enable access where possible
🌐 clearly document your intentions while protecting privacy and security

If you needed to, could you access your spouse’s digital accounts, devices, or files? What about a parent or sibling? And do you actually know what they would want done with their digital presence?

Save this post and start the conversation with your loved ones.

28/05/2026

If you die without a Will, there is still a plan for what happens to everything you own.

It’s just not *your* plan.

It’s a legal formula called the rules of intestacy, and it decides who receives your assets based on a fixed order set by law. Spouse, children, then other relatives. Not based on who you would have chosen, what your family needs, or what your situation looks like.

In some cases, it can mean:
• People you didn’t intend to benefit receive part of your estate
• Blended family dynamics don’t play out the way you expected
• The people you would have trusted to manage things are not automatically in charge
• Delays, added stress, and unnecessary complexity at an already difficult time

This is not unusual. It is the default position when no Will exists.

If you don’t set out your plan, the law will set one for you.

Estate administration is far more complex than most people realise.In practice, the Will is only one piece of a much lar...
24/05/2026

Estate administration is far more complex than most people realise.

In practice, the Will is only one piece of a much larger process.

After someone passes away, families are often left to:
• locate important documents
• identify assets and liabilities
• contact banks, super funds, insurers, and other institutions
• manage utilities, subscriptions, and ongoing accounts
• prove legal authority to act on behalf of the estate
• keep detailed records

Even simple estates involve a significant administrative workload.

And much of it happens at a time when people are already dealing with grief.

A key challenge is that information is rarely centralised. Details are often scattered across email accounts, paper files, banking platforms, and multiple storage locations across devices and cloud services.

On top of this, executors cannot simply step in immediately. They must first obtain the death certificate, then work through formal processes such as probate or letters of administration, while repeatedly verifying authority with different organisations.

This is why even straightforward estates often take a year or more to finalise. The delays are usually administrative, not legal.

When information is missing or hard to find, everything takes longer. More follow ups. More delays. More pressure on the people left behind.

This is why having clear, centralised information makes such a difference.
Not just a Will. A practical roadmap.

It is also why we include our Estate Workbook with our Will Value Packages. It’s designed from real experience working with estates and executors, with structured sections and prompts to help capture the information families need.

The goal is simple. Make things easier for the people you leave behind, at a time when they will need it most.

There’s been a lot of noise lately about Testamentary Trusts after the Federal Budget announcements.And understandably, ...
19/05/2026

There’s been a lot of noise lately about Testamentary Trusts after the Federal Budget announcements.

And understandably, many families are now wondering whether they still have a place in estate planning.

The short answer? Absolutely.

While the proposed changes may impact some tax outcomes in the future, the headlines don’t tell the full story.

For many families, the biggest benefits of a Testamentary Trust have never just been about tax.

They’re about:
• protecting inheritances in family law situations
• protecting vulnerable beneficiaries
• safeguarding children from financial immaturity
• protecting family wealth from business or creditor risk
• creating flexibility for future generations
Importantly, the proposed changes are also not law yet.

The current proposal is intended to commence from 1 July 2028, and there is still significant uncertainty around how the final legislation may look, including how certain beneficiaries and distributions may ultimately be treated.

One thing we do know is this: good estate planning should never be based on headlines alone.

Every family situation is different, and a well-structured estate plan is about balancing protection, flexibility, and long-term outcomes for the people you love most.

A young family. Two children. A growing asset base. Existing Wills already in place.Many young families already have Wil...
17/05/2026

A young family. Two children. A growing asset base. Existing Wills already in place.

Many young families already have Wills. The question is whether those Wills still reflect the level of protection the family needs today and whether they can adapt as those needs change over time.

In this case study, our clients had:
• young children
• a growing asset base
• superannuation and life insurance exceeding $1 million
• an existing estate plan prepared years earlier

On review, their children were set to inherit outright at 18, with no ongoing protective structure around the inheritance. That outcome did not align with what the clients ultimately wanted for their children’s long-term protection.

For these clients, preserving wealth for their children was a key priority.

We restructured the estate plan to incorporate a testamentary discretionary trust designed to provide greater long-term protection, flexibility, and control.

The clients already had documents in place. The revised structure aligned their estate plan with their long-term intentions for their children and assets.

[Names and identifying details changed for privacy. Shared with consent.]

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