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Estate Planning on the Central Coast
More than a will. Powers of attorney, guardianship, superannuation and the structures that decide what happens if you cannot make decisions yourself.
- Tony Ryan holds a Master of Applied Law in Wills and Estates
- Toukley and Erina offices, members of the NSW Law Society Professional Standards Scheme
- The full picture, not just the will document
Estate Planning Is More Than Just a Will
Most people think estate planning is about what happens after they die. Half of it is about what happens while they are still here but no longer able to make their own decisions. That is the part families get caught by: someone has a stroke or a dementia diagnosis, nobody holds a power of attorney, and the house that needs to be sold to fund aged care cannot be touched. What follows is a tribunal application, months of delay, and cost that a single appointment years earlier would have avoided.
That is what proper planning prevents. Ryan & Ryan builds estate plans for families across the Central Coast that cover both ends: who decides about your money and your care if you cannot, what happens to your superannuation, and how your assets pass without handing your family an argument.
Because our firm also runs contested estates, we plan for what actually goes wrong, and where it helps we will sit down with the family so decisions are understood while everyone is still around to discuss them.
Why Choose Us for Estate Planning on the Central Coast
We plan for what actually goes wrong. Because the firm also runs contested estates, we have seen the failures up close: the attorney who overstepped, the super that went to the wrong person, the blended-family assumption nobody documented.
We look past the will. Superannuation, jointly owned property and assets held in a company or trust often sit outside your estate entirely. A plan that only addresses the will can miss a large share of what you own.
And we can talk to the family. Where it helps, we will sit down with adult children so decisions are understood while everyone is still around to discuss them. Most estate disputes we later see began as a surprise.
Estate Planning Matters We Handle
- Wills, including complex and blended-family arrangements: will planning
- Enduring powers of attorney
- Appointments of enduring guardian
- Advance care directives, sometimes called living wills
- Testamentary trusts
- Superannuation death benefit nominations
- Succession planning for a family business or farm
- Asset protection and structuring for vulnerable beneficiaries
- Aged care and capacity planning
- Reducing the risk of a later claim: will disputes
- If a claim is made after death: estate litigation
How We Build Your Estate Plan
1. Get in touch
Call (02) 4397 1500 or book a time. Come with a rough list of what you own, including super, and who is in the picture.
2. First consultation
We work through your assets, your family, your health and what you are worried about, and identify what is currently unprotected.
3. A clear plan and price
You get a plain-English recommendation covering the will, attorney and guardian appointments, super and anything structural, with reasons.
4. We get it done
We prepare everything, walk you through it, and handle the signing properly. Then we can store the originals.
Estate Planning Across the Central Coast
What Our Clients Say
Reviews from people we’ve acted for, across business, property, estate and family matters.
Estate Planning FAQs
A will deals with your assets after death. Estate planning also covers who makes decisions if you lose capacity, what happens to superannuation, and how assets held in trusts or companies are dealt with. The will is one document within a wider plan.
An enduring power of attorney covers money and property. An enduring guardian covers personal, lifestyle and medical decisions, including where you live and what care you receive. They are separate appointments and you generally want both.
Once someone no longer has the capacity to understand what they are signing. At that point the family usually has to apply to a tribunal instead, which takes time and costs money. If capacity is starting to slip, do not wait.
Often not. Super is usually paid at the trustee’s discretion unless you have a valid binding death benefit nomination in place, and those can lapse. It is one of the most commonly missed pieces of an estate plan.
Nothing removes the risk entirely, because eligible people have a statutory right to claim. Good planning reduces it: documenting your reasons, structuring assets carefully and making sure the will is properly prepared all make a claim harder to run.
Yes, provided there is legal authority to act. If she has capacity, that is straightforward. If she does not and no attorney was appointed, there is an extra step first, and we will explain what is involved.
It depends on how much structure is involved. A will with an enduring power of attorney and enduring guardian is usually quotable as a package. Testamentary trusts, business succession or asset protection cost more, and we will tell you what is worth doing and what is not.
Put your estate plan in place while the decisions are still yours.
One appointment covers the will, the powers of attorney and the questions you have been putting off.