At Michael Paterson & Associates we understand that some disputes are inevitable and will lead to litigation. When that happens, our team are well placed to run the case.
Much of the work we do is related to helping business owners. Whatever your position in business, getting the right legal advice and documents in place can save you a lot of stress.
Estate Planning is all about helping you prepare your assets and finances so you leave your family and loved ones in the best possible position.
For an appointment with Michael Paterson, our Notary Public, contact us on (08) 9443 5383.
Meet The Team
Blogs
Dispute Resolution
Fast Dispute Resolution
My client had got behind in paying rent for some commercial premises. The main representative for the lessor went away and other person took over ...
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Messy Agency Issues
Our client provided estimates to company A for work on 2 trailers, did the work, charged the amount in the estimate, and got paid. Our ...
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Enforcing Judgements
We obtained a judgment for our client for about $8,800.00 in the Magistrates Court. The Judgment debtor ignored our demands for payment, so we applied ...
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Messy Dispute- Thinking Outside the Box
My clients bought a block of land with a friend’s company, then went guarantors on a another loan to the company, and ended up owing ...
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Contract Dispute
We have been helping a client chase a $242k debt, half of which is not actually in dispute, but our client’s client is basically trying ...
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Con-artist Scam
I’ve been trying to get back money for a client who was convinced to part with money on an offer to purchase shares which was ...
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Granny Flat Dispute
I am helping a client who paid most of the cost of the construction of a granny flat at his daughter and son-in-law’s house, using ...
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3 Day Trial
I’ve been recovering from the stress of a 3 day trial , where I was the barrister. The Magistrate reserved her decision. The outcome is ...
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Commercial Lease Dispute
I was in court a few weeks ago expecting to argue why a particular lease was a “retail shop lease”, as defined in the Commercial ...
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Stressful Court Case
We were seeking an adjournment of a hearing which was set for last Friday, due to one of our clients having had a recent double ...
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Quick & Efficient Resolution of Court Cases
We received instructions to assist a client at short notice to set aside a default judgment which had been given against them in the Magistrates ...
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Fast Resolution of a Dispute
We sent a demand letter naming all of the following as proposed defendants to a court action: The sales rep for a house and land ...
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A Demanding Break-Up
I received a call from a builder regarding his trailer, tools and his stand up paddle board, which he needed to head north on the ...
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Misrepresentation Views
I met with a client to provide advice about making a summary judgment application in a case that he is handling himself. Ironically this new ...
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Building Defects
I’ve been helping a lady who wishes to terminate a contract with a builder. The contract provides that the builder needs to be paid for ...
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Paper Heavy Litigation
It has been a busy week compiling affidavits for a couple of court cases we are dealing with. One I was working on the other ...
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Recovering Money
I had to look into whether a couple of people might be able to recover about $750,000, some of which they lent to a non-existent ...
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Trespass
I’d like to share a note from a happy client, who needed to get a relative and his wife out of his mother’s house. Names ...
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Building Contracts and Disputes
I gave some advice recently to a new client in relation to a building contract that is going awry due to increases in the cost ...
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Building Dispute
A builder client of mine installed the wrong tiles in a development. Despite conceding that he needed to rectify, the owners lodged a Building Commission ...
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Contractor Disputes
We had an enquiry from a new client who was working as a subcontractor for a former head contractor. The arrangement was that the head ...
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Insurance Claims
Recently, we have been working on a matter for a new client. Our client is a tenant who had signed a Lease requiring the tenant ...
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Dispute Resolution & Recovering Money
Recently, a client signed the settlement deed for a matter we have settled. Our elderly client was persuaded to part with $250,000 for an interest ...
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Trespass
We are helping an aunt evict a niece from the back shed of the aunt’s mother’s house at the moment. We helped to draft a ...
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Dispute Settlement
I was up rather late recently correcting errors in a spreadsheet that my client had sent me after 6.30pm and which I had not seen ...
