"Hi, I am looking for a template for a Will. As the laws relating to same sex couples have changed Australia wide I am wondering whether I would use a lesbian woman Will or one for a defacto woman, as the law now says we are defacto same sex couples? Or is this something I would need to discuss with a lawyer face to face? Thanks for your time, Jayne"
Dear Jayne
DocDownload cannot give legal advice but we can offer the following general observations.
You are correct to say that the law now treats lesbian couples as equivalent to de facto couples (as the term was previously understood), provided you are talking about proceedings for property division and maintenance in the Family Court.
However, the changes to the Family Law Act do not cause any changes to Succession Law (also known as Probate Law) - it remains the case in each state that (1) an executor/executrix has "freedom of testamentary disposition", but (2) people who were formerly in a domestic relationship with the executor/executrix can ask a court to award them a bit more than the will provides.
So the lesbian woman Template is as useful as it was before the recent Family Law changes. However, we must caution that we cannot guarantee that any of our will Templates is immune from challenge under the Succession Law of each State. A 500-page will drafted by three lawyers is not immune from such a challenge.
We hope this answers your question.
Kind regards,
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