Create your Simple Will
Information you need to create your Affordable Wills NSW Online Questionnaire-Generated Simple Will.
(Explanations appear below and in our FAQs)
(Scope of Engagement - what is and isn’t included appears below).
1. How many Executors and Substitute Executors you wish to appoint to administer your Simple Will.
Our Affordable Wills NSW Online Questionnaire-Generated Simple Will allows for up to 4 Executors and up to 2 Substitute Executors.
2. Whether your executors should be appointed jointly or severally.
3. Details of your Executors including Full Name, Address, Occupation and Date of Birth of each Executor.
4. Details of Guardians of your minor children
(if relevant), including Full Name, Address, Occupation and Date of Birth.
Our Affordable Wills NSW Online Questionnaire-Generated Simple Will allows for up to 2 Guardians.
5. Description of any specific gifts you wish to leave to any Beneficiary and the Full Name, Address, Occupation and Date of Birth of that Beneficiary.
Our Affordable Wills NSW Online Questionnaire-Generated Simple Will allows for up to 6 Specific Gifts.
6. Details of your Beneficiaries including Full Name, Address, Occupation and Date of Birth of each Beneficiary.
Our Affordable Wills NSW Online Questionnaire-Generated Simple Will allows for up to 6 Beneficiaries.
7. Percentage of your Estate you wish to leave each of your Beneficiaries, for example, as equal shares or 15% or 25% or 40% of your Estate- the final total of percentages should add up to 100%.
8. Details of your Residual Beneficiaries including Full Name, Address, Occupation and Date of Birth of each Beneficiary.
9. Details of any charity you wish to name as a residual beneficiary.
Estate Planning and Wills - FAQs
Executors
What is the role of Executor of my Will?
An Executor is the Person or persons you appoint in your Will to follow the directions you leave in your Will. Your Executor identifies all the assets of the Estate and applies to the Supreme Court of NSW for Probate. When granted Probate, the Executor then becomes the legal owner of the assets owned by the Will-maker when they died, pays the required debts of the Will-maker and then passes these assets to the beneficiaries of the Will according to the directions of the Will, and manages the final taxation obligations of the Will-Maker, including lodging the final Tax Return.
What are Beneficiaries in a Will?
Beneficiaries are persons named in your Will to receive gifts from your Estate.
What are Residual Beneficiaries?
These are the persons or entities who can receive gifts from your Estate if the first-named persons or entities are deceased or not in existence at the time of gifting the benefit.
Executors
Who should I appoint as Executor?
Someone trustworthy and able to fulfil the obligations of the Executor role.
Appointing more than one Executor is often a good idea as they can share the responsibilities. When appointing more than one Executor, you need to decide whether they are to act:
Jointly, meaning agree on all decisions,
or
Severally, meaning each can act independently of the other.
Jointly is almost always a better choice.
There are very few reasons to appoint more than one person to a position Severally, and doing so can cause chaos in the administration of your Estate and disputes between the persons you appoint.
Appointing one or more substitute Executors is also a good idea. These are the persons that can step into the role if one or more of the appointed Executors is unable or unwilling to accept the role at the time of the Will-maker’s death.
What is a Specific Gift in a Will?
These are described gifts such as jewellery or shares in a company that you may wish to leave to a particular Beneficiary. However, if this specific item does not exist as part of your Estate, depending on the wording of the gift in the Will, it either fails (law of ademption) or the estate may be forced to purchase the item to satisfy the gift.
What is a Will?
A Will is a document that, when you die, directs how you want your estate to be gifted and by whom.
It is like a rule book or roadmap for your Estate.
Your Estate is the assets you own when you die, after any necessary debts have been paid.
A Will can only gift what you own in your own name when you die. This means that assets owned in a Trust or by a Company can’t be gifted in a Will (di Trapani v di Trapani [2026] QSC 26).
A Will should clearly identify the Will-maker (Testator),
A Will should appoint one or more Executors of the Estate, clearly identify the beneficiaries of the Estate and direct which assets or proportion of the Estate each Beneficiary is to receive.
A Will can also include an Appointment of Legal Guardians for your child or children under the age of 18 years, if the other parent of the child or children has pre-deceased you or is legally unable to be a Guardian.
What details are needed in a Will to leave a Gift to Charity?
The charity needs to be clearly identified and not confused with any other organisation. Include an ABN or ACN, the full name and address of the charity, and even a brief description of the organisation or the part of the organisation you wish to benefit.
Charity websites often have suggested wording for a bequest.
What is included in a Simple Will
with our Affordable Wills NSW Online Questionnaire-Generated Simple Will?
Scope of Engagement
Included
A Simple Will generated directly from the answers you provide in the online questionnaire.
Review of the Affordable Wills NSW Online Questionnaire-Generated Simple Will by an Estate Planning Solicitor for legal compliance.
Review of the signed Affordable Wills NSW Online Questionnaire-Generated Simple Will by an Estate Planning Solicitor for legal compliance ONLY where the signed Simple Will is emailed to info@affordablewills.com.au after signing.
Information on signing and storage of your Will, including who can and cannot witness your signing of your Simple Will.
What is not included in a Simple Will
in our Affordable Wills NSW Online Questionnaire-Generated Simple Will?
Not included
Your Affordable Wills NSW Questionnaire Generated Simple Will is reviewed for Legal Compliance, but as your Simple Will is generated automatically from the answers you provide in the questionnaire, the following is not included in the scope of service:
o Legal advice of any kind.
o Legal advice on Family Provisions Law.
o An Estate Plan. Affordable Wills NSW Online Questionnaire-Generated Simple Will is not an Estate Plan.
o Any information or advice in relation to Australian Taxation Laws including Capital Gains Tax and Superannuation Death Benefits Tax.
o Review of your Life Insurance for Estate Planning purposes.
o Review of your superannuation or BDBN [Binding Death Benefits Nominations] for Estate Planning purposes.
o Review of the information you have provided in the Questionnaire which generates your Will. It remains your responsibility to ensure the details provided are accurate and up to date.
o Verification of the identity of the Will Maker, also known as the Testator.
o Verification of the capacity of the Will Maker at the time of signing.
o Storage of your original signed Will.