81 A fully mobile wills and estates law firm: Increasing access to legal advance care planning

<h3>Aim</h3> To describe the experiences to date of clients of a fully mobile wills and estates law firm servicing Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. <h3>Background</h3> I created Kate Redman &amp; Associates as a fully mobile law firm on 1 October 2024. As of June 2023, 17% of Queensland’s population was aged 65 years or older, and many of these clients no longer drive, or do not feel comfortable attending traditional brick and mortar law firms. They worry about being rushed, and having their lawyer charge them at hourly rates. All of my firm’s estate planning is undertaken on a fixed fee basis. <h3>Summary</h3> My team has attended palliative care wards at hospitals and prepared Wills and Enduring Powers of Attorney on the spot for clients who have physically deteriorated but maintain mental capacity to provide instructions. <h3>Unique Contributions</h3> Kate Redman &amp; Associates is the only fully mobile, specialist wills and estates law firm servicing Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. The unique contribution of this submission is sharing our experiences in providing our service, to educate attendees on the ways in which legal professionals can think more openly about how to engage with different demographics in the community to enable access to quality legal advance care planning. <h3>Implications</h3> Since commencing operations on 1 October 2024, Kate Redman &amp; Associates have prepared over 300 Wills, Enduring Powers of Attorney and Advance Health Directives for clients, 90% of whom have advised that without our mobile service, they would not have taken the step of instructing a lawyer to prepare their legal advance care plans. As the aging demographic of our population continues to grow, it is crucial that lawyers and other advance care planning professionals re-evaluate traditional methods of service delivery to ensure the highest levels of access for clients.