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Dispute Settlement
Recently I helped a lady who was owed a paltry $726.00 for some consulting work. However, the person for whom she was providing the consulting services ...
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Residential Tenancy (COVID-19 Response) Act 2020
During the COVID emergency, I had a call from a client regarding a residential lease matter. He was panicking: he and his wife are renting; ...
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Commercial and Deceased Estate Dispute
I was recently in a Supreme Court mediation in relation to a deceased estate from 10.30am until 3.30pm, without a break for a coffee or ...
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Commercial Tenancies During The Coronavirus Pandemic
With all the excitement of the Federal Budget and the myriad pre-budget announcements, a lot of people missed the changes to the Commercial Tenancy (COVID-19 ...
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Patent Dispute
A new client was referred to me this week by a patent attorney. My client has been accused of infringing a patent, and US$500k is ...
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Case Summary Mcgeough v Ian Torrington Blatchford as administrator of the estate of Margaret Mary Mcgeough [2019] WASC 454
This court case illustrates why these sorts of family provision matters should settle, particularly for a small estate. The first 132 paragraphs deal with the ...
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Building Dispute
We are dealing with a building dispute. We are concerned the building company involved will drag out the matter, and then go into liquidation. So ...
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Temporary relief for financially distressed businesses
Here is a link to a flyer which you may have seen, click HERE. In summary: Creditors Statutory Demands (CSDs): The temporary increase in the ...
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I was at a Supreme Court mediation yesterday trying to resolve a long-running dispute. I’m afraid that the enemy just wasted our time. This was ...
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IT Clients
We deal with various IT clients. One client provides software for the Aged Care sector. That client has received 2 rather unusual requests from the ...
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Tiny House Dispute
We seem to be attracting building disputes at the moment. I am helping one lady who bought a couple of “tiny houses”, one to live ...
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Mediating Disputes
I had prepared a shareholder agreement for some clients. An issue arose between two groups of shareholders and one group asked me if I could ...
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Lots of Litigation
We are flat out at the moment with: A major Supreme Court matter with a hearing next week; A district court and a magistrates court ...
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Building Arbitration
We have two building arbitration’s running at the moment which are keeping us very busy. We get a skewed view on life as lawyers, since ...
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Family Provision Disputes
I went to a 4 hour seminar on Family Provision actions on Tuesday, in which relatives of the deceased claim to have special need that ...
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Property Dispute
Last week I settled a dispute between an owner and a project manager. We acted for the owner. A project manager for a major renovation ...
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Intellectual Property Dispute
Kellie has been working on a breach of confidentiality and trade restraint case this week. With the help of Steve Edwards, we have found evidence ...
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Domestic Dispute
This week I’ve been dealing with a case of elder abuse. Am 82 year old widow client of mine is being harassed by her 60 ...
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YouTube Copyright Dispute
This week we received an enquiry about a breach of copyright. Our client claims to own the copyright in several documentaries which have been posted ...
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Dispute Over Unpaid Invoices
I received a call during the week from the daughter of a gentleman who has taken out his own summons in the Magistrates Court, chasing ...
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A Heavy-Handed Section 69 Notice – Fair Trading Act
Michael met with a lady who had recently sold some vacant land. The buyer was not happy about the sewer line on which she could not ...
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Case Summary of Porter -v- Steinberg [2019] WASC 291
In this case, the Applicant lived in a lower floor unit in a Strata development. The Respondents living in the unit immediately above the Applicant’s ...
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Potentially Fraudulent Promises
One of our client’s has been strung along for some months with promises of payment and extra work. The promises have all been broken, to ...
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Lease Dispute Arbitration
This week we finalised an agreement to send numerous disputes regarding a lease to arbitration. One dispute related to whether the lessee or the lessor ...
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Family Provision Dispute
This week we received an e-mail from a lady whose step-son has served a Family Provision claim on her and his half-brother, his father having ...
