Your 2026 estate planning checklist

It's never too early to think about estate planning, especially if you're close to retirement. Here's your ultimate checklist to make planning easy.

One part of preparing for retirement is estate planning. In a nutshell, estate planning is when you organise what happens to your assets after you pass away.

Organising your estate now will make life a little easier for your loved ones when you're not around anymore. That's why we've put together a handy checklist to make estate planning easy for you.

Why estate planning matters

When you die, a Will helps determine who gets your assets. These assets include your house (if you own it), savings, and possessions. Your Will won't include your super, but there is a way to make sure your super is given to your loved ones when you pass away (more on that soon!).

Dying without a Will, in legal terms, is called 'dying intestate'. This is when the laws in your state or territory decide what happens with your estate. And it could cause some complications for your loved ones.

At a minimum, your partner or children may need to apply for a letter of administration to a court. This letter gives a person (like your partner) the legal right to administer your estate. There could be messy legal implications if your family situation is at all complicated.

So you could do your family a huge favour by planning your estate.

Who gets your super when you're gone?

Your super fund is one of the largest assets you'll have. But it's not automatically included in your Will.

You'll need to nominate a beneficiary. This means choosing who receives your super after you die. And you can't just nominate anyone. It has to be a legal representative or a dependent.

A dependent can be your current partner, children, or someone you live with in a close relationship while providing them financial support (or receiving financial support from them).

There are two main types of super beneficiary nominations you can make: binding and non-binding. A binding nomination is legally binding, so your super fund needs to follow those instructions. Your binding nomination can be:

• Lapsing, which usually expires after around three years (depending on your fund).
• Non-lapsing, which doesn't expire unless you cancel or change it.

A non-binding nomination isn't legally binding. So, your super fund will consider your wishes, but they'll make the final call on who receives your super.

If you're reviewing your super, check that your beneficiaries are listed (it's not automatic).

The estate planning checklist

Here's a helpful checklist of what to consider when you're planning what happens to your estate after you die.

• Compile assets and debts. It's important to list out all your assets and debts. Assets include property, cars, possessions, investments, and money in your bank account. You may also have outstanding debts like a mortgage or a car loan.

• Create a Will. You can make a Will through a lawyer or use online DIY Will kits. With some DIY Wills, you'll need to get it reviewed if that isn't part of what's included.

• Nominate a super beneficiary. As we covered earlier, make sure you nominate a beneficiary for your super. While most funds let you do non-binding nominations online, you normally have to use a paper form for binding ones. But if you're an Aware Super member, you can make a binding nomination online instead of pen and paper.
  

• Designating power of attorney. You can choose someone to make decisions about your money, lifestyle, and health while you're alive but unable to make those decisions.

• Advance care directive. You could fill out an advanced care directive, which expresses your preferences when it comes to future medical treatment. This is helpful if you become unable to communicate these wishes in the future.

• Compile any insurance policies. Your life insurance policies also come into play when you're planning your estate. Collect all your life insurance policies and store them in a central location. Don't forget, you may have life insurance through your super too!

• Funeral plans. Write down any wishes or directions relating to your funeral, like whether you want to be buried or cremated.

Once you've taken these steps, your estate planning will be in great shape. Now, you can focus on growing your super before retirement and think about life after work.

Learn more about getting your retirement sorted with Aware Super

^{General advice only. Consider your objectives, financial situation, or needs, which have not been accounted for in this information and read the relevant PDS and TMD at aware.com.au/pds before acting.}

^{Products mentioned are issued by Aware Super Pty Ltd (ABN 11 118 202 672, AFSL 293340), trustee of Aware Super (ABN 53 226 460 365).}