What happens when I die‪?‬ Australian Unity

In this final episode of What Happens When I Die?, Anna Hacker talks to Robert Kerr, an Australian Unity Trustees client, and father of Australian Unity Wealth and Capital Markets CEO, Esther Kerr Smith.

Robert generously talks about his experience navigating the death of his wife in July 2021 – right in the midst of Melbourne’s strictest lock-downs.

Together, Robert and Anna discuss estate planning, funeral arrangements, medical powers of attorney, and the importance of community support when a loved one wants to die at home.

This subject isn’t an easy one, and this episode comes with a trigger warning. If you need help, please contact Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Host: Anna Hacker

Guest: Robert Kerr, client of Australian Unity Trustees

Useful Links: Death of a Partner - COTA Victoria

Disclosure: General advice for listeners. Please be aware that the information in this podcast has been prepared without considering the objectives, financial situation, or needs of any individual and is general in nature. If you do wish to act on the information, before doing so you should consider its appropriateness to your circumstances and obtain specific legal and financial advice. As we suggest in the podcast we would always recommend obtaining financial and legal advice relevant to your circumstances before making any decisions and also in line with this suggest getting specialist advice from a tax professional to confirm the impact of this financial advice on your overall tax position.

Investment Bonds remain a relatively well-kept industry secret and can play a useful role in people’s estate planning strategies as Ryan explains in this super practical episode.

While getting good advice when it comes to estate planning strategies remains key, Ryan talks about the clients he has worked with that have used investment bonds as an effective way to put in place arrangements outside of their estate and/or to set up what Ryan refers to as a pseudo testamentary trust where wishes can be ruled from the grave.

Ryan says investment bonds can be especially useful for vulnerable beneficiaries or where a person wants to leave money to their grandchildren and circumvent their own children.

Ryan’s top tips for listeners include; considering investment bonds if a person has concerns about challenges to their estate and why sitting down with a financial adviser and lawyer to weigh up the pros and cons is the best way to reach the right outcome while achieving peace of mind.

Host: Anna Hacker

Guest: Ryan Francis, Commercial Manager at Australian Unity Life & Super

Useful Links:

Investment bonds in estate planning | Australian Unity Wealth

Disclosure: General advice for listeners. Please be aware that the information in this podcast has been prepared without considering the objectives, financial situation, or needs of any individual and is general in nature. If you do wish to act on the information, before doing so you should consider its appropriateness to your circumstances and obtain specific legal and financial advice. As we suggest in the podcast we would always recommend obtaining financial and legal advice relevant to your circumstances before making any decisions and also in line with this suggest getting specialist advice from a tax professional to confirm the impact of this financial advice on your overall tax position.

In this episode Anna is joined by Rohani Bixler, who is in a league of her own when it comes to supporting families/parents/guardians to put in place arrangements to make sure their child (or children) living with disability are looked after when they die or lose capacity.

Rohani is a pre-eminent expert in the field and has a deep personal connection to the subject making today’s episode so compelling and comforting. This is a subject rich in emotion, complexity and something the team at Australian Unity Trustees is asked about a lot.


Host: Anna Hacker
Guest: Rohani Bixler, Special Counsel at Burke & Associates Lawyers. Rohani is a highly regarded practitioner in the areas of Estate Planning, including bespoke testamentary trusts and advice for complex circumstances including blended families, private companies, family trusts, vulnerable beneficiaries, estranged family members.
Useful links -   Special Disability Trusts | Department of Social Services, Australian Government (dss.gov.au)
Disclosure – General advice for listeners - Please be aware that the information in this podcast has been prepared without considering the objectives, financial situation, or needs of any individual and is general in nature. If you do wish to act on the information, before doing so you should consider its appropriateness to your circumstances and obtain specific legal and financial advice. As we suggest in the podcast we would always recommend obtaining financial and legal advice relevant to your circumstances before making any decisions and also in line with this suggest getting specialist advice from a tax professional to confirm the impact of this financial advice on your overall tax position.