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$1.8 Million Claim – District Court Mediation
Michael attended a District Court mediation last week. We represented one elderly defendant. The plaintiff had a somewhat ambit claim seeking $1.8 million in damages ...
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Alternative Dispute Resolution
Its been a busy week for us on the alternative dispute resolution front for us, including: Settling a draft position statement for a Supreme Court ...
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Know who you are contracting with
Kellie was in Midland last week seeking summary judgment in case we are working on. The Claimant first of all tried to sue our client’s ...
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Behind in Rent
I got a call yesterday morning from the daughter of a client who owns a commercial property. Her tenant is behind in the rent By ...
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Company Dispute
We started dealing with another company dispute this week. Our client has been left to run the business on his own for over a year ...
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Telephone Company Dispute
I helped a couple this week with a plan after a fraudster switched their business’s mobile number from Optus to Vodafone, hijacked it and started ...
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Insurance Dispute Resolution
One of our clients has recently been subjected to an ATO audit and he had insurance to cover legal and accounting fees. The audit resulting ...
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Commercial Tenancy Dispute
This week we took instructions from a couple of guys who had some of their personal gear stored at some premises that had been leased ...
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Creditor’s Statutory Demand
We are coming up for Christmas and it is a favourite time to serve a Creditor’s Statutory Demand on a company that owes you money. ...
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Disputes Between Business Associates
This week we’ve been helping an old client with a business venture that has been running for nine years. They run a hospitality business. The ...
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Building Disputes
This week we went through a strategy for a client who is building a house and has some issues with his builder, including: Variations not ...
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Fighting Telstra
This week we settled some submissions to Telstra on behalf of a client who has been badly stuffed around by Telstra: The client bought a ...
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Honest Appraisal of your Prospects in Business Disputes
A lot of companies have gone into liquidation in recent years. Our client claimed he was owed consulting fees by a company in liquidation. The ...
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Assessing the Prospects in Business Disputes
A lot of companies have gone into liquidation in recent years. Our client claimed he was owed consulting fees by a company in liquidation, but ...
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IT Legal Advice
Last Friday we received an e-mail from a worried IT service provider client. His client’s admin@ e-mail account seems to have been hacked, with the ...
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Stormy Situation
We saw a new client yesterday with an interesting problem. He leased out commercial premises. They were damaged in a storm. The tenant was responsible ...
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Tricky Building Situation
This week I went through a strategy for a client who is building a house and has some issues with his builder, including: Variations not ...
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Disputes with the ATO (Our Clients, Not Us)
It has been a week for resolving disputes. Today Michael’s off to Francis Street Northbridge, to try to settle a dispute with the ATO. Unlike ...
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A Couple of Disputes
It has been a week for resolving disputes. We re-listed one matter for mediation after the two other parties failed to reach an agreement in ...
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Client v Builder
We were contacted by one owner of a SMSF that has contracted to have a building constructed. Our client agreed to the builder’s suggestion to ...
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Dispute with a Factoring Company
One of our clients has a dispute with a factoring company. A factor buys debts at a discount from companies that have cash flow issues, ...
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Longest Mediation Session Ever!
Last week we attended the longest day’s mediation we’ve ever been involved with. We did not get out until after 7.00pm. We almost finished settling ...
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Multiple Court Actions
Today Michael will be in Court most of the day attending a mediation in which he will be trying to settle six related Court actions. ...
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Liquor Licence Transfer
Last week we finalising the paperwork for the transfer of a liquor licence. It proved to be a bit trickier than was expected due to ...
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Upcoming Debt Collection Kit
We have two builders testing our Building Contract Management Kit. We are busy finalising the latest version of a DIY Debt Collection Kit which will ...
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Commercialising Software
We had a long meeting with a client this week looking at some strategies for commercialising some software, including...
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Commercial Disputes Part II
This week we spoke with a client who had engaged a large firm to help handle a dispute with a former business partner. He had ...
