Assets That Do Not Form Part of Your Estate

Your Will controls the property that is included in your deceased estate. Your deceased estate is made up of all of the property that you owned individually at the time of your death. When determining whether you own an asset individually at the time of your death, we must look at the asset closely to decide.

Jointly Owned Assets

If any of your assets (eg. your house) are owned by you and your spouse together as joint tenants then the asset will not be included in the estate. When a joint tenant of a property dies then the person’s interest in the property passes automatically to the surviving joint tenant, assuming they meet a given set of rules for survivorship.

However, if you own property together with another person as tenants in common then your share or interest in that property will be controlled by your Will. There is no right of survivorship associated with a tenancy in common. Therefore if one party to the co-tenancy dies, the property does not pass to the other co-tenant.

Life Insurance

When you set up a life insurance policy you also nominate a beneficiary. Generally the proceeds of a life policy are paid directly to the beneficiary, without any need to be included in a Will.

If you wish for your life insurance benefits to be controlled by the terms of your Will then you need to nominate your estate as the beneficiary of your policy.

Superannuation

Superannuation is not an asset of a person’s estate. That comes as a surprise to most people. Funds held in superannuation for payment as a death benefit will, in most cases, be distributed by the superannuation fund directly to a spouse or children of the deceased. The superannuation trustee will be responsible for this determination.

If you would like to find out more on how assets such as these might be dealt with or about your rights and obligations, Straits Lawyers are here to help. Simply send us an email at info@straitslawyers.com or give us a call on 8410 9069 to arrange an appointment for an interview.

Alternatively if you would like your Will to be drafted, Straits Lawyers are now offering online Will services. To access these services, simply click on the link – https://straits-lawyers.square.site/product/online-will-/1?cs=true

Please note that this article does not constitute legal advice and Straits Lawyers will not be legally responsible for any actions you take based on this article.