Advertise on podcast: The Art of Estate Planning Podcast

You can draft the most technically beautiful will in the world… and still leave the family with a plan that doesn’t work in reality. In this episode, I’m talking about how to draft a more livable estate plan. We look at the practical questions that can easily be missed: Will the surviving spouse have access to enough cash? Can the guardians actually afford to raise two extra children? Good estate planning is about drafting an estate plan that supports people during the worst time of their life.

Family law and estate planning meet people at some of the most pivotal moments of their lives. Both areas deal with love, heartbreak, money, control, and what happens when expectations and reality collide. Our special guest, Fadzai Mamvura, is a dual qualified family law and domestic violence solicitor with a strong focus on protecting families and safeguarding legacies.In this episode, Fadzai shares her unique insights about the impact of domestic violence and separation on the estate planning process, together with her recommendations for the practical adaptations and considerations estate planning lawyers need to incorporate into their practice. Watch the full conversation on Youtube here.

Ever walked out of a client meeting and suddenly thought… “Oh no. I forgot to ask them THAT?” We’re lawyers, but we’re also human. Some days we’re tired, distracted, sick, coming back from holidays, dealing with kids who didn’t sleep — or our brains simply refuse to fire on all cylinders. In this episode, I talk about why a good estate planning practice shouldn’t rely on you remembering everything perfectly. I share the systems I use to reduce risk, improve consistency and make it easier for your team to deliver great work (even on the days when you’re not operating at 100%). It's not realistic to think you'll never make a mistake. So let's build enough scaffolding around your practice so that you don’t have to rely on memory, energy and sheer willpower to get everything right.

Ever had a client ask for a “bloodline trust”, “protective trust” or some other impressively named structure and quietly wondered whether you’ve missed an entire area of trust law? Good news: you probably haven’t. In this episode, I unpack some of the marketing terms that get thrown around in estate planning and asset protection and bring them back to the legal fundamentals underneath. If a fancy trust name has ever triggered your imposter syndrome, this episode will help you strip away the marketing and get back to the questions that really matter: who are the beneficiaries, what are they entitled to, and who actually controls the trust? The resources mentioned in this episode are: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Master Wealth Control Pty Ltd [2024] FCA 344 (9 April 2024)

Did the Federal Court just reheat Richstar 20 years later? In this podcast episode, I'll discuss the Federal Court decision of Filippini v Keystone Asset Management Limited and the orders the court imposed on the assets of a discretionary trust relying on the 20 year old Richstar decision. I'll share my thoughts on what this means for structuring the control of discretionary trusts for maximising asset protection and whether this erodes the centuries old principles of trust law. The decisions mentioned in this episode are: Filippini v Keystone Asset Management Limited (Receivers and Managers appointed) (in liquidation) [2026] FCAFC 71 Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Carey (No 6) (2006) 153 FCR 509 Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v Vasiliades [2014] FCA 1250

Capital reserved testamentary trusts sound like the perfect compromise: let a spouse benefit from the income while preserving the underlying inheritance for the bloodline. So why don’t I like them? In this episode, I unpack what a capital reserved testamentary trust actually is and why I think the strategy can undermine the very asset protection it is designed to achieve. This one gets a little technical, but if you prepare testamentary trust wills, it’s worth understanding what sits underneath the strategy before you use it.

When a relationship breaks down, the family law issues understandably take centre stage. But while everyone is focused on property settlements and parenting arrangements, the estate plan can becomes a major risk. In this episode, I unpack why updating the estate planning documents is a vital part of the separation process. Download the free conversation template to help your clients here.

Sometimes a client stalls on their will, ghosts you completely, or suddenly has a reaction that feels wildly out of proportion to what’s actually happening. In this episode, I’m joined by family business psychotherapist Tom Skotidas from Everpath to explore the emotional and psychological dynamics that can sit underneath estate planning and succession decisions. We talk about why wills can surface decades of family history, when a client’s behaviour might be a sign that something deeper is going on, and how psychotherapy can complement the work of lawyers, accountants and advisers. If you’ve ever had a client who was “almost ready” to sign… and then disappeared, this episode will give you a completely different lens on what might be happening.