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Shareholder Agreements Part II
This week we’ve been working on a suite of documents. One shareholder is leaving a company and another is buying in. The remaining two shareholders ...
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ATO Troubles (Our Clients, Not Us)
It has been a week of helping clients deal with stressful situations. One client had a meeting with the ATO last week regarding an R&D ...
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Supreme Court Trial
Yesterday one of our matters went to trial before Supreme Judge Allanson. It is rare thing. Only about two per cent of Supreme Court cases ...
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Neighbour Disputes
We saw a chap yesterday who owns a duplex property. The other duplex owner has built a higher fence next to an old existing fence ...
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Credit Arrangement with Franchisees
This week we’ve been working on a contract which is one piece in a larger puzzle involving: a $1 million deal; • one Chinese company ...
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Accountant Conflict of Interest
Some clients of ours were not happy with their ex-accountant because he had been giving advice to a family member, who was also a client, ...
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Resolving a Dispute with Solicitors
We are meeting with two other solicitors this afternoon in an attempt to negotiate the settlement of a long-running and acrimonious dispute over a deceased ...
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Debt Collection Good Result
We had a good result for a client just before Christmas last year. Their company had provided over one million dollars in services between 1 ...
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Incomplete Sale of Land
We had a new matter this week involving a contract for the sale of land. Our client is a company that owns a villa. The ...
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Employment Dispute
I saw a new client before my one week break. He’d been sacked out of the blue. It was clearly an unfair dismissal and he ...
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Sale of Land Dispute
We received a referral from a settlement agent this week who is acting for a seller. The contract specified various issues with the house, but ...
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Facebook and Copyright Issues
This week we saw a new client regarding some Facebook and Copyright issues. She had obtained permission to use images from the US manufacturer’s website, ...
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Rouge Partner – Partnership Disputes
This week I met a new client who had been in partnership with a bit of a rogue. It seems the ex-partner was planning to ...
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Last Minute Negotiation
This week we had some fun with some last minute negotiations. Our client believes he was oppressed by the majority shareholder of a company and ...
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Mediating Disputes
Every stranded group needs someone to help resolve disputes. I have trained as a mediator and have been involved in many, many mediations, due to ...
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Ridiculous Offer to Settle
We attended a mediation at the District Court earlier this week. Our clients have an excellent case, supported by an expert’s report, but they are ...
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The Importance of Joint Tenancy
Our client’s recently ex-husband died. The house was in joint names, so it automatically went to her and did not form part of his estate. ...
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Copyright – International Enforcement
We received some interesting instructions this week from a photographer that was referred by an old client. One of his photographs, of a girl with ...
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Software Licence Dispute
Our clients developed some software to demonstration stage. They set a price and a three-year term. The customer wanted the contract in writing and some ...
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Building Dispute – Contract Price Increases and Prime Cost Variations
We’ve been dealing with some very nice people that signed with a project builder using a rather messy 2007 Housing Industry Association contract. The demolition ...
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Advice on a Messy Shareholder Agreement
We worked this week on some advice on a proposed shareholder agreement that had been provided to a client of ours. According to our instructions, ...
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Business Law
Beware if You Seek to Rely on a Docusigned Contract
In the ever-evolving digital age, Docusign has emerged as a widely-used method for electronically signing documents. However, as demonstrated in the recent case before Whitby ...
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Deed of Gift
This week I’ve been giving advice to a new client about transferring her house into her name and her daughter, as joint tenants, so that ...
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Analysis of new regulations
I have a client who operates a reputable tow truck business. New regulations came into effect last year which impose some new obligations on tow ...
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Transfer of Farmland
We are dealing with an interesting matter involving transfer of farmland Our client’s husband passed away a year ago. He left his farming property to ...
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Trust Deed Variations
One of our clients passed away last year. He and his wife were trustees of 2 trusts, so we need to replace him with one ...
