Digital Estate Planning

At Balance, we provide solutions for your entire estate - not just the physical!

While a Will can appoint someone to deal with your physical estate, dealing with your digital estate may be more difficult. 

In the modern world, much of our lives play out in the digital space. We communicate online via email, social media and text. We store memories and important documents in the cloud, our businesses operate through cloud-based systems, our bank and utility accounts are online, and some of us even have purely digital assets like cryptocurrency, domain names and NFTs.

If you lose capacity or pass away, plenty of issues can arise. Tech companies that house your digital information may be reluctant (or refuse) to grant access to your accounts to your executors.

Therefore, it’s important that when making a plan for your physical estate, you make a plan for your digital estate, and that’s where The Balance Prepared Vault comes in…

The Balance Prepared Vault (powered by BePrepared) is a cloud-based platform with military-grade security, that you can access through working with Balance, to save all your important information and documents that may need to be distributed to your executors and loved ones, after you pass away. While your personal vault is set up through Balance, we can’t see or access any of your information or files!

How do I get access?

1

We will invite you to create a digital vault while preparing your estate planning
documents.

2

Once you’re invited, create a login.

3

Add the contact details of the people you want to receive your digital assets.

4

Upload your documents and create messages and assign them to your chosen contacts.

Once your digital vault is set up, you can access it as much as you want, by logging in through our website or downloading the vault onto your computer 

How does my information get distributed?

After your personal Balance Prepared Vault is set up, you can choose a number of your contacts to be “confidants”. When you die, these confidants must verify that you have died, along with us (your estate lawyer) and any other legal representatives you’ve connected (e.g. your financial planner or accountant) to trigger the distribution process.

When you pass away, your confidants can trigger the release of information by reporting your death. The Balance Prepared Vault will then try and contact you, and if there is no response, it will ask for verification of your death from all of your confidants and legal representatives. If there is unanimous agreement that you have passed away, your information will be distributed within 30 days.

What can I store through The Balance Prepared Vault?

Through The Balance Prepared Vault you can store:

Legal documents (wills, powers of attorney, property title documents, trust and company information)

Information about your
assets and debts

Passwords/access details to online accounts/assets and devices

Photos and videos

Instructions (care of children, pets, for your business, etc.)

Personal messages to
loved ones

Who can access my digital vault?

You are the only person who is able to access your vault and much as you want, once it is created.

When you nominate a person to receive certain documents or information, they can do so from their own login (which they will be prompted to create once this has been assigned to them), however, they will not be able to access any of your other information stored within the vault.

You can limit information and documents so they are only accessible by certain people when you pass away. Or you can make certain things available to certain people while you’re alive as well (so, for example, it can also be a good way to share passwords for people you share accounts with).

On our end, we can upload documents for you like your will and other estate planning documents, but we cannot see any of the information that you have stored unless you specifically choose to share it with us. 

Who can access my digital vault?

There is no additional cost for setting up a digital vault if you have your estate plan prepared with Balance. That’s lifetime access to The Balance Prepared Vault. 

For those who have not prepared your estate plan with us, you can still create a digital vault for a fee. Get in touch with us to discuss.

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AWARDS

Finalist - Corporate Kindness Awards

Issued by Corporate Kindness Awards · Winners announced April 2022

Winner - Sole Practitioner of the Year

Issued by Australian Law Awards · Dec 2021

Winner – Partner of the Year (Family Law)

Issued by Lawyers Weekly Partner of the Year Awards · Nov 2021

Winner - Service Business Award

Issued by Ausmumpreneur Awards · Sep 2021

Winner - Service Business of the Year

Issued by Roar Awards · Sep 2021

Winner - Innovation Award for Legal Education and Change Initiatives

Issued by APAC Insider · Aug 2021

Winner - Top Boutique Law Firm 2021

Issued by Australasian Lawyers · Aug 2021

Winner- Boutique Law Firm of the Year

Issued by APAC Insider · Aug 2021

Finalist - Boutique Law Firm of the Year

Issued by Australian Law Awards · Jun 2021

Finalist - Innovator of the Year Award (Company)

Issued by Australian Law Awards · Jun 2021

Finalist - Innovator of the Year Award (Individual)

Issued by Australian Law Awards · Jun 2021

Finalist – 30 Under 30 Award (Family Law)

Issued by Lawyers Weekly 30 under 30 Awards · Apr 2021

Winner - Rising Stars in Family Law

Issued by Global Corp Media · Mar 2021

Finalist -Rising Star Ausmumpreneur of the Year

Issued by Ausmumpreneur Awards · 2021

Finalist -Social Change Hero

Issued by Roar Awards · 2021

Winner - Boutique Law Firm of the Year

Issued by Australian Law Awards · Sep 2020

Winner - Family Law Firm of the Year

Issued by Corporate Live Wire · Sep 2020

Winner - Service Business Award

Issued by Ausmumpreneurs · Sep 2020

Winner -Emerging Mumpreneur

Issued by Ausmumpreneur · Sep 2020

Finalist - Sole Practitioner of the Year

Issued by Australian Law Awards · Aug 2020

Winner - Rising Stars of Family Law

Issued by APEC Insider · Jul 2020

Winner – Family Law Firm of the Year (Australia)

Issued by International Advisory Experts (IAG) 2020

Outside of Balance, I am an adjunct lecturer and assessor with the College of Law in the ACT. In this role, I lecture and mentor future lawyers in the ACT and surrounding regions, as they complete their Practical Legal Training (which is the course you are required to complete to be able to practice as a lawyer).

When I am not lawyering I love to travel and have already made it to 18 countries across Europe and Asia. My personal goal is to travel to every continent, including Antarctica. My favourite destination so far is Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland, where I skydived over the Swiss Alps!

My innovative approach to law has seen me, and Balance Family Law recognised with over 23 national and international awards and accolades since 2020 including the prestigious Lawyer’s Weekly Family Law Partner of the Year 2021, Australian Law Awards Sole Practitioner of the Year 2021, Australian Law Awards Boutique Law Firm of the Year 2020 and the Gold Ausmumpreneur Award for a Service Business in 2020 and 2021. I have also received consecutive Chief Minister’s Awards for Excellence for my work with families and children on the frontline during my time working in child protection. In 2022 and 2023, I was invited to be a Judge at the Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 Awards, and Partner of the Year Awards, and the National Ausmumpreneur Awards.

As one of Australia’s most respected family lawyers and a gamechanger in the lawyer space, I look forward to working with you to navigate this challenging time in your life.