Cost disclosure + terms for estate planning

Packages

Essential

$990 individual / $1650 couple

This package includes the below documents, a strategy and recommendation meeting and tailored advice about your superannuation death benefit nomination/s:

  • Standard will
  • Enduring power of attorney
  • Medical treatment decision maker appointment
  • Pro forma letter of wishes

Premium

$1980 individual / $3300 couple

This package includes the below documents, a strategy and recommendation meeting, tailored advice about your superannuation death benefit nomination/s, a meeting to explain how the testamentary trust works and to answer any queries and liaising with your financial planner/account:

  • Testamentary trust will + explanatory document (recommended for estates over $1m, business owners or those with asset protection concerns or where there is a vulnerable beneficiary)
  • Enduring power of attorney
  • Medical treatment decision maker appointment
  • Pro forma letter of wishes

Add-ons

Blended family/leaving someone out

I or my partner have children to a previous relationship/want to leave someone (spouse, children, step-children, someone that lives or lived with me/us) significantly less than others/no provision

$550

Life tenancy/right to reside

I want to allow someone to live in my property for life or a defined period but want the property to pass to someone else thereafter.

$550

International Will

I have assets in another country and want my will to be easily administered there

*only available in participating jurisdictions

$440

Special Disability Trust or Protective Trust

I have a beneficiary who suffers from a disability/vulnerability and want their share to be able to go to a special disability trust/protected trust.

Standard Will – special disability trust only

$550

Testamentary Trust Will – special disability trust and protected trust

$950

Self Managed Superannuation Fund

I have a controlling interest in a SMSF – we will review the deed and make sure your super ends up with who you want

$440 (individual trustee)/$660 (corporate trustee)

Company/Trust

I have a controlling interest in one of these assets and will need you to review the seminal documents to provide me with advice (cost per company or trust)

$440 (individual trustee)/$660 (corporate trustee)

Interpreter

I come from a non-English speaking background and will need an interpreter (the appointments will be longer and additional documents will need to be drawn for the interpreter to sign) OR I will require an affidavit of due execution by my lawyer attesting to my knowledge and approval of the documents due to illiteracy/inability to sign/health matters

*does not include interpreter's fees

$250

When do you pay?

You can make an appointment with one of our estate planning lawyers here. The fee for this meeting is $450 which is included in our package fees (plus an additional $150 if you choose an evening slot). This will be invoiced following the conference, with the remainder of the quote to be paid into our trust account, prior to the documents being prepared. If you cancel or reschedule within 3 days, a $100 fee will be charged.

