Most people think of “having a will” as a box they either have or haven’t ticked. In reality, a will is the entry point to estate planning, not the whole of it. If you’ve only ever thought about the will itself, this is where to start.
Queensland Wills Week runs from 1 to 7 September 2026, an annual awareness campaign encouraging people to create or update their will, put an Enduring Power of Attorney in place, and plan ahead for their family and, if they choose, a favourite charity. It’s a good prompt to check where your own plan actually stands.
The problem: a will alone leaves gaps
A will only controls what happens to assets that form part of your estate when you die. It says nothing about who manages your finances or makes medical decisions for you if you lose capacity while you’re still alive, and it doesn’t automatically cover jointly owned property, superannuation, or assets held in a trust or company structure. Plenty of Queenslanders assume their will “covers everything” and are surprised, usually at the worst possible time (or rather their children/beneficiaries/dependents are) to learn it doesn’t.
So, who actually needs a will?
In short: any adult who owns anything, has anyone who depends on them, or simply wants a say in what happens to the sum total of their lifelong wealth upon their death. In practice that includes people who assume they’re too young, too early in their career, or don’t have “enough” to worry about. Life insurance inside super or as part of a credit card’s terms are common estate-inflaters; people’s estates are usually worth more than they realise. A will is what lets you choose your executor and guardians for children, rather than leaving that choice to the court. It also lets you provide for a de facto partner, stepchildren, or a blended family in a way the general law will not do for you (or if it does, it usually won’t do so in the way you intend).
A will is step one, not the whole plan
A complete estate plan for 2026 generally covers four documents working together, and we’ve written in detail on each of these separately:
- Your will — who receives your assets and who administers your estate.
- An Enduring Power of Attorney (EPOA) — who manages your finances and personal decisions, which people usually prefer to only activate if you lose capacity. It ends upon a person’s death by ordinary force of law (so as not to come into conflict with the laws regarding deceased estates).
- An Advance Health Directive (AHD) — your own instructions for medical treatment, rather than leaving that choice to family or an attorney (though it can be anyone you trust).
- A testamentary trust, where appropriate — particularly relevant for blended families, young beneficiaries, or asset protection, particularly in the context of spousal claims against a child in future, and affected by the Trusts Act 2025 changes (commenced 2026) for anyone acting as trustee or executor.
If you already have a will but nothing else on that list, you have made a start, not finished the job.
Why this matters more in a blended, digital 2026
Family structures have changed. Blended families, de facto relationships, and adult children from earlier relationships all raise questions a basic will template doesn’t anticipate. So do superannuation death benefits, which do not automatically pass under a will at all and need a separate binding nomination. Digital assets, from cryptocurrency to social media and cloud storage accounts, are also increasingly something an executor needs instructions for, and most older wills say nothing about them.
A firm that’s been doing this since 1974
We’ve been advising Queensland families on wills and estates for over fifty years, and we’re not a DIY platform or a call centre. Our wills and estate planning solicitors sit in real offices across South East Queensland, in Stafford, Upper Mount Gravatt, Mermaid Beach, and Birtinya, with Queensland-wide service for clients who prefer to deal with us electronically.
Call 1300 334 566 or contact us online to book a wills and estate planning consultation at whichever of our South East Queensland offices suits you.
Where to go deeper
This article is the starting point. For more detail on specific parts of your plan, see our guides on what happens if you die without a will and how to avoid intestacy (Dying Without a Will in Queensland), what happens if a will isn’t properly executed (Invalid Wills in Queensland), whether separation or divorce means updating your will (Do I Need to Update My Will After Divorce or Separation in Queensland?), the document most people overlook in their estate plan (Enduring Power of Attorney in Queensland), how to record your healthcare wishes (Advance Health Directives in Queensland), and what the incoming trust reforms mean for anyone acting as trustee or executor (Queensland’s New Trusts Laws).
Two free tools to get you started
Before your first consultation, our Estate Planning Checklist Toolkit and Who to Notify Checklist help you gather what you need and understand what happens next.
Start the conversation
If your will is the only document on that list, or if you’ve never reviewed any of them, our Wills & Estate Planning team can talk you through what you actually need, in plain English, at whichever of our offices suits you. With Queensland Wills Week running 1 to 7 September 2026, now is a timely moment to start.
Call 1300 334 566 or contact us online to book a wills and estate planning consultation at whichever of our South East Queensland offices suits you.
