- Home
- Family Law
- Estate Planning
Estate Planning, Wills & Probate Lawyers in Melbourne
Wills that are valid, current and drafted to hold up, estate plans for business owners and substantial estates, and guidance for executors through probate and the administration of an estate. Testamentary trusts, enduring powers of attorney and succession arrangements for a business sit inside the same plan.
- Who we act forWill-makers, executors, families and business owners
- What we handleWills, estate plans and probate
- Our practiceCommercial, family and estate law
A will, a plan, and the estate that follows
For many clients the work is a will: a first one, or an update after a marriage, a separation, a new child or a change in what they own. For business owners and people with substantial estates it is a plan, built across the will, testamentary trusts, powers of attorney and succession arrangements, and around the companies, trusts and superannuation that sit outside the will. For executors it is probate: proving the will in the Supreme Court of Victoria and administering the estate.
We act on all three. The aim is the same each time: documents that do what you intend, that the people you appoint can actually use, and that leave as little room for a later dispute as the law allows.
New wills and updated wills, from a straightforward will to one drafted around the companies, trusts and super you hold.
Preparing a willGuiding executors through the Supreme Court application and the administration of the estate.
Probate and estate administrationTrusts created by your will, for control and protection after your death.
Financial and personal decisions if you lose capacity, with authority set for the business.
Appointing a medical treatment decision maker and making an advance care directive.
Buy-sell terms, shareholder and partnership agreements aligned with your will.
Business lawDeath benefit nominations and SMSF control, which your will does not decide.
SMSF and death benefitsIf a will is challenged or an estate is disputed, our estate litigation team handles it.
Will disputesA will that is valid, current and built to hold up
In Victoria, a will must be in writing and signed by you, or by someone else in your presence and at your direction, with the intention that it be your will. You sign, or acknowledge your signature, in front of two or more witnesses present at the same time, and at least two of them sign in your presence (s 7 of the Wills Act 1997 (Vic)). A will can also be signed and witnessed by audio visual link under the remote execution procedure, carried out on the same day and within Victoria, with one witness being a special witness such as an Australian legal practitioner or a justice of the peace (s 8A).
Where those steps are missed, the Supreme Court can still admit a document as a will if it is satisfied the person intended it to be their will (s 9). That takes an application and evidence, and it invites exactly the argument a properly made will avoids. A will made by a person under 18 is generally not valid (s 5).
A will also needs to keep up with your life. Marriage revokes an existing will unless it was made in contemplation of that marriage, and divorce revokes gifts to a former spouse (see below). A new child or grandchild, the death of an executor or beneficiary, or buying or selling a business or property are all reasons to review it.
If a will is disputed
A carefully drafted will, properly signed and witnessed, with your reasons recorded, is the first protection your family has against a dispute later.
If a dispute does arise, the firm also handles contested estates, including family provision claims and challenges to whether a will is valid.
Your will only deals with what you own
Section 4 of the Wills Act 1997 (Vic) lets a person dispose by will of the property they are entitled to at death, other than property they hold as trustee. That qualification matters more than it looks. A company owns its own assets. A family trust's assets are held by its trustee. Superannuation is held by the fund. What you own is the shares, the units, the loan accounts and the roles, and each of those passes on its own terms.
So the questions that decide most substantial estates are not answered in the will at all. Who controls the family trust after you? Who can appoint a director if you were the only one? Who buys your shares, and at what price? Who decides where your super goes? A plan that answers them has to be built across the will, the trust deed, the company's constitution and agreements, and the fund's documents, together.
The company owns its assets
You leave your shares, not the business. Who controls the company afterwards turns on its constitution, any shareholders agreement and who the other directors are. Where you are the only director and the only shareholder, s 201F of the Corporations Act 2001 lets your personal representative appoint a new director, but that is a fallback, not a plan.
Corporate law and governanceThe trust deed decides control
Control of a discretionary family trust generally follows the deed's appointor or succession provisions, not your will. Where the deed is silent, or its succession clauses were never updated, control can end up with someone you did not intend. Reading the deed is the first step in any plan that involves a family trust.