Terms and Conditions - Nest Legal
Terms and Conditions
Topic Clause
Terminology
1.All references to 'Nest Legal', 'we', 'us' or 'our' refer to Nest Legal ACN 619 351 398
2.All references to 'you', 'your' or 'yours' refer to you as our client, or any other entity we specify as being our client.
3.All references to 'our services', 'our scope of work' or 'our scope of work and pricing' means the scope of work and any prices indicated, as provided by us in this document and as varied by us, in writing.
Acting Jointly
4.Where we are acting for two people (including two entities) together, the terms of our costs agreement apply to both parties, jointly.
5.Any communications with us must include both parties as our joint client. Our duty of confidentiality applies to both parties as our joint client, which does not prohibit us from disclosing information to one party that has been provided to us by the other.
6.If at any time your interests are not aligned or you wish to communicate with us unilaterally in confidence, we will need to stop acting for both of you immediately.
7.If we believe at any time we can no longer act for you jointly, we will inform both parties, and the terms of our engagement will cease immediately.
8.If we stop acting for you, you will each need to obtain separate legal advice from different law firms which will increase your costs (in addition to any costs we may charge for our work completed up until the termination of our engagement in accordance with this document and our scope of work).
9.If we stop acting for you, you remain responsible for all fees and disbursements which have been reasonably incurred in accordance with our scope of work and we will issue an interim invoice for any outstanding fees for the work completed until the date of termination of our engagement.
Storage of Documents
10.If you choose to post your Wills to us for storage, Nest Legal is not responsible for any loss or delay caused by Australia Post.
11.We will not be liable for any direct or indirect loss or damage resulting from use of our free Will storage service, including should there be fire or water damage.
12.We reserve the right to transfer the documents to any law firm that succeeds our practice (including any firm that purchases our practice).
Notification of Document Storage Location
13.Any storage of your signed documents by us is 'passive', and we are not required to check death notices or inform other parties of the location of your documents, unless specifically requested in accordance with the process below.
14.It is your responsibility to notify your family, executors and attorneys that you have chosen to store your original estate planning documents with our firm and we are not responsible for contacting them at the time of receiving your original documents for storage nor at the time of your death or incapacity.
Release Procedure
Identification Requirements
15.To release your original documents from our storage, the following identification process must be followed by the requesting party:
(a) any request via post or email must be confirmed via phone call by a member of our firm; and
(b) the requesting party must provide certified copies of photo identification, or meet with us in person and present original photo identification.
Request By You
16.In addition to the above identification requirements, when requesting release of your original documents, you must provide a signed authority (using a template provided by us) confirming the exact documents you wish us to release.
17.Where your contact details have changed from those we have on file, extra identification steps may be required by us at our discretion to confirm the authenticity of the request.
Request By Your New Lawyer
18.In addition to the above identification requirements, any law firm requesting documents we hold for you (whether original or copies) must provide the following:
(a) a signed authority (on terms acceptable to us) from you, confirming:
(i) that you have appointed the new law firm to act as your agent in relation to the release of documents we hold for you;
(ii) the exact documents you are requesting for release; and
(b) a warranty, or wording to the effect, that they have verified your identify to their satisfaction and indemnifying us (including our successors, employees and agents) from any loss associated with releasing the documents.
Request By Your Executor/Attorney
19.In addition to the above identification requirements, any person requesting documents we hold for you (whether original or copies), must provide a signed authority (on terms acceptable to us), confirming:
(a) their authority for requesting the documents (for example, if they are your executor, they must provide a death certificate); and
(b) the exact documents they are requesting for release.
20.Please note that attorneys are usually not entitled to take possession of an original will, although they may be entitled to a copy. It is our standard practice not to release original wills to attorneys.
21.In accepting the terms of this costs agreement, you consent to us releasing a copy of your will to your attorney where we deem it appropriate.
22.Any request by an attorneys for the release of your original enduring power of attorney, (even where the power for financial matters is stated to commence 'immediately'), is at our discretion and subject to any further enquiries we wish to make regarding the appropriateness of releasing the documents.
Costs of Release of Original Documents
23.We may charge a fee for the costs associated with retrieving, compiling and sending your original documents. While this fee may vary depending on actual costs at the relevant time, at today's date, this fee would be approximately $20 per individual that we hold documents for.
Costs of Electronic Copies of Documents
24.Our scope of work includes providing you with electronic copies of any documents prepared by us and signed by you, once, at the completion of the matter.
Joint Parties
25.Where the documents are owned jointly, all owners must consent to the release of any original documents.
26.Where we have acted for your jointly with another party, we reserve the right to inform each party that you have requested release of any original documents (even if those documents relate solely to you).
