Why planning is important

Making your will

Planning for end of life, particularly with making and updating a will, can provide peace of mind. That's because a will makes known what your intentions are for distributing your assets.

By documenting and communicating these intentions you can reduce uncertainty or potential dispute with how your affairs are managed by:

• ensuring you have valid documents and instructions in place, and
• nominating responsible people, like an executor and children's guardian, or organisations to carry out those instructions.

Your assets

When making your will it's important to think about your assets. It can help you work out how your estate is to be distributed, and to whom.

It is also important that the person responsible for administering your estate (your executor) knows the details of your assets and liabilities, and where to find those details when the time comes.

Find out what happens to a person's estate if there is no will

Other key documents

But planning for end of life is more than maintaining a valid will, which only takes effect after someone has died. 

Other documents have an impact during your lifetime, if you no longer have capacity to make decisions for yourself. These include:

• Enduring Power of Attorney
• Enduring Guardianship
• Advance Care Directive
• Funeral wishes.