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Trade Mark Dispute
We recently helped a client with a trademark application, consisting of 3 words. An aggressive US company which has a few trademarks related to one ...
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Trust Deeds
Do you have your business held in Family Trust or Discretionary Trust? The ATO and most trust deeds, require a resolution distributing the income from ...
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Are you a Sole Director?
An old client contacted me the other week. His accountant has told him that one of his clients had died leaving behind multiple companies of ...
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IT Legal Issues
I helped revise an old Software Integration Agreement and an incorporated Software Licence Agreement so that it applied to the new way in which the ...
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Setting up a Charity
I have just helped set up a charitable Foundation. It is to help under-privileged kids participate in tennis, which can be a very expensive sport ...
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3 Day Trial
I’ve been recovering from the stress of a 3 day trial , where I was the barrister. The Magistrate reserved her decision. The outcome is ...
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Restructuring Ownership of Businesses
I had a query from an accountant seeking assurance that the transfer of a business from an individual to a company, the shares which were ...
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Sale of Share Agreements
We are helping some long-term clients with the exit of the main business partner via a buy out from the more junior partners. The principle ...
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Business Ventures
An old client of mine has an idea for a boutique bar with an interesting twist. He has been discussing the with the owners of ...
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Termination of Employment Contracts
I provided some advice to a client who had been made redundant and wanted to know if he could take action against his employer. His ...
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Trust Deeds
We reviewed a couple of trust deeds recently for a new client. One deed was validly executed and was effective to change the trustee, but ...
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Enforcement of Mortgage
A few years ago we settled a court action. One of the terms required the enemy to pay a further $25,000.00 within 5 years. We ...
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Absolute Caveats
Some terms and conditions have a charging clause, which provide that the debtor provides a charge over his, her or its personal and/or real property ...
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Sale of Accounting Practices
We finalised the documents for the sale of 3 accounting practices. For 2 of them, 70% of the purchase price is being paid now and ...
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A Demanding Break-Up
I received a call from a builder regarding his trailer, tools and his stand up paddle board, which he needed to head north on the ...
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Early Possession – Buyer’s Risks
I was asked to give some advice to a couple who have contracted to buy a house, but settlement is being delayed. The couple have ...
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Share and Unit Sale Agreements
We are in the middle of negotiating one unit sale agreement, one unit and share sale agreement, two other share sale agreements, and there is ...
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Building Contracts and Disputes
I gave some advice recently to a new client in relation to a building contract that is going awry due to increases in the cost ...
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Building Dispute
A builder client of mine installed the wrong tiles in a development. Despite conceding that he needed to rectify, the owners lodged a Building Commission ...
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Contractor Disputes
We had an enquiry from a new client who was working as a subcontractor for a former head contractor. The arrangement was that the head ...
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Insurance Claims
Recently, we have been working on a matter for a new client. Our client is a tenant who had signed a Lease requiring the tenant ...
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Dispute Resolution & Recovering Money
Recently, a client signed the settlement deed for a matter we have settled. Our elderly client was persuaded to part with $250,000 for an interest ...
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Buy, Sell Agreements & Shareholder Agreements
I received some instructions from a client to prepare documents to allow one key person to exit. Instead of the other shareholders buying out his ...
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Loan Agreements
Recently, I’ve been providing advice to new client. He and a friend are looking to lend a total of $350k to a builder who is ...
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Dispute Settlement
I was up rather late recently correcting errors in a spreadsheet that my client had sent me after 6.30pm and which I had not seen ...
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Residential Tenancy (COVID-19 Response) Act 2020
During the COVID emergency, I had a call from a client regarding a residential lease matter. He was panicking: he and his wife are renting; ...
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Industrial Manslaughter – Strata Councillors Beware!
The Work Health and Safety Act 2020 came into force this week. Some key points are: What was previously called “gross negligence” is now called ...
