Estate Planning: Making Sure Your Financial Plan Protects What Matters Most

Last Updated: September 16, 2026

Building wealth is only part of the financial planning journey.

At Veyron Wealth Group, we spend a lot of time helping clients build, protect and manage their wealth throughout their lifetime. But there is another important question that is sometimes overlooked:

What happens to everything you’ve worked hard to build when you’re no longer here?

Estate planning is about making sure your financial affairs are structured in a way that supports the people and causes that matter to you, while giving you greater certainty about what happens to your wealth in the future.

A good estate plan can help provide clarity around who receives your assets, who manages them, how they are managed and what happens if you become unable to make financial or personal decisions yourself.

Importantly, estate planning is not something your financial adviser does alone.

Veyron does not prepare or draft wills or provide legal advice. We work with you from the financial planning perspective to identify what your estate plan may need to achieve and how your existing financial arrangements fit together. Where legal work is required, we can refer you to an appropriately qualified estate planning solicitor.

That means your financial plan and your legal estate plan can work together rather than being treated as two completely separate things.

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What is estate planning?

Estate planning is the process of deciding what you want to happen to your assets, financial interests and personal affairs if you die or lose the capacity to make decisions for yourself.

Your estate may include:

But one of the most important things to understand is that not everything you own necessarily passes through your will.

For example, superannuation generally requires separate consideration of your beneficiary nominations. The ownership structure of investments, companies and trusts can also affect what happens to those assets when you die.

This is where financial planning and estate planning need to work together.

Your will is only one part of your estate plan

A will is an important legal document, but it is only one component of a broader estate plan.

Depending on your circumstances, your estate plan may also involve:

The right structure will depend on your circumstances, your assets, your family and what you are trying to achieve.

There is no one-size-fits-all estate plan.

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Where your financial adviser fits in

Your solicitor is responsible for providing the legal advice and preparing the appropriate legal documents.

Our role as financial advisers is different.

We look at your estate planning from the perspective of your overall financial plan.

For example, we may identify that you have:

These issues can then be discussed with your estate planning solicitor so the legal documents can be prepared with your broader financial circumstances in mind.

We don’t write the will. We help you work out what the will and broader estate plan may need to achieve.

Testamentary trusts

One strategy that may be considered as part of an estate plan is a testamentary trust.

A testamentary trust is established through a person’s will and generally comes into effect following their death. Rather than assets passing directly to a beneficiary, assets can be held and managed by a trustee for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries.

This can provide greater flexibility around how an inheritance is managed.

For example, a testamentary trust may be considered where:

A testamentary trust is not automatically appropriate simply because someone has substantial wealth.

It introduces additional complexity, administration and costs, and the benefits need to be considered against those factors.

How a testamentary trust differs from a standard inheritance

With a straightforward inheritance, assets may ultimately pass directly to a beneficiary, giving them control over the assets.

With a testamentary trust, the assets are instead held within a trust structure and managed by a trustee according to the terms established in the will.

That can provide additional flexibility around when and how beneficiaries receive income or capital.

However, the effectiveness of a testamentary trust depends heavily on how it is legally structured and administered.

This is why the drafting of the trust provisions is a matter for an estate planning solicitor.

Our role is to help identify whether a testamentary trust should be considered as part of the overall financial strategy and to work with the solicitor to ensure the financial circumstances and objectives are understood.

Tax considerations

Estate planning can have important tax consequences.

For example, the sale or transfer of investments following death can involve capital gains tax considerations. Superannuation can also have different tax consequences depending on who receives the benefit and how it is paid.

A testamentary trust may also provide particular tax planning opportunities in some circumstances, including the way income can be distributed among eligible beneficiaries.

However, a testamentary trust does not automatically save tax.

The tax treatment depends on the circumstances, the assets involved, the beneficiaries and how the trust is administered.

Where specialist tax advice is required, we can work alongside your accountant and estate planning solicitor.

Our objective is not simply to create a complicated structure.

It is to determine whether the structure serves a genuine purpose within your overall financial plan.

Protecting an inheritance

For many families, estate planning isn’t just about who receives the money.

It is about how that money is protected and managed once it is received.

For example, parents may want to provide for their children but have concerns about a child receiving a substantial inheritance at a young age.

Other families may have concerns relating to:

A properly structured trust may provide additional protection or control in some circumstances.