Need an easy way to explain testamentary discretionary trusts to your clients? This episode is a plain English introduction designed specifically for clients who want to learn more about TDTs. Estate planning lawyers, accountants and financial advisers are welcome to share it as a pre-meeting resource to help clients understand the fundamentals about TDTs. We cover what a testamentary discretionary trust is, how it works, the key benefits, and the situations where it can add real value. The purpose is to empower your clients to understand how a TDT could help their loved ones and have a clear idea of whether it's something they want to explore in their estate plan.

One hundred episodes in, I wanted to do something a little different. In this milestone episode, I’m reflecting on the lessons that have genuinely changed the way I think about estate planning after nearly 18 years in practice, five years of the TT Precedents Club, and hundreds of conversations with lawyers around Australia. If there’s one theme running through all ten lessons, it’s this: estate planning is never static. The law changes, clients change, technology changes - and we should too. Thank you for listening, learning and growing with me for 100 episodes. I’m very grateful you’re here.

A will is an essential piece of an estate plan. But it can't capture a lifetime of stories, values and the moments that shaped who you are. In this episode, I'm joined by Karren from Forever Told to explore the idea of preserving the why behind an estate plan. We discuss the difference between a legal will and an ethical will, why storytelling can become part of a family's legacy, and how recording your values and life lessons can be just as meaningful as passing on your wealth. Because the greatest inheritance isn't always measured in dollars. Sometimes it's the stories, wisdom and memories that help future generations understand where they came from—and why the decisions in your estate plan mattered. Explore the Ethical Will demonstration discussed in this episode in The Professional Lens, Issue 01. Through a fictional family farm case study, it shows how families can preserve their stories, values and the reasoning behind succession and inheritance decisions.Get complimentary access to The Professional Lens, Issue 01 here.For the example of how a family explains the why behind its estate decisions, skip to page 25.

Elder abuse remains one of the most pressing issues in succession and protective law. This webinar examines how abuse manifests, how it can be detected, and the remedies available to safeguard vulnerable individuals. Our special guest, MaryAnn de Mestre will unpack real-world scenarios of financial exploitation, misuse of powers of attorney, and failures of guardianship systems. Gain insights into how forensic strategies can be used to trace, recover, and protect misappropriated assets, and how the law can better respond to abuse that is often hidden or ignored. This episode is a must listen if you want to understand how to identify red flags, pursue remedies, and strengthen protective frameworks — ensuring the rights and dignity of older persons are preserved. Watch the full conversation on youtube.

Marketing can feel like a dirty word for lawyers. But if you're running a law firm (or hoping to one day), it's one skill you can't afford to ignore. In this episode, I share exactly how I'd market an estate planning law firm if I was starting from scratch today. We cover everything from referral relationships and networking through to social media, email marketing, SEO, paid ads and building systems that keep working long after you've switched your laptop off. The biggest takeaway? Don't try to do everything. Choose a strategy that plays to your strengths, speaks to your ideal client, and is sustainable enough that you'll actually stick with it. Because the best marketing plan isn't the fanciest one—it's the one you'll still be doing a year from now.

When a client has significant wealth, it's tempting to think they simply need a more expensive version of your standard estate plan. In reality, high net worth estate planning often requires a completely different mindset. Existing trusts, companies, SMSFs, shareholder agreements, business succession, family offices, philanthropic structures and multi-generational wealth all mean the strategy can look very different to your typical estate planning matter. In this episode, I share the key considerations I work through when advising high net worth clients, from collaborating with accountants and financial advisers, to protecting family wealth across generations, tailoring governance structures, managing project scope and knowing when a matter has outgrown your comfort zone. If you're ready to step into more sophisticated estate planning work, this episode will help you think beyond the will.

Australia is in the middle of a once-in-a-generation wealth transfer. But when we prepare wills, how often do we help clients think beyond the default option of leaving everything to family? At the end of the episode, I’m joined by Myles Kehoe from Variety Queensland to share a charity’s perspective on bequests, and why it matters when lawyers take the time to raise the conversation. I also discuss the findings in the JBWere’s Bequest Report and explore why charitable giving deserves a more intentional place in the estate planning conversation. You can access the report here.