Personal considerations

Have you ever thought what would happen to your practice if you died unexpectedly? You may have a successful practice with a good patient base (good will), patient files, books, diagnostic equipment, furniture, computers and a dispensary. It will be left to your partner and/or loved ones to decide what to do with your practice. This can place a large burden upon those close to you in addition to them dealing with grief and other legal and financial ramifications of you passing on.

Legal considerations

Some aspects of your practice, even after you die, still have legal relevance. This is particularly true of patient medical files which are required to be kept by Australian government legislation for a defined period of time (refer to the section Privacy and confidentiality on this website.

Including the practice in your will

One option for forward planning of this unforeseen event can be to include your practice into your legal will. This could include instructions on how and what to sell regarding your practice in the event of your unforeseen death.

It is essential in this case to seek the professional advice of a solicitor. They will walk you through various legalities, options, scenarios, etc, available to you for inclusion of your practice into your will.

Including your practice in a professionally written will provides the option for your practice, along with its good will, to be sold. This not only eases the burden on your loved ones who remain but also provides the best opportunity to provide them with the resultant financial windfall from the sale of your practice with its capital, goodwill, etc, included.