This article was written by Grace Blake Solicitor at W & G Lawyers. For further information about Grace Blake’s professional background, legal experience, and areas of practice, please click on her name to view her full profile.
Every year, Will Awareness Week encourages Australians to consider one of the most important legal documents they will ever sign. Charities run promotions. Free Will kits circulate online. Community tables are set up with printed templates and cheerful brochures.
The message is simple: “Any Will is better than no Will”
We agree that having a Will is essential. However, we respectfully disagree with the notion that a generic, off-the-shelf document is sufficient for most Australians. A Will is not simply a matter of writing down your wishes. It is an act of planning, a deliberate process of reviewing your assets, liabilities, structures, and relationships to ensure that what you have built in life is protected and passed on as you intend.
A Will Is a Plan, Not Just a Document
Estate planning begins long before pen is put to paper. It requires a careful examination of your full financial and personal circumstances, including what you own, what you owe, how your assets are held, and who depends on you. It requires an understanding of your family dynamics, encompassing not just who your loved ones are, but the relationships between them, the obligations you carry, and the risks that exist.
A template cannot ask you these questions. It cannot identify the issues you have not thought to raise. It also cannot tell you when your circumstances call for something more than a standard document.
What a Will kit offers is a form. What proper estate planning offers is a plan.
One Size Does Not Fit All Australians
Free Will kits are built on assumptions. A straightforward scenario involving a married couple, biological children, and assets held solely in individual names. This may have reflected the average Australian family decades ago. It does not reflect the reality of modern Australian life.
Today, families come in all shapes. Blended families, de facto relationships, estranged children, and same-sex partnerships are common. People hold wealth in superannuation, trusts, companies, and jointly owned property. Many have business interests, overseas assets, or dependants with specific financial or personal needs. Others are navigating second marriages, informal caregiving arrangements, or complex histories that a template simply was not designed to accommodate.
A Will kit offers one format for all Australians, at every stage of life, in every family configuration. That is not planning. That is a guess.
Key Risks Free Will Kits Cannot Address
Even setting aside the planning dimension, free Will kits carry concrete legal risks that are worth understanding.
1. Superannuation is not automatically covered by your Will
Superannuation generally falls outside your estate. Without a valid and current binding death benefit nomination, your super fund retains discretion over how your benefits are distributed, regardless of what your Will says. Free kits rarely address this distinction meaningfully.
2. Blended families increase the risks of disputes
Where there are children from previous relationships, new spouses, and shared assets, competing interests frequently arise. A template Will is not equipped to balance these complexities, and may inadvertently increase the likelihood of contested estate claims.
3. Errors in execution can invalidate the Will
Queensland law imposes strict requirements for signing and witnessing a Will. If these formalities are not followed precisely, for example if a beneficiary acts as a witness, the Will may be rendered wholly or partially invalid. Free kits provide limited guidance and no professional supervision to prevent such errors.
4. Certain assets cannot be gifted through a Will
Assets held in trusts, companies, or jointly with others may not form part of your personal estate. Your Will may have no effect on a significant portion of your wealth if these structures are not properly identified and addressed.
5. Wills remain vulnerable to challenge
Even a legally valid Will may be contested under Queensland succession laws by eligible persons, including certain family members and dependants. Careful legal drafting can reduce this risk. A template cannot.
What We Do Differently at W & G Lawyers
When you come to W & G Lawyers for a Will, you are not paying for us to fill in a form. You are engaging us to plan.
We begin by taking the time to understand your circumstances in full, including your assets, liabilities, financial structures, family relationships, and personal intentions. We ask the questions a template cannot, and we identify the issues you may not have considered.
Our services include:
- Reviewing and mapping your complete asset and liability position, including superannuation, trusts, business interests, and jointly held property
- Assessing family dynamics and identifying potential risks of estate claims
- Advising on testamentary trusts where appropriate, particularly for beneficiaries who are minors, vulnerable, or exposed to financial risk
- Ensuring your Will operates effectively alongside your broader estate planning arrangements
- Supervising the execution process to ensure compliance with Queensland legal requirements
- Advising on complementary documents, including Enduring Powers of Attorney and Advance Health Directives
Our focus is not simply to produce a valid Will. It is to ensure your estate plan genuinely reflects your life and protects the people who matter most to you.
The Real Cost of Getting It Wrong
Estate disputes are among the most emotionally and financially taxing legal matters families can face. They often arise during a time of grief and can involve prolonged litigation between people who love each other. Legal costs can quickly escalate into tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, far exceeding any perceived saving from using a free Will kit.
While no Will can entirely eliminate the risk of a challenge, a professionally prepared Will built on genuine planning significantly reduces uncertainty, ambiguity, and the likelihood of disputes. It reflects your true intentions, not a generic approximation.
The cost of preparing a proper Will is modest. The cost of an inadequate one is borne by those you intended to protect.
Will Awareness Week Is a Beginning, Not an End
Will Awareness Week plays an important role in prompting people to take action. If a free Will kit encourages someone to begin thinking about their estate planning, that is a positive step.
However, awareness should lead to informed decisions. For most Australians, the appropriate next step is not to download a template. It is to speak with a lawyer who will take the time to understand their circumstances, review their position as a whole, and ensure their estate plan is properly structured.
A Will is not merely a document. It is a plan for what happens when you are no longer here. It deserves the same care and attention you have given to building your life.
How W & G Lawyers Can Help
At W & G Lawyers, we assist clients across the Logan and greater Brisbane areas in both English and Mandarin. Our Wills and estate planning services are comprehensive and tailored to your individual circumstances.
We can help with:
- Advanced Health Directive
- Enduring Powers of Attorney
- Estate Administration
- Estate Litigation
- Intestacy
- Letters of Administration
- Probate Application
- Testamentary Discretionary Trust
- Wills, including mutual and contractual Wills
Our goal is to ensure your estate planning is legally sound, practically effective, and genuinely aligned with your wishes.
Visit or Contact Us
📍 68 Bryants Road, Shailer Park QLD 4128
📞 (07) 2810 5666
🌐 www.wglawyers.com.au
✉ info@wglawyers.com.au
Disclaimer
The article published by W & G Lawyers is intended to provide general information only and does not constitute legal advice on any subject matter. By accessing or reading this article, the reader acknowledges that no solicitor–client relationship is created between the reader and W & G Lawyers.
The content should not be relied upon as a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified legal practitioner. Readers are encouraged to engage a lawyer to obtain advice tailored to their specific circumstances. You may contact our office or locate a solicitor through the Queensland Law Society online directory at https://www.youandthelaw.com.au/directory
This article does not take into account all potential future legislative amendments, regulatory changes, or developments in case law. Accordingly, the content may not reflect subsequent changes in the law and should not be relied upon as legal advice for any particular situation.
This article will not be updated after publication. Any subsequent developments in the law or legislative changes may be addressed in separate future publications.