Wills
At Johanssen & co we understand that your Will is a critical and personal task. We ensure that when it comes to drafting your final wishes we will exercise the utmost care. Our services include single and mirror wills. If you are unsure which Will is the right one for your please contact our office.
The experts at Johanssen & co meet with you personally to take your individual instructions and discuss with your final wishes in confidentiality. It is up to you to know how you want your estate distributed and up to us to advise you. In the event you are undecided or need guidance on how you wish to distribute your estate we will discuss with you your options. Prior to arranging your second and final appointment we forward to you a copy of your draft Will to ensure the information is precise and your instructions are conveyed correctly. Once you are satisfied with the content of your Will you attend our office to execute your Will in the presence of two witnesses that we provide.
At Johanssen & co we ensure that your Will is valid, effective and that it will operate in the way that you intended. We also guarantee the likelihood of someone challenging your will is reduced. As a result your family members can focus on what is important at the time of your passing.
Johanssen & co also offers to you the option of an Enduring Power of Attorney, Enduring Power of Guardianship and an Advanced Health Directive. We will discuss these options with you at your initial appointment.
Enduring Power of Attorney ("EPA")
An EPA is a legal document that you execute when you are mentally capable and it comes into effect when you are no longer mentally capable. In this document you authorise a person to make decisions on your behalf. These decisions are limited to your finances and your property.
Enduring Power of Guardianship ("EPG")
Your EPG comes into effect when you are incapable of making your own decisions (lack of mental capacity). The document authorises a person elected by you to make decisions on your behalf. The breadth of the elected person’s powers extends to personal, lifestyle and treatment decisions for you. You can grant the elected person limited or extensive powers and you determine the circumstances in which this person acts.
Advance Health Directive ("AHD")
An AHD allows you to make decisions for your own medical and health treatment. An AHD is made by you when you are mentally capable and includes relevant information including your special health conditions, your allergies and any religious, spiritual or cultural beliefs that you abide by that will impact your medical treatment.
Application for Grant of Probate
Where a person has died with a valid Will, the nominated executor is required to make an Application for Grant of Probate at the Supreme Court of Western Australia. The process involves providing the Will and registering the Will with the Court. Only once the Application is approved by the Court the executor can begin to carry out the final wishes of the deceased. We can assist you with your Application for Grant of Probate as well any necessary survivorship and transfer applications.
Application for Letters of Administration (Will Annexed)
Every so often a person dies with a valid will but without an executor. This may be because the executor was not named, the executor passed away, the executor is mentally incapable or the executor is unwilling to make the Application for Grant of Probate. In moving forward an Application for Letters of Administration (Will annexed) is made to the Supreme Court of Western Australia. This Application proposes a new executor for the deceased’s estate.
Application for Letters of Administration
If you have a family member or close friend who has died intestate (without a Will) you will need to hold off on distributing their estate and first following the correct legal procedure. Unfortunately if someone has died without a Will, they have also died without electing an executor for their estate or their beneficiaries. This is the case despite any oral instructions or wishes given by the deceased. At Johanssen & co we assist you in making your Application for Letters of Administration by helping you and your family members nominate a proposed executor and determine the deceased person’s entitled beneficiaries in accordance with in-force legislation. With your assistance we prepare and file your Application at the Supreme Court of Western Australia.