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22 January 2025
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Do what you want with your estate but there can be challenges in a court. Older people are vulnerable and they can tell people what they want to hear, but carers can also be successful over family beneficiaries.
The final act in the Colleen McCullough drama was a messy court case pitting her former husband against a Foundation, and featured unreliable witnesses the court did not trust.
Carers may have a legitimate claim to an estate even if the deceased suffered from dementia when making a subsequent will. The Court seeks to establish whether testamentary capacity was disabled.
The success of this claim on John Hemmes' estate and the unexpected amount involved provides a reminder to ensure you have a robust estate plan in place.
Part 2 in this series on estate planning focuses on wills. What a will can and cannot achieve, its objective, how wealth is transferred, and the importance of keeping things up-to-date.
Death and taxes might be two of life's certainties but you can influence how they impact you. While estate planning might be awkward, don't put it off until it's too late.
Many children have more money than their parents ever had, but when providing financial assistance, consider all possible scenarios and document intentions to avoid pain if relationships deteriorate.
The majority of people who contest a will in court or by mediation succeed in changes being made. Is this unfair or do family members have an entitlement to ‘family money’ at the expense of the deceased’s wishes?
Last year, I wrote an article suggesting returns from ASX stocks would trample those from housing over the next decade. One year later, this is an update on how that forecast is going and what's changed since.
The housing market was subdued in 2024, and pessimism abounds as we start the new year. 2025 is likely to be a tale of two halves, with interest rate cuts fuelling a resurgence in buyer demand in the second half of the year.
This examines the performance of key asset classes and sub-sectors in 2024 and over longer timeframes, and the lessons that can be drawn for constructing an investment portfolio for the next decade.
The renowned investor has penned his first investor letter for 2025 and it’s a ripper. He runs through what bubbles are, which ones he’s experienced, and whether today’s markets qualify as the third major bubble of this century.
Key lessons include expensive stocks can always get more expensive, Bitcoin is our tulip mania, follow the smart money, the young are coming with pitchforks on housing, and the importance of staying invested.
Check out the most-read Firstlinks articles from 2024. From '16 ASX stocks to buy and hold forever', to 'The best strategy to build income for life', and 'Where baby boomer wealth will end up', there's something for all.