Non-original documents
27.Where you have provided hard copies of documents to us (which are not originals), you confirm that we are allowed to destroy these copies and retain an electronic record of those documents only.
Liaising with Third Parties
28.Where you consent (either orally or in writing, including via email), for us to communicate with a third party, you agree for us to continue communications for anything in relation to the provision of our services.
29.Such third parties include, for example, your financial planner, accountant, other lawyers or medical professionals (agents).
30.Where we have been communicating exclusively through an agent of yours, you consent to let us provide and complete the services through that agent.
31.In accepting the terms of this document, you confirm that your agent acts on your instructions and has all required authority to:
(a) accept notices on your behalf (where relevant);
(b) in relation to assisting us with providing our services:
(i) communicate with us and provide us with instructions on your behalf (where relevant);
(ii) provide us with instructions, information and source materials relating to you; and
(c) communicate with us (including the transfer of any documents) electronically.
32.You will provide notice to us in writing if you no longer wish for us to communicate with your agents.
Legal Professional Privilege
33.In accordance with legal professional privilege, all communications between you and our law firm are generally protected and confidential. However, it is important to note that this privilege may be lost if privileged information is shared with third parties who are not protected by this confidentiality, such as your agents.
34.While your agents play a key role in managing your assets, their involvement does not extend the same legal protections afforded to your communications with our law firm. Therefore, any discussions or documents shared with your agents may be discoverable by third parties, including in legal proceedings.
35.We strongly recommend consulting with us before sharing any legal advice or privileged communications with your agents to ensure your confidentiality is maintained.
Limitation of Scope
36.In addition to any of the limitations described in this document and any separate communications confirming our scope of work, our scope of work does not include any of the following:
(a) the validity or appropriateness of any trusts or the terms of any trust deed provided to us, other than in respect of your estate planning;
(b) the validity or appropriateness of any self managed superannuation funds or the terms of any fund deed provided to us, other than in respect of your estate planning;
(c) where you have superannuation interests in a superannuation fund that is not a 'self managed superannuation fund' (sometimes called 'public offer funds', 'industry funds' or 'retail funds'), our work does not include reviewing the terms of your membership in the superannuation fund (including the trust deed terms, their product disclosure statement or other governing documents);
(d) advice about whether a nomination in relation to your superannuation benefits is binding on the trustee of the superannuation fund, nor whether the nomination is lapsing (regardless of whether we have assisted you with completing the form issued by the superannuation fund to make the nomination or not);
(e) to update any nominations relating to your superannuation benefits after our engagement has ended or inform you that a change is required to your nominations where the nomination may have lapsed or expired, or where the nomination is no longer appropriate in the context of your circumstances or those circumstances of your beneficiaries;
(f) superannuation advice, other than in relation to making a nomination for the payment of your superannuation proceeds on your death;
(g) financial advice. Financial advice should be obtained by you from a licensed financial adviser to ensure that any proposed recommendations by us have been considered from a financial planning perspective;
(h) asset protection recommendations for family law or bankruptcy exposure;
(i) tax planning recommendations and tax advice;
(j) advice in relation to stamp duty costs or consequences;
(k) advice in relation to land tax costs or consequences;
(l) property valuation advice;
(m) family law advice;
(n) advice in relation to the appropriateness, quantum and ownership structure of any life insurance;
(o) advice in relation to managing any anticipated inheritances;
(p) advice in relation to business succession;
(q) advice in relation to accessing or maintaining social security benefits;
(r) how any assets you own outside of Australia will be managed. Our advice is limited to how Australian assets are managed under Australian law.
37.If you wish to receive advice or assistance in relation to any of the above, please contact us for a referral to an appropriately qualified professional.
38.In addition to any of the limitations described in this document and any separate communications confirming our scope of work, we are not responsible for:
(a) reviewing or reminding you to review your estate planning documents after any documents prepared by us have been signed;
(b) diarising the lapsing date of any superannuation nominations or reminding you that your superannuation nominations need updating; or
(c) obtaining the signatures of any person who is not our client, including the acceptance of any attorneys in documents we have prepared for you.
39.Any communications we may send to remind you of the above is a courtesy only.
Changes to Scope of work
40.Our scope of work and pricing is provided to you based on the information you have provided to us at the date of this document and the instructions you provide to us before drafting any documents.
41.Where additional background information is provided to us, or your instructions change during the course of our engagement, additional costs may be incurred. Examples include:
(a) background information not provided to us prior to our scope of work being issued;
