Have you got your house in order? Start with these 5 keys!
1. Update your Will I'm assuming you have a Will. If not, you need to get one, and you need to do it now. It can be quite simple if your family situation is simple. The trouble is, most people have complicated situations - maybe in a second relationship, kids with different partners. The kids are going to love it if you leave it all up to them to sort it out once you've gone! 2. Get Enduring Powers of Attorney When you die its easy (as long as you've got a Will that is current). But what if you lose your marbles but are still with us? That is very messy. Nobody can access your bank accounts. Nobody can deal with your property. Everything is hamstrung. But the bills keep rolling in! Fix this by getting Enduring Powers of Attorney in place now. 3. Check your loans Do you know when your loan or loans come off their fixed rate? Have you thought about this at all, because if you haven't and you are on the floating rate, you could be giving money away. Do you know what the rates are for different periods? Should you do Interest Only (if that is an option) or Principal and Interest? You need to get your head around all of this so you can relax. 4. Sort your structures Current cafe talk is that Trusts are a waste of time. That is rubbish. There are still plenty of reasons why a Trust might be right for you. Granted, sometimes it is not necessary. But you need to have a look at your asset ownership structures. Do you face any sort of risk - maybe business risk, or relationship risk? If you might do, then you should have a close look at what you can do about it. It could be a Trust, but maybe not. It could be that the shareholding of your company needs to be adjusted, but maybe not. Maybe you should have a Relationship Property Agreement in place. Or not. Who owns your life insurance policies? You might think it is picky asking this, but that depends on whether your family would like to be paid quickly if you die. Its important. At least look at these things. Especially now. 5. Are you compliant? Does your house have a Code Compliance Certificate? If you decide to sell in a hurry you will need this. Is that right of way you use correctly shown on your title? Ditto. You do not want things like this to scupper a sale, especially if you need it to happen quickly - if you are under pressure to sell, for example, or if you want to sell and buy somewhere else. None of these things are big insurmountable problems. But you will be able to rest easy once you are on top of them. Because, let's face it, there are plenty of other things that could go wrong in this crazy world right now that might need attention. We can help you with all of these things. Please call/text Russell on 0274876808 or russell@queenstownlaw.co.nz or Claire at claire@queenstownlaw.co.nz
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