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Snapshot

  • Amend trust deeds with caution.
  • Understand your client’s structure when preparing their will.
  • Best practice is to always involve the accountant.

You are acting for the estate of one of your long-term clients, Lily, who died, leaving behind an estate that includes her family home and several investment properties.

You prepared Lily’s will in February 2025 and it all seemed reasonably straightforward—she left the family home to her eldest daughter, Roxy, while the investment properties were to be divided between her two other children, Pearl and Petal. Lily wanted Roxy to have the family home because Roxy had been living with and caring for her in her later years. The family home was an impressive coastal home with spectacular views of the ocean and Lily told you it was worth around $4 million. She believed the investment properties together were worth around $8 million, so Lily was satisfied her three daughters would essentially end up being treated equally.

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