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Powers of Attorney and Your Business
A common business set up is to have a husband and wife as the shareholders and directors of a company, either trading in its own ...
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Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) and Dealing with Land
Recently we assisted a pair of clients acting as Attorneys for an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) in dealing with Land owned by their parent. ...
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Winery Purchase
In what can only be described as a good sign, we are acting on the purchase of a winery for a client. The client is ...
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Beware of the Fine Print when a Trust gives a Guarantee!
We recently dealt with a guarantee that was being given by our client’s in their capacity as trustees of a discretionary trust. There is a ...
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Temporary relief for financially distressed businesses
Here is a link to a flyer which you may have seen, click HERE. In summary: Creditors Statutory Demands (CSDs): The temporary increase in the ...
READ MORE...
IT Clients
We deal with various IT clients. One client provides software for the Aged Care sector. That client has received 2 rather unusual requests from the ...
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Mediating Disputes
I had prepared a shareholder agreement for some clients. An issue arose between two groups of shareholders and one group asked me if I could ...
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Buying & Selling Businesses
Do you want to buy the shares in an existing company and run the risk of taking on skeletons that may be lurking in the ...
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Contracts of Sale
We are helping some clients purchase 2 businesses outside of Perth. It involves contracts of sale and shareholder agreements. One sale has a potentially long ...
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Heritage Commercial Property Sub-Lease
This week I’ve been helping a client negotiate a sub-lease of a heritage-listed commercial property. I am a bit concerned because the landlord is somewhat ...
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Macro to Change the Fonts in Practically Every Part a Document – It only misses Watermarks, that I know of …
As a lawyer with a computer science degree, I like to write the occasional bit of software, often in Microsoft WordBasic. We recently changed the ...
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Speedy Settlement
An old client came to us last week seeking independent advice on loan contract, guarantees and mortgages being given as security for a loan. The ...
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IP Issues for IT Client
We received an e-mail from an old IT client who had a trade mark issue. A cruise company wanted to register a trade mark in ...
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Company Dispute
We started dealing with another company dispute this week. Our client has been left to run the business on his own for over a year ...
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Spreadsheets for Business Sale Agreements
I have been preparing documents for a client who wishes to sell some businesses. The buyer pulled out, but my client is now offering to ...
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Terminating A Building Contract
We received some instructions this week to help terminate a building contract. There has been a litany of issues during the build. It is not ...
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$1.15 Million Business Sale
I had a lengthy discussion with a client who is selling his interest in 5 businesses to his business associates for $1.15 million, on 90% ...
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Computer and IT Contracts
We are helping a client who wishes to develop some software to assist in his business and sell to others in the industry to recoup ...
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Insurance Dispute Resolution
One of our clients has recently been subjected to an ATO audit and he had insurance to cover legal and accounting fees. The audit resulting ...
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Creditor’s Statutory Demand
We are coming up for Christmas and it is a favourite time to serve a Creditor’s Statutory Demand on a company that owes you money. ...
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Merging Businesses
We spoke to an old colleague of Michael’s this week who is merging his business with the business of another old colleague. He needs a ...
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Sale Agreement Improvement
We’ve been helping a client with documentation to buy a café this week. A real estate agent who is acting for the seller put together ...
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Businesses Extending Credit to Customers
A lot of businesses extend credit to their customers. We recommend businesses require their customers to make credit application, which incorporate the business’s terms of ...
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Business Agreements
People are starting to do business again. This week we received some instructions to: prepare a sale agreement for the sale of 20% of the ...
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IT-related Legal Work
We’ve been doing quite a bit of IT-related legal work this week – a copyright assignment deed in relation to a computer program, a head ...
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More Business Deals
More people are starting to do business again. This week we received some instructions from one new to: help restructure a group of companies review ...
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Buying into Companies
We met a new client yesterday who is looking to allow some of his employees to buy into his company. We discussed different ways and ...