One of the lessons we have gleaned in our work helping people with their estate planning is the stories of regret and remorse as they relate to the guilt of not knowing what their loved one’s dying wishes were – be it about life support, palliative care, burial/cremation preferences, resuscitation and on it goes.

When we came across the Advance Care Planning program we knew that it would be an important program to shine a light on and we were grateful to have the wonderful Dr Sonia Fullerton, Deputy Chief Medical Officer at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and an advocate for the program on the show.



Host: Anna Hacker


Guest: Dr Sonia Fullerton, is Deputy Chief Medical Officer at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, a consultant in palliative medicine and an ambassador for Advance Care Planning Australia. Her interests include patient centred decision making, end of life care plans, social media in health and health IT.

Useful links:
Advance Care Planning Australia.
Palliative Care Pain and Palliative Care Research
Advance Care Planning (ACP) - YouTube

Disclosure – General advice for listeners. Please be aware that the information in this podcast has been prepared without considering the objectives, financial situation, or needs of any individual and is general in nature. If you do wish to act on the information, before doing so you should consider its appropriateness to your circumstances and obtain specific legal and financial advice. As we suggest in the podcast we would always recommend obtaining financial and legal advice relevant to your circumstances before making any decisions and also in line with this suggest getting specialist advice from a tax professional to confirm the impact of this financial advice on your overall tax position.

What happens when I die? International Women's Day 2022 #Breakthebias

Join Anna and very special guests, Sally Capp Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Mary Delahunty Founder and Executive Director of Seven Advisory (previously HESTA's head of impact) and Esther Kerr-Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Australian Unity's Wealth & Capital Markets business.

In this special episode these incredible leaders break the bread with Anna on this year's International Women's Day theme #breakthebias in a no holes barred conversation about the gender pay gap, reflections on managing our unconscious bias, leadership style, when you know it's time to leave a role, the return to the office and much, much more.

Host: Anna Hacker, Principal, Australian Unity Trustees Legal Services.

If you have a question you would like us to cover in a future episode you can send us an email: WHWID@australianunity.com.au
What happens when I die? is a podcast by Australian Unity.

Australian Unity acknowledges the Wurundjeri people as the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which this podcast was produced and we pay our respects to all First Nations people and acknowledge elders past and present.

Show notes

Sally Capp - Lord Mayor of Melbourne Sally Capp | LinkedIn
Mary Delahunty - Founder & Executive Director Seven Advisory Mary Delahunty | LinkedIn
Esther Kerr-Smith - Chief Executive Officer Wealth & Capital Markets - Australian Unity Esther Kerr-Smith | LinkedIn

https://www.australianunity.com.au/wellbeing/money-and-finances/what-happens-when-i-die-season-2-episode-7

General Advice for listeners.
Please be aware that the information in this podcast has been prepared without considering the objectives, financial situation, or needs of any individual and is general in nature. If you do wish to act on the information, before doing so you should consider its appropriateness to your circumstances and obtain specific tax, legal and financial advice. As we suggest in the podcast we would always recommend obtaining financial and legal advice relevant to your circumstances before making any decisions and also in line with this suggest getting specialist advice from a tax professional to confirm the impact of this financial advice on your overall tax position.


Australian_Unity_-_Our_Impact_2021.pdf (australianunity.com.au)

In another big episode (the final in season two) Anna talks to Marsha Laine Dungog, international tax lawyer extraordinaire from San Francisco about the profession's swift shift to digital to better serve a peripatetic client base.

Anna also talks to much-loved guest Amy from The Art of Decluttering about dealing with the death of a loved one and how her business has helped people manage and store precious belongings over the past 18 months.

Jennifer Batrouney AM QC concludes the episode and shares her deeply personal experience about dealing with the death of her brother at the height of Victoria's lockdown in mid 2020.