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Three Essential Estate Planning Documents
to Have Ready for the New Year ​

WILLS AND ESTATES

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A new year is the perfect time to reset the essentials: your health, your finances and your legal documents. If you want to protect your family and your assets, the most practical starting point is ensuring your estate planning documents are current, valid and suited to your circumstances today, not five or ten years ago.

Many people assume most Australians have completed their estate planning. The data suggests the opposite. NSW Trustee and Guardian reported that its 2023 research found 60% of NSW residents do not have a legal Will. A national survey published in 2025 reported 54% of Australians surveyed said they had a Will, which implies 46% did not.

The gap is even larger for lifetime decision-making documents. The Australian Human Rights Commission reported in 2024 that 87% of adult Australians have not set up a financial enduring power of attorney.

These figures explain why Wills and powers of attorney remain some of the most important documents to organise at the start of the year, particularly for families, property owners, business owners and anyone in a blended family situation.

HQF Lawyers assists clients across Queensland and New South Wales, including the southern Gold Coast (Coolangatta) and Northern NSW (Tweed Heads and surrounds). It is important to understand that estate planning documents are state-based. The concepts are similar, but the forms, witnessing rules and even the document names can differ.

Queensland and New South Wales use different documents

  • In Queensland, the key lifetime documents are typically an Enduring Power of Attorney and an Advance Health Directive using Queensland-approved forms.
  • In New South Wales, financial decisions are usually managed through an Enduring Power of Attorney, while health and lifestyle decisions are commonly handled via an Appointment of Enduring Guardian (often alongside an Advance Care Directive for treatment preferences).

1) A current Will that reflects your life right now

Your Will is the foundation of any estate plan. It sets out who receives your assets, who will administer your estate (your executor) and what happens if key beneficiaries predecease you. A properly drafted Will can also reduce the risk of family conflict, clarify intentions and streamline the estate administration process.

Why it matters

Without a valid Will, your estate is distributed under intestacy laws. That can produce outcomes that do not reflect your wishes, particularly for blended families, de facto relationships, family businesses and situations where you intended to provide for specific people or charities.

A well-structured Will can also address

  • Guardianship nominations for minor children
  • Specific gifts of sentimental items
  • The orderly distribution of property, savings and investments
  • Business succession considerations
  • Practical protections for vulnerable beneficiaries (where appropriate)

Common New Year triggers to update your Will

  • Marriage, separation, divorce, a new partner, or a blended family situation
  • A new baby or changes to guardianship preferences
  • Buying or selling property
  • Starting, restructuring or selling a business
  • A major change in wealth, debts, or intended beneficiaries
  • A dispute or breakdown in family relationships that changes risk

2) Decision-making while you are alive: Enduring Power of Attorney

Estate planning is not only about what happens when you die. It is also about what happens if you are alive but cannot manage decisions due to accident, illness, travel, or loss of capacity.

An Enduring Power of Attorney lets you appoint one or more trusted people to make decisions on your behalf. In Queensland, an enduring power of attorney can cover financial matters and personal or health matters (depending on how it is drafted and completed). In New South Wales, an enduring power of attorney is primarily used for financial and property decisions.

Why it matters

People often mistakenly believe their loved ones can automatically make decision but without the right power of attorney in place, they commonly need to apply to a tribunal or court to be appointed to manage your affairs. That process can be time-consuming, expensive and stressful, particularly during a health crisis.

A properly drafted power of attorney can help your attorney:

  • Pay bills and manage banking
  • Deal with Centrelink, the ATO and other agencies
  • Buy, sell or manage property (if authorised)
  • Operate or stabilise a business
  • Handle urgent decisions when you are unavailable or unwell

Mistakes that cause real problems:

  • Appointing the wrong person, or appointing multiple attorneys without clear decision-making rules
  • Not clearly stating whether attorneys act jointly or severally and when
  • Not considering conflict risk (for example, appointing someone with financial pressure)
  • Using the wrong state form, or signing and witnessing incorrectly
  • Drafting authority that is too vague to satisfy banks and third parties

Important cross-border point: If you live in Coolangatta but own assets in Tweed, or you have family across the border, your documents should be prepared with your actual asset profile and risk in mind. Queensland and New South Wales requirements are not identical, so your plan should be drafted accordingly.

3) Health planning: Advance Health Directive and Enduring Guardian.

This is the area most people postpone, but it is often the area that causes the most distress for families when a crisis arrives.

  • A Queensland Advance Health Directive allows you to record wishes about future medical treatment and end-of-life care, including situations where you cannot communicate or do not have decision-making capacity. This document can reduce uncertainty and conflict by giving clear direction to decision-makers and treating teams.
  • In New South Wales, health and lifestyle decisions are commonly managed through an Appointment of Enduring Guardian. It authorises someone to make lifestyle, health and medical decisions for you when you no longer have capacity. Many NSW clients also choose to document treatment values and preferences through an advance care directive process, particularly if they want clarity beyond the appointment itself.

Practical tip: Your health planning documents should align with your financial decision-making documents. The goal is clarity: who decides what, when they can act, and what your wishes are. In Queensland, an Advance Health Directive can also interact with the way personal and health matters are handled under an enduring power of attorney, so consistency is critical.

A quick checklist to make sure these documents work when needed

Even if you already have a Will and powers of attorney, a short review can uncover issues that cause major problems later.

Review your appointments

  • Are your executors, attorneys and guardians still the right people?
  • Do they live locally, have the capacity to act and understand the role?
  • Are there changed relationships or conflict risks that should be addressed?

Review your assets and structure

  • Have you bought property, started a business, separated, remarried, or changed your financial position?
  • Do your superannuation nominations and insurance arrangements align with your estate plan?

Review your risk profile

  • Is there a realistic risk of an estate dispute or family provision claim?
  • Are there beneficiaries who need additional safeguards due to age, disability, addiction, bankruptcy, or poor money management?

A tailored estate planning strategy may be appropriate in more complex situations, but these three document categories are the baseline for most adults across Queensland and New South Wales.

Disclaimer
The contents of this article are considered accurate as at the date of publication. The information contained in this article does not constitute legal advice. Readers should seek legal advice about their specific circumstances. 

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Frequently asked questions

A sensible rule is to review your Will every two to three years and immediately after any major life event such as marriage, separation, a new child, a significant purchase or a death in the family.

Templates often fail in practice, especially when banks, land titles offices and superannuation funds scrutinise validity, execution and authority. If the document is not correctly drafted or witnessed, it may be unusable when needed most.

No. Accidents and illness do not follow a schedule. Every adult should have an estate plan that covers both death and incapacity.

Speak with an estate planning lawyer on the Gold Coast and Northern NSW

If you want peace of mind going into the new year, start with these three documents and make sure they are properly drafted for Queensland and New South Wales requirements.
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