(b) disclosure of additional assets not known by us at the time our scope of work is issued;
(c) changes to initial instructions after any documents have been drafted, including:
(i) updating any names, addresses or other details incorrectly provided to us;
(ii) changing your mind about any aspects of your estate planning instructions; and
(d) documents having to be re-issued or re-signed based on:
(i) errors in the documents as a result of incorrect or incomplete information being provided to us by you or your agents;
(ii) errors in execution of the documents by you or a witness (where the witness is not a member of our firm);
(iii) damage to the documents not caused by us, including incorrect handling of the documents or failure to follow our specific execution instructions.
Copies of documents
42.Our work includes providing you with electronic copies of any documents prepared by us and signed by you, once, at the completion of the matter.
43.If you have been communicating with us through an agent then you expressly authorise us to provide electronic copies of any documents prepared by us and signed by you to your agent.
44.If requested, we will provide certified copies for each original document prepared by us and signed by you. If you request additional certified copies, additional costs may apply.
Word Versions
45.All documents (excluding the letter of wishes template and including amended versions of documents) will be provided in PDF or similar non-editable format.
46.We will not provide documents in word or editable format.
47.Any changes to the documents we have prepared for you must be completed by us.
48.We accept no liability for changes made to the documents without our written consent as a part of our scope of work.
Changes in the Future
49.Our scope of work covers the specific items mentioned only and does not include future changes to your documents, once our engagement has ended.
50.Our current process and prices for making such changes are set out here: https://www.nestlegal.com.au/willamendments
Following Up Clients
51.Our scope of work and pricing is valid for up to 4 months from the date it is provided.
52.The quote includes one round of amendments and two meetings (one for instructions, one for signing). Further rounds of amendments or meetings will incur a fee of $350. The more detail you provide when completing our online form and the more you think about who you want in key roles ahead of our meeting, the less chance you will require this.
Obtaining your complete instructions
53.Our scope of work includes up to 3 follow up emails to obtain your complete instructions and the background material that we request.
54.Any additional communications required to complete your instructions and obtain copies of the necessary supporting documents may incur additional costs at our discretion.
55.If we do not hear from you to confirm your instructions or complete your matter within 3 months, we may close your file and end our engagement (meaning we do not act for you anymore). If you wish to reopen the file, we will provide a new scope of work and price (which may be higher than the original scope of work and price).
Signing your documents
56.Once the documents are drafted, we will provide them to you with instructions on how to have them signed, witnessed and stored.
57.Included in your quote is a signing appointment, valid for 4 months from the date you receive your finalised documents. It is essential to book and attend this signing appointment within the 4-month period. Any signing appointment outside this period will incur a fee of $220.
58.Our scope of work includes up to 2 follow up emails to coordinate signing of your estate planning documents in order to complete your matter.
59.It is your responsibility to cooperate and take positive steps to sign your estate planning documents as promptly as possible.
60.If we have not heard from you or you have not cooperated to coordinate a suitable time for signing after 2 attempts to arrange for execution of your estate planning documents or 4 months after we have emailed you the final drafts of your estate planning documents (whichever is later), we will close our file (regardless of whether you have signed your estate planning documents).
61.Until you have properly executed your new estate planning documents, your existing estate plan (if any) will remain in place. This may result in many issues, including:
(a) your objectives not being achieved;
(b) Government bodies or legislation deciding who controls or receives your assets;
(c) Government bodies or legislation deciding who makes decisions about your health and personal care;
(d) protracted and costly negotiations with third parties, such as superannuation funds;
(e) expensive court litigation; and
(f) unexpected tax, stamp duty or registration costs.
Signatures of other parties
62.Additional costs will apply where you wish us to assist other parties with signing documents prepared by us.
63.Where you take custody of your documents to obtain signatures of other parties:
(a) you are responsible for the documents, including maintaining the condition of the documents and ensuring no damage (tears, marks, interlineations etc) occurs until the documents are returned to our possession; and
(b) if you are returning the documents to us by post or courier:
(i) we are not responsible for any loss or damage that may occur to the documents until they are in our possession; and
(ii) you agree to take reasonable steps to secure the safe transit of the documents, including but not limited to, appropriate packaging and registered post.
64.If the documents are damaged while out of our possession and need to be re-issued for signing, additional costs may apply for the documents to be reissued and for any additional meetings.
Billing
Our Invoices
65.Invoices will be issued as follows:
(a) an invoice for $450 will be provided following our initial meeting, including a request for the remaining funds to be deposited into our trust account;
(b) an invoice for the remaining agreed scope of work and pricing will be provided when we send your draft documents to you; or
(c) at any other appropriate stage.