How family trusts are treatedSuper and joint assets pass directly
Superannuation is paid by the trustee of the fund. Where the fund's rules allow it, a binding nomination under s 59(1A) of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 can direct the trustee, but only to your legal personal representative or your dependants. Property you own with someone as joint tenants passes to the survivor. Neither is dealt with by your will.
SMSF and death benefit disputesWhen the estate includes a business
For a business owner, the estate plan and the business's own documents have to say the same thing. When they do not, the family and the remaining owners find out at the worst possible moment, and the business is usually what pays for the disagreement.
The day after
If you lose capacity, an enduring power of attorney for financial matters lets your attorney deal with your own assets, which can include carrying on a business you run in your own name. Holding office as a director is a separate question, governed by the Corporations Act and the company's constitution. The plan should cover both.
Business lawWho buys your share
A buy-sell agreement sets out what happens to an owner's interest on death, loss of capacity or exit: who buys, at what price, and how it is funded. Without an agreement, a partnership is dissolved by the death of any partner (s 37(1) of the Partnership Act 1958 (Vic)), and a company can find a deceased owner's family on its share register.
When owners disagreeFair to the whole family
Where one child works in the business and another does not, leaving the business to one and other assets to the rest is rarely as simple as it sounds. Values move, and an unequal result invites a claim. The will, the buy-sell terms and any testamentary trust should be designed together so the division holds.
Contested estatesA will does nothing while you are alive
Most estate plans are built around death. The more common problem for a business owner is a period when they cannot make decisions, through illness or an accident, while the business, the investments and the family still need decisions made. Victoria deals with that through two separate Acts, and each needs its own documents.
Enduring power of attorney
Under the Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic) you can appoint attorneys for financial matters, personal matters or both (s 22). Unless the document says otherwise, the power can be used from the moment it is made (s 39), so the choice of attorney and the conditions you set matter from day one.
Conflicts are restricted
An attorney for financial matters generally must not enter a transaction where their own interests, or those of a relative, business associate or close friend, conflict with their duty to you, unless you authorised it in advance (ss 64 and 65). If your attorney is also your business partner, that authority needs to be written into the power.
Medical treatment is separate
Medical treatment decisions are not personal matters under a power of attorney. They sit under the Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 (Vic), which lets you appoint a medical treatment decision maker (s 26) and make an advance care directive (s 12). If you appoint no one, s 55 sets an order of who decides.
Two events that change a will without you touching it
Under s 13 of the Wills Act 1997 (Vic), marriage revokes a will unless the will was made in contemplation of that marriage, or expressed to be made in contemplation of marriage generally. Gifts to, and appointments of, the person you are married to at your death are preserved. A will made before a second marriage may no longer have effect.
Under s 14, a divorce revokes gifts to the former spouse and, with limited exceptions, their appointment as executor or trustee, unless the will shows you intended otherwise. Separation does not. Until a divorce takes effect, a separated spouse can still benefit under an existing will. Separation and divorce
A clear read on what your current plan actually does
Initial consultations are confidential. Bring the documents you have and we will tell you plainly where the plan works, where it has gaps, and what to fix first.
Start with the structure, then the documents
Map what you control
We start with a structure chart, not a will template: what you own personally, what sits in companies, trusts and super, who the other owners are, and what each existing document already says about death and incapacity.
Make the documents agree
The will, any testamentary trusts, the powers of attorney, the trust deed's succession provisions, the buy-sell terms and the death benefit nominations are prepared or reviewed together, so that no document contradicts another.
Record it and keep it current
We record the reasons behind the plan, attend to the evidence of capacity, and tell you which events should bring you back: a marriage, a separation, a sale, a new business partner or a change in the fund.
