Finance with Don Fraser Fraser Farm Finance

Do you know that more than 50 per cent of those killed in 9/11 had no will? Think about the ramifications for those left behind.

I am a trustee of a farm, where one of the settlers had been advised he had a tumour growing in his head. It is pushing on his brain and will require complicated and very risky surgery. Did this event get their attention and focus or what – it put the blow torch squarely on what had been done, but more importantly, what was not completed.

Interestingly, some of the decisions around asset ownership were more about taxation issues rather than asset protection.
If you have a family trust, attention to it does not stop once the Trust deed is signed. There are a number of things that need to be done annually to ensure the proper management governance of your trust.

The other documentation that must be aligned with your family trust is:
• Your will – your will deals with your personal estate, who is to get what of your personal effects and forgiving debt to the Trust.
• Transferring your power to appoint or remove a trustee.
• Donations, funeral arrangements, etc.
• Memorandum of Wishes – this should have been done when the Trust was formed, but is often overlooked.
It sets out your intentions for the Trust and how you want it to look when you are gone. It is really guidance to your future trustees who should already know what you want anyway. You can change this at anytime.
• Enduring Power of Attorney – you need to have one of these documents signed as well. It covers your personal care and welfare. You are giving a third person (the attorney) the power to act or make decisions on your behalf about your life.

You would generally appoint a close family or friend with your Power of Attorney. It should be somebody whom you trust and know could make objective decisions under pressure.

All this needs to be sorted, approved and formalised by your lawyer. For some reason, many of us avoid the reality of formalising such documents. We will never die, have a stroke, car accident or major accident – yeah right.

Ensure you both have signing rights on all accounts so that in the event of an untimely death, the spouse can access the accounts for money. Ensure the passwords for everything are stored and available and known to both parties. Ensure you have the Power of Attorney for each other, not just your solicitor. It is not until somebody we know well or love, has something go wrong that we look at our own set-up.

Avoiding life's realities and procrastination with regard to adequate estate planning can leave your loved ones and friends in a real mess.

Included in this process should be a meeting with your insurance agent to ensure he has all your bases covered too.

Finally, in my opinion, the best way to get all this sorted, is to call a meeting of your professionals, your accountant, solicitor, trustees, financial advisor and all go through the issues to ensure you have the best estate plan possible for your personal circumstances.

These are the opinions of Don Fraser of Fraser Farm Finance. Any decisions made should not be based on this article alone and appropriate professional assistance should be sought Don Fraser is the Principal of Fraser Farm Finance and a consultant to the Farming Industry. Contact him on 021 777 675.