Queensland Estate Planning, Estate Administration and Estate Disputes
Little Estate Lawyers is a Brisbane law firm. We practise exclusively in Queensland succession law, and we have done nothing else since Danielle Little founded the firm in October 2018.
Succession law has two halves. The first is planning, which means deciding what happens to what you own, and who makes decisions for you if you reach a point where you can’t. The second is what comes afterwards, which means settling the estate and resolving the disputes that sometimes follow.
Most firms work at one end or the other. We do both, and the two ends inform each other in a way that matters more than it sounds.
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Estate Planning
We talk about estate planning rather than wills, because a will is one document inside a much larger set of decisions.
Superannuation often doesn’t pass under a will at all. Jointly held property may sit outside the estate entirely. Assets in a family trust or company aren’t owned by you personally, so a will can’t gift them. Then there’s who holds your enduring power of attorney, what your advance health directive says, and whether the way you own something is actually recorded anywhere.
A form can record your answers accurately. What it can’t do is notice the question you didn’t know to ask.
There’s a second thing a form alone can’t do, and it’s the part of our work that stays invisible until the day it isn’t. A will is a document, but if anyone ever challenges it, it also becomes evidence. When a will’s validity is questioned, the court isn’t primarily asking what the document says. It’s asking whether the person had capacity, whether they acted freely, whether anyone pressured them, and whether they understood what they were signing. Then it asks whether any of that can be proven.
So when we prepare an estate plan, the documents are only half of what we create. The other half is a file. Notes of conversations written at the time, an assessment of capacity, a record of who was in the room, and what advice was given. Most of the time nobody ever opens it. On the occasions when someone contests a will, that file is often the difference between a person’s wishes standing and their wishes unravelling.
Estate Administration
When someone passes away, an executor takes on real legal duties, often with no warning and no experience. Beneficiaries have entitlements they may not understand. Both can find the process opaque at the worst possible time.
We act for executors and administrators through the whole process, including applications for grants of probate and letters of administration, and estates where there was no valid will. We also act for beneficiaries who want to know where they stand.
Estate Disputes and Litigation
This is the part of succession law we’re best known for, and where Danielle’s experience is deepest.
We act for estates defending claims, and for people making them. That includes family provision claims, questions about whether a will is valid, disputes about capacity, undue influence, and whether a person knew and approved of what their will said.
Our
Services
We work across the whole of Queensland succession law. It’s easiest to think about it in three parts.
Estate planning is the arrangements you make ahead of time – so that someone you trust can step in if you lose capacity, and so your wishes are carried out smoothly when the time comes. It covers your will, but a will is only part of it. Superannuation, jointly owned property, family trusts and company structures often pass outside a will entirely, and a good plan makes all of it point the same direction.
Business and company succession is worth singling out, because it’s where we most often find a gap between what someone wants and what can actually happen. Someone tells us who should get the business. We read the company constitution, or the trust deed, and find it doesn’t allow for that – or that the asset isn’t owned by them personally at all, so their will can’t gift it. What people think their documents say and what those documents actually say are different more often than you’d expect. We read them.
Estate administration is what needs to happen to settle someone’s affairs and carry out their wishes. We act for executors and administrators through the whole process, including applications for grants of probate and letters of administration, and estates where there was no valid will. We also act for beneficiaries who want to know where they stand.
Estate disputes and litigation is the part of succession law we’re best known for. We act for estates defending claims, and for people bringing them – including family provision claims, challenges to the validity of a will, and disputes about capacity, undue influence and whether a person knew and approved of what their will said.
Danielle Little TEP
Danielle is the owner and Principal of Little Estate Lawyers. Danielle is an expert in estate disputes and estate litigation. Starting her legal career in 1992, Danielle’s experience spans over many years. Danielle worked for a decade in a large multi-national firm where she gained extensive experience in plaintiff medical negligence claims, litigation and complex deceased estate matters.
Since 2015, Danielle has focused on the area of Succession Law assisting clients with a wide range of Wills, estates and trusts matters. Danielle is passionate about achieving a good result for clients and provides sensible advice and solutions.
Danielle has a Master of Laws (Applied Law) majoring in Wills and Estates. She is also a Trusts and Estates Practitioner of the Society of Trusts and Estates Practitioners (STEP), and Wills and Estates Mediator.
In addition, Danielle gives back to the succession law community by volunteering her time as a sub-committee member of STEP (Qld branch).
Brock Fisher, Business Manager
Brock oversees many aspects of the firm’s business operations. He has an extensive background in business operations and accounts management, as a result of spending more than two decades in leadership roles at some of Australia’s largest property management businesses. Brock also spent five years as part of the executive team at a property management software technology company.
Brock is currently studying an Executive Masters of Business Administration at Queensland University of Technology. He is also a fully licenced Real Estate Agent and a Justice of the Peace (Qualified).
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Our
Fees
Legal costs can be daunting for clients and we appreciate that our clients do not like surprises when it comes to costs. After an initial consultation with one of our lawyers, we can provide an estimate of our fees that is realistic for your estate matter.
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GPO Box 3063, Brisbane QLD 4001
Watkins Medical Centre, Level 6 / 225 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill QLD 4000