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Wills and estates: A growing practice area post-pandemic
COVID-19 has caused more people to think about their own mortality, according to one wills and estates lawyer.
Lauren Croft
According to Anna Hacker, who is the national manager of estate planning at Australian Unity Trustees Legal Services, wills and estates is one of the most important areas of law, affecting every person at some stage in their life.
“It is also important because we lead complex lives, and this complexity is mirrored in estate planning and administration.
“SMSFs, trusts, blended families – all of these things impact estate planning and how estate administration functions. As such, lawyers almost become counsellors, advisers, confidantes and are often asked to be fortune tellers (which we obviously can’t be!).”
Whilst the Australian legally has broadly moved to online meetings and relies upon technology more than ever due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms Hacker said wills and estates clients are having more trouble than most, particularly when it comes to electronic signatures.
“We’ve had people run out of ink or paper (or both) while printing and older clients have become confused about what they are meant to be signing and where – when usually we would be in the room to help,” she said.
“Clients have also been thinking more about their own mortality and that has led to a huge increase in estate planning work – at Australian Unity Trustees we have seen a 60 per cent increase in some months compared to 2019.
“There has also been an uptick in younger people wanting assistance in creating a Will to make sure their objectives are achieved and wishes followed.”
In addition to challenges created by the pandemic – electric files and online meetings, for example – Ms Hacker said that online or “DIY” wills are becoming an increasing problem for lawyers working in the wills and estate planning space.
“Clients want convenience and efficiency, and this has led to a surge in the number of online providers offering Wills. As lawyers will know, helping a client ‘undo’ a DIY Will can be extremely challenging and we continue to recommend everyone get advice in this area as a starting point,” she said.
“In saying this, we have included an online Will offering in our kit bag though are clear to outline who it is and is not appropriate for. As always, there is a need to justify cost when DIY Wills appear to ‘do the job’ but this is a conversation most estate planning lawyers would be familiar with.”
However, Ms Hacker added that despite the challenges wills and estate planning lawyers are faced with, interest in the area is only continuing to rise – as demonstrated by her podcast.
“Having recognised the increasing interest when doing the speaker circuit, I decided to launch my podcast in 2020 which was inspired by the countless, fascinating conversations I’ve had throughout my career on this topic,” she said.
“Lawyers in this space can help communities by being generous with their time, taking care to explain complex terms and concepts, being available, and encouraging people to get things sorted now, not later.”
Lauren Croft
Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.
