17th Annual Wills and Estates Conference

The landscape of wills and estates practice is shifting beneath practitioners' feet. Federal Budget reforms are upending testamentary trust advice. A new ATO draft determination has put the CGT main residence exemption in doubt. Family provision claims are reaching further than ever before. And the cost of getting it wrong — for clients and practitioners alike — has never been higher.
 

Now in its 17th year, TEN The Education Network’s two-day conference brings together leading barristers, accredited specialists and senior practitioners from across Australia to cut through the complexity and give you the tools to practise with confidence.
 

Across 12 sessions, our expert faculty will take you from the frontlines of testamentary trust reform and the CGT implications of post-death occupancy arrangements, through to the expanding reach of family provision claims and the professional responsibility minefield of declining client capacity. You'll also tackle the practical challenges of executor misconduct, probate caveats, and structuring estates for vulnerable beneficiaries.

Day 1 - Thursday 17 September 2026

Morning Theme:  Planning Under Pressure - Capacity, Control and Structural Limits

• The End of the Testamentary Trust? Succession Planning After the New 30% Trust Tax
• Can You Act - And Can You Tell Anyone? Capacity and Confidentiality in Succession Planning
• Locking It In? Mutual Wills, BFAs and the Limits of Contractual Succession Planning
• When Gifts Fail: Legacies, Drafting Risks and Unintended Outcomes
   

Afternoon Theme:  Estate Disputes

• Promises Made and Wills Changed: The Limits of Proprietary Estoppel in Family Succession Disputes
• Not Quite a Partner: Informal Relationships and Expanding Family Provision Claims
• Stopping the Grant: Strategic Use of Probate Caveats in Estate Litigation
   

Day 2 - Friday 18 September 2026

Morning Theme: Drafting for Complex Outcomes

• Providing For Tomorrow: Planning, Establishing and Administering Special Disability Trusts
• Keep it in the Family: Life Estates, Rights of Occupation, and the CGT Main Residence Exemption
• I Don’t Want It: Disclaiming Inheritances Without Triggering Tax, Duty and Family Fallout
   

Afternoon Theme: Executors Under Pressure

• Show Your Working: Estate Accounts, Beneficiary Demands and the Court’s Supervisory Role
• When the Executor Goes Rogue: Misconduct, Missing Funds and Urgent Court Action