Laura McMillan is a Senior Associate at WGC Lawyers, working within the wills and estates team under the direction of Director, Jacqui Lee Long.
Laura was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2017. Since that time, Laura has practised across commercial law and commercial litigation, as well as succession and elder law, wherein she developed a passion for assisting clients with their estate planning.
In assisting clients with their complex estate planning matters, Laura strives to deliver knowledgeable advice with empathy and in a way that clients can easily understand, because she is cognisant that estate planning can be overwhelming and often quite complicated for clients and families to follow, particularly where various company and trust entities are involved. Working closely with clients’ accountants and financial advisers, Laura ensures that nothing is missed in formulating clients’ estate plans, including by ensuring that clients’ superannuation nominations are current, valid and binding.
A Will should be reviewed and updated, as your life inevitably changes. As a general rule, this might be every 5-10 years, depending on each person’s circumstances.
Not having an up-to-date Will (or a Will at all), or preparing a Will without obtaining sound legal advice, can lead to unintentional problems for loved ones after you are no longer here, often resulting in considerable expense and delay. This is why Laura believes it is fundamental to obtain proper legal advice when making a Will.
In addition to this, throughout Laura’s practice, she has observed that the appointment of an Enduring Power of Attorney (‘EPOA’) is sometimes overlooked in a person’s estate plan. In Laura’s view, an EPOA is just as important as a person’s Will as it gives another person the decision-making power for you across health (including personal) and financial matters, in circumstances that you may not have the ability to make such decisions for yourself.
Not having an EPOA in place can cause significant hardship to your loved ones, requiring them to undergo a lengthy and stressful process before the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, to apply to become the decision maker for you. Medical practitioners, real estate agents, bank representatives, aged care facilities, etc, will require an EPOA for persons who have lost capacity, so that they can lawfully act upon the direction of the appointed Attorney.
Laura will happily walk you through your estate planning matters and related queries.
Qualifications and memberships
- Admitted as a Solicitor of the High Court of Australia, 2018
- Admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland, 2017
- Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, The College of Law, 2017
- Bachelors of Laws (Honours), James Cook University, 2016
- Member, Queensland Law Society
- Committee Member, Far North Queensland Law Association