Have you ever been given an instruction from a client that just didn't work from a legal perspective? This episode looks at how to help the client fit that square peg instruction in to the round hole of thier will.

In this episode we take a look at how and what we exchange with our clients, and think about some of the ways that we can increase that level of exchange to create more impact.

This recent case involves a very poorly drafted and ambiguous will. We take a look at the clauses that caused the problems and review the court's analisis so that we can avoid similar situations that we might face when drafting our client's wills.

In this episode, we take a look at the ademption of gifts in a will. What types of gift can adeem and how to avoid giving your client the wrong advice about the legacies they would like to leave.

The central point of this case was whether the intention of the settlor in creating a trust had been one thing or another. Or, if there had been two purposes, does it make a difference whether one is more significant than the other. 

Survivorship clauses are commonly applied to wills made by couples so that if they die together or within a short period of time, the estate of the first to pass does not go to the survivor but goes to the substitute beneficiaries directly. This episode looks at the occasions when this is beneficial and when it is not.

This case is a rare example of the courts having to potentially apply the Commorientes rule for a situation in which there is uncertainty about which of two people passed away first. 

I share a personal story to start off this episode, as it helped me to bring some clarity to my own functions and activities as an estate planner. We then look at how the same principle applies with clarifying your client's purposes.

In this episode, we take a look at one form of promotional activity for estate planners - networking - to explore the effective methods of generating new leads, and some key errors to avoid. 

In this episode, we take a look at some of the different hats that we wear as estate planners and the occasions when mixing up the hats can lead to unnecessary problems.