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Wills & Estates
Services Perth
EJ Wall & Associates can help you with all legal matters surrounding wills, estates, probate and deceased estate administration in Perth, Western Australia. Please contact us for more information.
Wills Perth
"A legal Will gives you peace of mind that your family and loved ones will be taken care of."
What is a Will?
Why should I make a Will?
Important issues relating to your will and your estate
Can I prepare my Will without the assistance of a lawyer?
Can I use AI to prepare my Will or do my own legal work?
What is a Will?
A Will is a legal document that sets out who is to take charge of your assets and who is to receive your assets on your death.
Home Visit Wills
For enquiries please contact us by clicking on the booking form below.
EJ Wall & Associates operates a 'mobile' service where we are able to come out to you, at your convenience, for a home visit or meeting at a predetermined location for those that cannot travel to our premises. Note that a travel levy will apply.
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Why should I make a Will?
Many Australians die without making a valid Will. There are many good reasons to make a valid will. Here are the three most important:
1
You decide who receives your assets. In making a will you nominate your beneficiaries. That is you decide who is to receive what assets and in what percentage.
If you die without a will then the law in Western Australia says that you have died “intestate”. That means that your assets will go to the persons specified in a table set out in the Administration Act. The formula in the table can be quite arbitrary. For example – your lifelong spouse, or partner, may not receive all of your assets as you had intended.
If you wish to receive further information about who will receive your assets if you die without a Will in Perth, please contact our Lawyer Ed Wall for no obligation, free telephone advice.
2
You decide who will control and/or manage your assets. In your Will you will appoint a person to control and manage your assets on your death to ensure that your beneficiaries receive the assets that you intend. This person is known as your “Executor” and “Trustee”.
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Your Executor and Trustee can be a family member, a friend whom you trust, or a professional. A beneficiary of your Will can also be an Executor or Trustee of your Will and in many circumstances it is appropriate to appoint such a person. Sometimes, depending upon the circumstances, it is not wise to appoint a beneficiary as Executor or Trustee as this could lead to a “conflict of interest”.
For further information on Wills and on whom you should appoint as the executor of your Will, contact our lawyer, Ed Wall for no obligation, free telephone advice.
3
You save legal and administration costs avoid or / and minimise taxation liabilities.
A properly prepared Will, validly executed (signed and witnessed) will usually save legal and administration costs on your death.
Also, a carefully prepared Will, prepared in consultation with your accountant or financial advisor, can result in the lawful avoidance or minimisation of tax liabilities.
For further information regarding Wills in Perth, contact our Principal and Family Lawyer, Ed Wall for no obligation, free telephone advice on +61 412 891 034
"It is important to ensure that your Will is valid under Western Australian law to avoid further legal costs to your estate."
Important issues relating to your Will and Estate
1
Not all of your assets will necessarily pass under your Will. For example – if you and your spouse\partner have registered real estate in your names as joint tenants, or hold bank accounts in your joint names, these assets will pass to your surviving spouse/ partner automatically upon your death by what is known as “survivorship”, they will not pass under your Will. If you have registered significant assets as a “joint tenancy” with a spouse or partner and you do not want that spouse or partner to receive your share of the asset upon your death, then you may need to seek urgent legal advice.
2
If you divorce your spouse after making a Will the whole of your Will may be invalid unless you have specified in your Will that it will remain valid and effective after such divorce.
3
If you marry after making a Will the whole of your Will be invalid unless you have specified in your Will that it is to remain valid and effective after such marriage or there is other evidence to indicate that this was your intention.
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There are very strict requirements in making a valid Will and how that Will is executed (signed and witnessed). If those requirements are not complied with, there is likely to be substantial legal costs and delay in relation to your estate. If you have made your own Will and are not sure whether it has been prepared validly or executed validly under Western Australian law, please contact our lawyer Ed Wall for non obligation, free telephone advice.
"For a simple standard Will, the legal costs are not significant."
Can I prepare my Will myself, without the assistance of a Lawyer?
Yes you can – but there is significant risk, that despite your best efforts, the Will you have prepared may not be completely legally effective to give effect to your intentions. Further, it may have been executed invalidly (incorrectly signed and/or witnessed). ‘Will Kits’ can be purchased from many newsagents and they can be used at a low cost but come with similar risks as to validity issues and mistakes as to your intentions.
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If you have prepared your own Will and are not sure whether it has been prepared validly or executed validly, please contact our lawyer Ed Wall for non obligation free telephone advice.
For a simple standard Will, or a simple standard partners Will, the legal costs are not significant (and can be less than taking your family to a nice Perth restaurant). The legal costs of a Lawyer in preparing a Will in Perth will almost certainly be substantially less than the extra and unnecessary, legal costs incurred for your estate (not to mention the extra delay) if you have prepared your Will invalidly or it was executed invalidly.
For further information on Wills in Perth contact our Principal and Family Lawyer, Ed Wall for no obligation, free telephone advice on +61 412 891 034
"Why risk it when the modest cost of getting it right the first time, with a qualified, insured professional, is almost always smaller than the cost of unwinding a mistake nobody caught until it was too late."
Can I use AI to generate my Will or do my own legal work?
AI tools like ChatGPT Claud and Copilot sound confident, but confidence isn't the same as accuracy or competence. These systems are well known to hallucinate, generating fake case law, fictitious legislation, and plausible-sounding errors with complete certainty. AI cannot replace a lawyer's training, judgement or accountability. People representing themselves with AI-generated research are now realising, often too late, that generic AI tools are not yet anywhere near competent enough to accurately and reliably carry out legal work. Researchers have tracked more than 80 Australian court cases involving generative AI, including litigants who lost arguments, had evidence rejected, or were ordered to pay the other side's costs, simply because the "law" their AI tool produced wasn't real or the AI missed something critical (and often, obvious to a professional).
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The same risk runs through tax and accounting work. The Australian Taxation Office has repeatedly warned that AI tools often draw on overseas rules or outdated information, producing advice that's simply wrong under Australian law and you remain personally accountable for the outcome no matter where the advice came from.
In estate planning, the stakes are higher again. A Will or enduring document is usually only tested once you've died or lost capacity, by which point it's far too late to fix a missed witness, an unclear clause, or a Western Australian legal requirement a generic, globally-trained AI tool was never built to recognise. Why risk it when the modest cost of getting it right the first time, with a qualified, insured professional, is almost always smaller than the cost of unwinding a mistake nobody caught until it was too late.
For further information on Wills, Estate Planning and Administration contact our Principal and Family Lawyer, Ed Wall on +61 412 891 034