Determine the Beneficiaries

If the deceased left behind a valid Will, which clearly outlines all Beneficiaries you should

• find out their relationship to the deceased;
• find out their contact details;
• reach out to inform them of the death if not already done and that you are the Executor as per the Will or as agreed with the other Executors (see Step 5.6 – Will with multiple Executors) or renouncing Executorship (see Step 5.7 – Resign as Executor or Administrator);
• organise a meeting with all Beneficiaries to discuss the Will;
• inform the Beneficiaries of the other Beneficiaries; and
• inform the Beneficiaries about your plan and setting expectations about time-frames.

You can download the simplyEstate Beneficiary Inheritance Guide to help inform Beneficiaries of the work you are doing as the Executor to successfully administer the deceased estate. You want to secure their support and cooperation as early as possible.

You may also need to find out if there were other relatives that were left out of the Will as they may still have a right to claim from the estate. See Step 13.4 below for more details.

There may be instances where multiple Wills or multiple versions of Wills are presented. It will be crucial to determine which of the Wills is the one with the latest date and is valid. Where a testator (deceased person who made the Will) has multiple Wills with different Executors and/or Beneficiaries listed, this may lead to a dispute and possible claim by an Executor and/or Beneficiary that was left off a later Will.

If this is the case, you may want to seek help by an experienced estate lawyer to understand your options before notifying the Beneficiaries. It helps to ask for specific support to ensure you are aware of the legalities and options. This will allow you to be a well-informed Executor that anticipates possible disputes and can stay in control of the situation.

To keep things simple, simplyEstate has partnered with Trusted Partners across Australia in your State/Territory as listed in the yellow section to the right or below.

Where the deceased died intestate (without a Will), the Relevant Legislation in each State/Territory will determine who the Beneficiaries are and how much inheritance from the estate they may be eligible to.

If this is the case, it is strongly recommended that you seek legal advice to understand all laws that apply to your situation before notifying the Beneficiaries. Asking for experienced support ensures you are aware of all legalities and what to look out for. This will allow you to be a well-informed Administrator that anticipates possible disputes and can stay in control of the situation.

simplyEstate has partnered with Trusted Partners across Australia in your State/Territory.

Where no Will is available or was not valid, the intestate rules as outlined for each relevant State/Territory will help you get a rough understanding who may be an eligible Beneficiary for inheritance.

Intestate Beneficiary Assessment Tool

The following Intestate Beneficiary Assessment Tool will give a general indication about which Beneficiaries may be eligible and how the estate may be distributed as inheritance. Simply answer a few questions and email your result by completing your details below and clicking send.

It is important to make sure you have identified all eligible Beneficiaries early on, as you will need to understand who to communicate with throughout the process and work with them on some decisions and other administration aspects.

Some situations in which you may require you to look further than the immediate family or beyond the Will are:

• The deceased may have had multiple relationships (married or de-facto) who were previously named in a Will and later removed;
• The deceased may have a maintenance agreement in place; or
• The deceased may have also had children with other spouses or partners or children that are unknown to the family.

Once you have a clear picture of who the Beneficiaries are as per the Will, the intestacy rules in the relevant State/Territory or any other legislation/rules that apply to your situation, you should inform and meet with the Beneficiaries.
If the family and Beneficiaries are generally amicable, then a meeting with all at once may be the easiest option as everyone hears the same information.

If some relationships are strained, it may be necessary to hold individual meetings with some Beneficiaries that cannot or would not meet with other Beneficiaries. If this is the case we recommend you hold meetings with Beneficiaries first that you know best to learn about how to best structure the meeting.

For such important meetings it will most likely be best if you:

• Notify each in writing about the death;
• Inform them that they were identified as a Beneficiary;
• Request their presence at a meeting at a specified date, time and location;
• Provide an agenda;
• Discuss how the home clearance will be organised (see Step 16 – Clear the Home or Residence); and
• Provide the simplyEstate Beneficiary Inheritance Guide.

Building and maintaining a solid relationship with the Beneficiaries will be greatly valuable as you work through the deceased estate administration.

If the communication and meeting with Beneficiaries identifies financial dependence or other difficulties resulting from the death that you didn’t know of before, you should refer to Step 9 – Request Allowances & Government Support again to see whether or not there may be support available for that individual.

A relative or person deemed eligible to be a Beneficiary, can contest a Will or Intestate estate by lodging a claim within a certain period (mostly six months) of the date the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration or the date of death.
If the claimant is unable to do so within this timeframe, some state legislation allows to apply for an extension so long as the application is lodged within that specified period.

This is something you should keep in mind and will be discussed again towards the end before you finalise and distribute the estate in Step 34.