Section 4: How to access legal and financial advice
Finding a lawyer
Lawyers may be very good at giving legal advice regarding making a will or establishing a trust but less knowledgeable at understanding the needs of people with disability and the current situation regarding social and disability services. When trying to find a lawyer appropriate to your needs it is useful to ask other families, or people you know who are in a similar situation to yours, how they have gone about finding a lawyer and if they have a recommendation.
If you are not able to get a recommendation, some states and territories have legal centres which specialise in providing services to people with high support needs. Their contact details are on the contacts page. However, most states and territories do not have these centres, so contacting a Community Legal Centre or the Law Society where you live may be the best place to start.
If your lawyer is not familiar with advising on issues related to the area of disability and estate planning for a person with high support needs, you may need to educate him or her. If you have a well-developed plan you can tell the lawyer about the things in your plan that you won’t change and the things that you need advice on.
Once you have worked out a structure with your lawyer, ask the lawyer’s advice on whether you should seek further financial planning advice.
Information to take to the lawyer
Your information:
- full name, address and occupation;
- full names and ages of children;
- what the situation is in life (marriage, children, work status and occupations, housing) of your children without disability;
- if you are setting up a trust to operate while you are alive, your social security status;
- approximate value of your assets: your house, other financial assets, expected superannuation, etc;
- if making a will, how you would like to split your assets among the potential beneficiaries;
- if setting up a trust to operate while you are alive, how many assets you want to put into the trust;
- whether your house need to be kept for the person with disability;
- who you would like to appoint as trustees;
- whether you want to provide for pay for the trustees;
- whether there are any particular things you want to give to anyone; and
- whether you want to nominate who should be appointed as guardian or financial manager for your son or daughter with disability, if he or she ever needs one?
Information about the person with disability:
- type and degree of disability, care and accommodation arrangements: at home, within a system, other service providers;
- how secure these arrangements are and how long they are likely to last;
- what degree of support is required and where you expect that will come from;
- social security arrangements and how much they are relied upon;
- assets owned by the person with disability in his or her own name; and
- could he or she make a will.
Finding a financial planner
Knowing who to trust to assist you in making financial plans can be a major source of anxiety for family members. Knowledge about disability and issues related to future planning may not be in the range of expertise of many planners. If you decide with your lawyer that you would benefit from advice from an accountant or financial planner, and you do not already have a relationship with such a person, a good starting point is to ask around amongst other families in your situation and amongst your networks to find out if they have information or advice in this area. They may be able to recommend you to someone.
Most financial advisers have limited knowledge about the issues facing a family who are providing for a family member with high support needs. When choosing a financial adviser, ask about their personal experience with advising people in your situation. The Financial Planning Association of Australia can assist you in finding an accredited planner in your area. Their toll free number is included in the contacts list at the back of the booklet. They do not, however, have information about a planner’s expertise in the area of planning and disability.
You could contact the Australian Securities and Investment Commission by visiting their website, emailing them at infoline@asic.gov.au or phoning 1300 300 630, and asking for a free copy of their ‘Getting Advice’ booklet.
Apart from taking your plan to the adviser, think about what sort of income you would need to generate in order to provide for a family member with high support needs into the future. Also take information on what other benefits a person is eligible for and accommodation options that will help the adviser develop a financial plan that clearly responds to your needs.