66.You authorise us to deduct your funds from our trust account to pay our costs after you receive our final tax invoice, which we will send with our email with your documents.
67.We reserve the right to issue invoices at a later interval period than expressed above.
68.Where we incur any disbursements on your behalf, we reserve the right to issue an interim bill (i.e. not at the intervals described above) for those disbursements.
69.Our firm may charge an internal administrative disbursement fee of up to $20 to cover costs associated with general file administration and management.
70.All invoices will be on strictly 7 day payment terms (i.e. you must pay the full balance within 7 days of our invoice being issued to you).
71.An invoice is deemed to have been received by you on the date we send it to you or your agent (if applicable). You agree to receive our invoices by email.
Unpaid Fees
72.If our invoice to you remains unpaid after the payment date, we may charge interest on the unpaid amount commencing one day after the due date for payment.
73.If we choose to charge interest, the interest rate will be at the rate prescribed by regulation under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (VIC) and will apply from the date the invoice was received by you.
Scheduled meetings
74.We require 24 business hours' notice if you wish to cancel a meeting you have scheduled with us or a $100 fee may be charged.
Privacy
75.Nest Legal understands the importance of protecting the privacy of an individual's personal information. When you fill out our forms or speak to us and provide us with personal information, what we do with that information is set out in our privacy policy here. In particular we use a range of internet-based services hosted by third parties (cloud computing service providers) in delivering services and in the management and marketing of our business. You consent to us disclosing your confidential information to our cloud-computing service providers. You consent to us recording and transcribing telephone and electronic communications for creating accurate records and acknowledge that we may use artificial intelligence to enhance our legal service delivery. You may opt out of the use of artificial intelligence tools by notifying us in writing.
Termination
76.You may terminate this agreement at any time.
77.Without limiting the circumstances in which we are otherwise by law entitled to terminate this agreement, we may terminate this agreement without notice and cease to act for you if you:
(a) Breach this agreement;
(b) Require us to act unlawfully or unethically;
(c) Fail to give us adequate instructions within a reasonable time;
(d) Give instructions that are deliberately false or intentionally misleading;
(e) Act in a manner which makes it impossible for the firm to have a reasonable lawyer/client relationship with you or give instructions that causes us to consider that our services are not appropriate for your legal needs;
(f) Fail to accept advice we give you;
(g) Engage another law practice to advise you on this matter without our consent;
(h) Lose legal capacity;
(i) Indicate that you have lost confidence in us; or
(j) Fail to pay our accounts or deposit monies to our trust account as required from time to time.
78.If the agreement is terminated either by you or by us, you will be required to pay our professional fees and disbursements work done to date up to the date of termination.
Liability
79.To the extent permitted by law, we exclude liability for any consequential or indirect loss or damage which may arise in connection with this agreement. Our liability for any and all loss or damage arising from or in connection with this agreement is limited to the total value of fees payable by you to us under this agreement.
Use of technology
80.Nest Legal maintains client files and documents in digital format only.
81.To enhance the efficiency of our practice, Nest Legal uses a variety of technology, including third party cloud based platforms, to store documents, communicate with clients and other activities. We have exercised due care in selecting vendors whose security and management practices meet or exceed applicable ethics requirements and engage in ongoing monitoring and oversight of their services. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed as totally secure. Although Nest Legal strives to protect such information, Nest Legal does not warrant and cannot ensure the security of any information which you transmit to it. Accordingly, any information which you transmit to Nest Legal is transmitted at your own risk. Nevertheless, once Nest Legal receives your transmission, it will take all reasonable steps to preserve the security of such information. You consent to our use of these services to store your files, communicate with you and carry out other necessary tasks related to representation. We do not sell or otherwise disclose to third parties any personal information that you provide through our website except as may be required by law.
82.We will primarily communicate with you by email. You agree to provide a secure password-protected email account and access it on a secure computer.
Feedback
83.We encourage our clients to offer feedback on review sites or refer us to others. If your experience with Nest Legal has not met your expectations, we would appreciate if you could speak with us directly so that we can try to fix the situation.
General
84.If any part of any of these terms and conditions is void, then the part that is void may be severed. Other than any local laws applicable to you that by law cannot be excluded, these terms and conditions are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia.
Your Rights - Nest Legal

As our client, you have important rights regarding legal services

You are entitled to clear information about costs and have various options for managing your legal expenses.

  1. 1
    Ask for an explanation of this form
  2. 2
    Negotiate a costs agreement
  3. 3
    Negotiate the billing method (eg timing or task)
  4. 4
    Request a written progress report of costs incurred
  5. 5
    Receive a written bill for work done
  6. 6
    Request an itemised bill
  7. 7
    Contact your local regulatory authority
Information sheet for consumers