Meet SA Woman Member, Fiona Shilton .
Business/Organisation: Your Estate Lawyer
Job Role: Your Estate Lawyer
Tell us a bit about you:
I’m Fiona Shilton
Your Estate Lawyer
A big-hearted, straight-talking, avoider of avoidable problems.
I have over 17 years experience working in litigation, family, and estate law in Adelaide and The Adelaide Hills. A graduate of Adelaide University I am a keen hiker, mum of five, wife of one, and convinced I’ll talk myself to death one day.
In September 2022 I was awarded the SA Woman Emerging Woman In Business Award in recognition of my passion for changing the face of estate planning and creating a business that supports my wider community.
Whether you want to write a will that takes care of your family or you’re in the process of managing a deceased estate, at Your Estate Lawyer we’re on a mission to…
⭐ Set families up to succeed (not fail or fight)
⭐ Help will makers use their will as a reward (not a weapon)
⭐ Support executors with kindness, compassion, and care (not leave them to flounder)
⭐ Death is a once in a life time experience that’s worth getting right.
You deserve someone on your team who can ask hard questions, help you navigate ever changing legal requirements, avoid avoidable problems, and communicate what’s in your head and your heart in a way that will look after your wishes and your family.
Tell us a bit about your business or organisation/role:
Estate planning and estate administration that takes care of the living.
Not many people put death and dying on the top of their list of fun things to do.
The reality is death comes to all of us, and having honest and sometimes difficult conversations about what life looks like after you die will give you the peace of mind to get on with living.
At Your Estate Lawyer we give you the confidence and security of knowing you have everything in place to look after the people who are important to you, when you’re no longer able to.
If you’re looking to write a will that holds up after you die, or administer the estate of a loved one with care and compassion, I promise to make it a life-changing experience.
What region of South Australia are you in?:
Adelaide Hills
How can you best contact you:
Phone Number: (08) 83125970
Email: hello@yourestatelawyer.com.au
Work Address: 28B Mount Barker Road Hahndorf SA 5245
Website: https://www.yourestatelawyer.com.au/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/yourestatelawyer1?mibextid=ZbWKwL
Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/yourestatelawyer_?igsh=cTJ1NWtkdWRwNXVq
Let’s get to know you a little more:
What has been a lesson you learnt in your career or business that has stayed with you?
“We can only live our lives as fully as possible even if it is based on a mistake.”
When Jill Lathlean died in 1985 someone awesome added this epitaph to her grave marker.
I don’t know Jill Lathlean but from the moment I accidentally discovered her final resting place in a forgotten corner of Norton Summit cemetery I’ve really wanted to sit down and have a cuppa with her…
What was the mistake? Was it really so big it warranted a death bed up-yours? Did you leave instructions in your will to have this message placed on your grave? What is a mistake anyway? Surely it’s just a “take” that didn’t quite go as expected…
Then I’d go on to tell her a bunch of things about me. Because this conversation would pretty much go like the hundreds of estate planning chats I’ve had over the past 2 years – a bit about you, a bit about me, and some answers in the middle.
I’d let her in on the secret that Your Estate Lawyer came about as the product of a mistake. The mistake of spending over a decade of my life thinking that I was cut out for dispute-focused law and believing that empathy, care, and vulnerability weren’t welcome in lawyering (I was wrong).
I’d tell her that when I was asked to leave my “real lawyer job”, instead of driving into a tree, overwhelmed with the shit-show my life had become I decided to be brave and do something I’d never even considered an option…
I started a business.
I’d probably admit that whilst I’ve helped other people make brave decisions, it’s taken until now to realise that being brave has helped me live life more fully than I ever thought possible.
I’m pretty sure Jill would think the SA Women I have had the pleasure of meeting over the past two years and their willingness to support, share, empower and marinate me in their awesomeness has been as invaluable as I do.
I don’t know Jill Lathlean, but I want to tell her she’s right; we can only live our lives as fully as possible even if it is based on a mistake.
What is your favourite place in South Australia to visit?
Mount Gambier
Why is being part of SA Woman important to you?
Connection. Simple as that ❤️
What is a quote or mantra you live by?
Brave is kind.