The QUT Health Law Research Centre needs people with complicated family, asset or business arrangements to help them conduct an ARC-funded study into the process of making a will and how people distribute their assets.
If you are part of a blended family, making a will so that your last wishes are crystal clear and adhered to can be difficult," says Professor Ben White from QUT's Health Law Research Centre.
"There are also challenges in making a will that adequately provides for an adult child with cognitive impairment.
"We are looking for participants with these circumstances and also those who have a mixture of asset types such as property and shares valued at more than $3 million or who have substantial international assets.
"Perhaps there are some people over 45 years of age who have made a conscious choice not to make a will - we would like to interview them too."
Professor White said the topic of will-making was often something people sometimes shied away from, especially if they know they have some complex circumstances.
"This study aimed to fill gaps in our knowledge of how much people understand about distributing their assets in wills and how much they know about how their estate is distributed if they die intestate, that is without leaving a will," he said.
"This research will help us better understand the special needs and interests of people in these situations and how they want to make plans for the future. This will provide a basis to support targeted public education campaigns and also inform legal drafters of key issues of concerns for these cohorts."
The project is a collaborative one with seven public trustee organisations around Australia and is led by the UQ School of Social Work and Human Services.
Professor White said study participants would be asked to complete a face-to-face or telephone interview that could take up to an hour, at a time and place that was convenient for them.
To participate in the study, contact Professor White on 07 3138 4066 or email bp.white@qut.edu.au or Rachel Feeney on 07 3346 9090 or r.feeney@uq.edu.au.
Media contact: Niki Widdowson, 07 3138 2999 or n.widdowson@qut.edu.au.
