The Succession, Asset Protection and Estate Planning Advisers Association (SAPEPAA) has moved one step closer to setting its own education standards and flagged its purpose was to avoid the “horror stories” that result from bad advice associated with wealth transfer matters.
As part of an online update, SAPEPAA board chair Grant Abbott said the association had made the standards publicly available and was looking for support from education course providers.
“We had a working group set the competency standards in late 2020 and those standards are available on our website, and we would like those ratified by the board as soon as possible,” Abbott said.
“We are also starting to let education providers know those standards are there and if they want to meet with us and seek to put in place an accreditation course, which is the all-important part for us.”
He said a formal launch of the association, originally planned for March, was likely to take place at a slightly later date, at which time the body would also release details about membership options and fees.
“Towards the end of April or early May we will have a formal launch across Australia and we are hoping that with the education providers we can have our accreditation course up and running and our first intake of accredited specialists,” he said.
The momentum behind the association was related to the large sums of wealth that were likely to transfer between generations in the next decade and to prevent some of the issues currently linked with wealth transfers, he noted.
“We are moving ahead and in comparison to the effort in the late 1990s to get people interested in SMSFs, that was a long time coming, but in this space accountants and advisers are excited because they can see the problems in estate planning and asset protection,” he said.
“We all have horror stories of disasters where lawyers have created a balls-up for clients.
“The accountants and advisers are involved in these processes and it is now important to build a foundation for it and start talking to the government about what can be done, so we are not railroaded by the legal fraternity, and look after our clients from a holistic basis.”
Last month, SAPEPAA named its six directors, who will also chair its various committees overseeing education, marketing, compliance and governance.