For executors: from the will to the final distribution
A grant of probate is the Supreme Court of Victoria's grant that proves the will and confirms the executor's authority to administer the estate. The Court can grant probate for anyone who dies leaving property in Victoria (s 6 of the Administration and Probate Act 1958), and on the grant the deceased's real estate vests in the executor as from the date of death (s 13).
Being named as executor does not oblige you to act. You can renounce probate (s 16). If a named executor has neither applied nor renounced within six weeks of the death, the Court can, on application, call on them to show cause why they should not apply for probate or renounce (s 15).
Applying for probate
At least 14 days before applying, the executor must post a notice of intention to apply on RedCrest-Probate, the Court's online probate system. The application is then filed online with a copy of the will and a supporting affidavit, and the original will is filed with the Registrar (Supreme Court (Administration and Probate) Rules 2023, Order 2).
Probate and estate administrationThe executor's role
An executor undertakes to collect the estate and administer it according to law, and must file an account of the administration if the Court or the Registrar requires one (Order 2 of the Rules; s 28 of the Act). An executor is not bound to distribute the estate before one year from the death (s 49).
Timing and claims
A family provision claim must generally be made within 6 months of the grant (s 99). An executor who properly distributes after those 6 months, with no notice of a family provision application, is protected from action by a claimant (s 99A(3)). A claim, or a caveat lodged against the grant (any person may lodge one, s 58), is usually where an estate becomes contested.
Contested estatesA will can be challenged. A plan can make that harder.
In Victoria, an eligible person can apply for a family provision order if your estate does not make adequate provision for their proper maintenance and support (ss 90A and 91 of the Administration and Probate Act 1958). Eligible persons include a spouse or domestic partner, children and stepchildren of any age, and in some circumstances a former spouse or partner, a grandchild or a member of your household. An application must generally be made within 6 months of the grant of probate, although the court can extend that time (s 99).
No will rules that out. What the law does is require the court to have regard to your will, to any evidence of your reasons for the gifts in it, and to any other evidence of your intentions toward the person claiming (s 91A(1)). That makes the reasons worth recording carefully when the will is made, together with clear evidence of your testamentary capacity.
Where an estate is likely to be contested, we plan with that in view: what passes under the will and what does not, how gifts to family members inside and outside the business are explained, and what evidence is kept. When a dispute does arise, our estate litigation team acts on it.
Documents worth gathering
- Your current will and any codicils
- Trust deeds and every variation to them
- Company constitutions and shareholders agreements
- Partnership or buy-sell agreements
- Super fund nominations, and the deed for an SMSF
- Existing powers of attorney and medical appointments
- Any binding financial agreement with a spouse or partner
You do not need all of them before a first meeting. What you cannot find is often part of the answer.
Trusted on the matters that mattered most
After speaking to many law firms, I felt that getting legal help was not for me. But my view completely changed after speaking with Special Counsel Peter Wood. He was knowledgeable, generous, kind, and genuinely caring.
Highly professional, compassionate staff with a high level of knowledge and competence. Reliable, reassuring and there when you need them. Highly recommend.
Questions about wills, probate and estate planning
Last reviewed October 2026. Statutory references are current to the Wills Act 1997 (Vic) version 036, Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic) version 130, Supreme Court (Administration and Probate) Rules 2023 (Vic) version 002, Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic) version 007, Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 (Vic) version 012, Partnership Act 1958 (Vic) version 084, Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth) Compilation No. 131 and Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) Compilation No. 149. This page is general information, not legal advice.
A will, a plan, or an estate to administer.
Whether you need a will, a plan for an estate that includes a business, a family trust or a self managed super fund, or guidance as an executor through probate, arrange a confidential consultation. We will tell you plainly what your documents do now, and what needs to happen next.
Already dealing with a contested estate? See our estate litigation lawyers.
Enquire online
Tell us what is happening.
A few details are enough to start. Keep the full story for the conversation.
- You send the formYour contact details and the area of law are all we need at this stage.
- We review your enquiryOur team reads it and works out who is best placed to help.
- We contact youWe arrange a confidential consultation at a time that suits you.
Your enquiry is confidential. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.