The 5-Document Australian Estate Readiness Checklist
Five documents every Australian household should have organised — and where to put them so your family can actually find them. Plain English. Jurisdiction-aware. Designed to print to one page.
Down Under Vault
Australian estate readiness checklist
A current Will
Without a will you die "intestate" and the state decides who gets what. Most state formulas do not match what people actually want — especially in blended families, in de facto relationships under three years, or when adult children have very different circumstances. A simple, current will solves this.
How Down Under Vault helps: Premium includes the Will Builder for straightforward estates. For anything complex — businesses, trusts, blended families — get a solicitor and store the executed will in your vault.
An Enduring Power of Attorney (financial)
An EPOA lets a person you trust make financial decisions for you if you lose capacity. Without one, your family has to apply to the relevant state tribunal to be appointed financial manager — a slow, expensive, public process. The EPOA is the single most under-rated document in Australian estate planning.
How Down Under Vault helps: Your vault stores the executed document and tells your appointed attorney where to find it. We do not draft EPOAs — your state has specific witnessing requirements; use the state form or a solicitor.
An Advance Care Directive
An ACD records your healthcare wishes (life support, organ donation, pain management, religious considerations) and — in most states — appoints a substitute decision-maker for medical decisions if you cannot speak for yourself. Each state has a different name and form; without one, doctors fall back to your "person responsible" under state guardianship law, which may not be the person you would choose.
How Down Under Vault helps: Premium includes the Advance Care Directive Builder, with state-specific language. Your treating doctor and substitute decision-maker should both know where to find it.
A binding death benefit nomination for your superannuation
Your super does not automatically follow your will. The trustee of your super fund decides who receives it — unless you have a valid Binding Death Benefit Nomination on file with the fund. BDBNs typically expire every three years and must name eligible dependants under the SIS Act (spouse, child, financial dependant, interdependent). Without one, your super can go to a person you would not choose.
How Down Under Vault helps: Record the date of your current BDBN in your vault and set a reminder for renewal. Store the BDBN form itself with the fund.
A digital access plan
Where are your photos? Your email account (which is the key to everything else)? Your password manager master password? Your 2FA backup codes? Your crypto seed phrases? Australian law does not recognise digital assets clearly — provider terms of service usually win against executors. The only reliable solution is to organise this yourself, in advance.
How Down Under Vault helps: Down Under Vault is purpose-built for exactly this. Record your significant accounts, recovery instructions, and which provider tools you have set up (Apple Legacy Contact, Google Inactive Account Manager, etc.).
A checklist is a start. A vault is the system.
Down Under Vault gives every item on this checklist a home — and makes sure the right people receive it on the day it matters.
No credit card. No commitment. Australian-owned.