77980 Estate and Retirement Planning

Description

Estate planning is an integral step in the process of assisting individuals, families and businesses implement strategies to aid in the management of wealth accumulation, wealth preservation and wealth transfer. An estates practice extends beyond the traditional focus of inheritance planning and managing the impact of death and taxes on families to a focus of wealth preservation for retirement planning. Therefore a range of professionals and occupations are engaged in the estate and retirement planning process to implement strategies to aid a client in the management of wealth accumulation, wealth preservation and wealth transfer upon death.

This subject provide students with an understanding of the Australian estate planning framework, the theoretical concepts as well as practical insights underpinning the process of estate and retirement planning. Students learn how to establish and manage an estate planning client relationship; understand the differing classes of assets that can (and those assets that cannot) pass through a deceased’s estate including the taxation and capital gains tax consequences that may arise; learn the role of an executor and the process of administration of an estate; have the opportunity to analyse the inheritance laws of Australia for people who die intestate (without a valid Will) and appreciate the difference between simple Will structures and complex Wills involving testamentary trusts. Students learn strategies that are available to manage the challenges that pose to clients’ wealth during family breakdowns and on how to manage the risks of a client’s decline in cognition and mental incapacity.

By studying this subject, students are given opportunities to learn how to provide estate planning advices for a range of family dynamics and family situations that an estate planning professional would deal with.