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Paul Hergott

Paul Hergott

Castanet

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Changing your will

This may come as shock for some but wills are not permanent. It’s reasonable if you thought they were, with all the pomp and circumstance around...

monday 7

Castanet

Paul Hergott

Keeping your will in place

I regularly advise people, “Your will is fine. It doesn’t need to be updated”. While debunking misunderstandings about the need to update wills,...

19.05.2025 8

Castanet

Paul Hergott

Planning contingencies

Life’s curve balls can mess with the best-intentioned plans. Take Peter, whose wife Irene has dementia. Irene has always looked after the family’s...

12.05.2025 7

Castanet

Paul Hergott

Power of attorney tips

I ended my column last week with the warning that not all powers of attorney are the same. They can be as simple as a one-page form or quite...

05.05.2025 9

Castanet

Paul Hergott

Power of attorney reviewed

Reader feedback prompted this follow-up to last week’s column. The accused me of giving inaccurate information and poor advice. No hard feelings to...

28.04.2025 6

Castanet

Paul Hergott

Creating a power of attorney

Does a power of attorney survive a cost benefit analysis? Maybe not for a young person. Nailing down the cost end of the analysis would require...

21.04.2025 5

Castanet

Paul Hergott

Value of using a lawyer

How about you save yourself the few bucks for that online form and write out a simple will on a piece of paper. My column, published March 3, 2024,...

14.04.2025 5

Castanet

Paul Hergott

Disinheriting a child

Thank you to the readers of this column for their patient suffering through five columns in a row about how to obtain an estate grant. I’ll conclude...

07.04.2025 9

Castanet

Paul Hergott

Reasons for using a lawyer

My wife took an online sourdough course in early 2000, just before the pandemic hit. I’ve survived five years of continuous fresh sourdough loaves...

31.03.2025 10

Castanet

Paul Hergott

Probate bloopers

Everyone loves bloopers--and the higher they are, the harder they fall. I shouldn’t put myself on a pedestal but surely a lawyer wouldn’t make...

24.03.2025 8

Castanet

Paul Hergott

DIY probate

Can an estate grant be obtained without a lawyer? It’s a little tricky, but absolutely. This is the third column in a series providing practical...

17.03.2025 10

Castanet

Paul Hergott

Dealing with probate

This is the second part of a series about applying for an estate grant, which most people refer to as “probate”. My goal is to help those...

10.03.2025 6

Castanet

Paul Hergott

Looking for the will

The Sound of Music is one of my favourite movies. It’s up there with The Princess Bride. In the sound of Music, one of the scenes has Maria teaching...

06.03.2025 10

Castanet

Paul Hergott