However, asset protection is not absolute and the legal effectiveness of any structure depends on the circumstances and how it is established and operated.

These are matters that should be addressed with an appropriately qualified solicitor.

Superannuation doesn’t automatically follow your will

One of the most common areas we discuss with clients is superannuation.

Your superannuation is generally not simply distributed according to the instructions contained in your will.

Instead, the rules of the superannuation fund and the beneficiary nomination arrangements need to be considered.

This is particularly important where you have:

As part of your financial plan, we can review your superannuation beneficiary arrangements and identify whether they appear consistent with your broader estate planning objectives.

Where changes to legal documents or nominations require specialist advice, we can coordinate with your solicitor.

What happens if you lose capacity?

Estate planning isn’t only about what happens when you die.

It is also about what happens if you are alive but can no longer make important decisions yourself.

Depending on your circumstances and where you live, documents such as an enduring power of attorney and other arrangements may be important.

Without appropriate arrangements, your family may face significant difficulty accessing accounts, managing financial affairs or making decisions on your behalf.

These arrangements are legal matters and should be prepared with appropriate legal advice.

From a financial planning perspective, we can help identify the practical issues that may need to be considered and ensure your financial arrangements are understood by the people who may ultimately need to manage them.

Estate planning and your family

Estate planning becomes particularly important when your family circumstances are complex.

For example, you may have:

The objective isn’t necessarily to divide everything equally.

It is to ensure your wishes are clearly considered and that the legal and financial structures supporting those wishes are appropriate.

This is where having your financial adviser, accountant and solicitor working together can be extremely valuable.

Estate planning isn’t set and forget

Your estate plan should change as your life changes.

Major events that may justify reviewing your estate planning include:

A will that was appropriate ten years ago may no longer reflect your circumstances today.

The same applies to your superannuation nominations, ownership structures, insurance and broader financial plan.

How Veyron can help

Estate planning is one part of a much bigger financial picture.

At Veyron, we can help you understand how your estate planning objectives fit with your:

Investments

How your investment portfolio is owned and what may happen to those investments when you die.

Superannuation

Whether your beneficiary nominations are consistent with your broader estate planning objectives.

Insurance

Whether sufficient life insurance and other protection is available to provide for your family or meet specific obligations.

Cash flow

Whether your family would have sufficient liquidity to meet expenses, debts and other obligations following your death.

Tax

Identifying potential tax considerations associated with your investments, superannuation and estate structures and working with your accountant where required.

Family structures

Considering the financial implications of blended families, children, trusts, businesses and other complex circumstances.

Retirement planning

Ensuring your estate planning remains consistent with how you intend to use and preserve your wealth throughout retirement.

We then work with your professional team, including your accountant and estate planning solicitor, where appropriate.

Veyron doesn’t write your will — we help you make sure your financial plan is ready for it

Your will is a legal document and should be prepared by an appropriately qualified legal professional.

At Veyron, our role is to look at the bigger picture.

We can help you identify the financial issues that should be considered as part of your estate plan, explain the potential financial consequences of different approaches and work with your solicitor and accountant so that your legal, tax and financial strategies are aligned.

If you don’t currently have an estate plan, we can help you understand where to start.

If you already have a will, we can help you review whether your broader financial arrangements still align with your intentions.

And if your circumstances are more complex, we can refer you to an estate planning solicitor who can provide the legal advice and prepare the appropriate documents.

Because building wealth is important. But making sure it ends up where you want it to go is part of the plan too.

Start the conversation

If you would like to understand whether your current financial arrangements are consistent with your estate planning objectives, speak with Veyron Wealth Group.

We can help you understand the financial considerations, identify areas that may need attention and, where appropriate, work with your solicitor and accountant to help put the pieces together.

Your wealth. Your family. Your future.

Let’s make sure the plan covers all three.

Get A Free Consultation

General Disclaimer

The information contained in this article is general in nature and provided for information purposes only. Any references to investment returns, performance, asset classes or market conditions are not intended to constitute personal financial advice. While reasonable care has been taken in preparing this material, no liability is accepted by Veyron Wealth Group or Count, its related entities, agents or employees for any loss arising from reliance on this information. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance and investment returns are not guaranteed. Clients need to assess the appropriateness of any information in light of their individual circumstances, consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statements (PDS) and other disclosure documents, and obtain personal financial advice prior to making any investment decision.

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