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Building Contract Management Kit
We are now ready to release our New Building Contract Management Kit for builders, consisting of: a contract for residential buildings a contract for commercial ...
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Business and Property Documents
We put together an interesting suite of documents this week: A lease of a large commercial property from one company which owns the property; A ...
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Option Agreements
It has been a week for option agreements this week. We amended one that gives a couple of potential investors the option to invest multiples ...
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Employment Contracts
This week we received a call from a friend of a client with an employment issue. He was recruited, signed a contract and shown his ...
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Copyright Breach Allegations
We spoke to a client about a copyright matter this week. They had had a company prepare some plans for them based off an initial ...
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Shareholder Agreements
We have been working on a shareholder agreement with some slightly complicated succession clauses. In summary: (a) the company pays for insurance for the key ...
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$11 Million Deal
We have been working on a new $11m deal for a new client – a contract to buy a piece of land and another contract ...
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Liquidation
We have one client whose company was ordered to be wound up yesterday, but the company assets seem to exceed it liabilities, so we may ...
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Corporate Compliance
Do you use a company to trade? Do you have the Australian Company Number for that company on your business card? What about your website? ...
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Exotic Share Class
We have helped a few clients set up companies recently. The last matter required a special class of share for 15% of the total shares ...
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Privacy Policy
Do you have a Privacy Policy? Does it comply with the 10 National Privacy Principles from the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988? Did you know that ...
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Trust Deed Advice
We’ve got a matter where the enemy is questioning the validity of a deed of variation that was signed in 1979 on the basis of ...
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Loan & Security Documents
We have had a few clients lately selling on vendor finance. We provide a deed of acknowledgement of debt and guarantee, and where possible, a ...
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Complicated Business Sale Agreement
I’ve been working on a complicated business sale agreement this week. Among other things: Control of the buying company has to be changed with a ...
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Contract of Sale of Land Disputes
Following on from my story about the buyer, a lawyer, who was challenging the validity of a large number of special conditions which he and ...
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Sale of Land Dispute
We received a referral from a settlement agent this week who is acting for a seller. The contract specified various issues with the house, but ...
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Commercial Loans & Security Documentation
We are helping a client who got a little too large too quickly. He has a profitable business, but it has about $1 million in ...
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Sale and Purchase of a Business
I am working on a sale and purchase of a business. The buyer and seller are business partners. The seller wishes to slow down and ...
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Property Development
Michael saw an old client this week. He’s had his builder’s ticket for 4 years and is about to start his own building company. He ...
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Pragmatic Business
A client of mine sent me an e-mail yesterday worried about a contract for the purchase of a property. She and her husband have faced ...
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Lending Money
I got some instructions from an old client that I had to sue a couple of years ago to recover some fees. Her father wishes ...
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Finalising Franchise Agreement
Yesterday we finalised negotiations regarding a franchise for a client. We managed to get numerous changes made to the franchise agreement, though not as many ...
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Purchase of Financial Planning Business
We are helping a lady negotiate the purchase of 2 financial planning businesses at the moment. We’ve done a few of these over the years, ...
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Documents for a Proposed Development and a Visit from Constable Care!
We are working on a set of documents for a proposed development: A trust deed making it clear that the trustees are purchasing the land ...
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Contractor Contract
We met with a new client this week. He is looking at buying a truck and a business to go with it. The business has ...
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BUYERS (NEEDING FINANCE) BEWARE!
On 15 June 2011, the Court of Appeal of the WA Supreme Court in Dodds -v- Kennedy [No 2] [2011] WASCA 131 made some rulings ...
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Buying or Selling a Business?
This week we’ve been asked to give advice on a 50 page business sale agreement. The purchaser price is about $650,000, so it needs to ...
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Contracts Commercialisation of Intellectual Property
This week we finalised a complicated deal between our client who owns some valuable patents and trade secrets and a large US company. It involved: ...
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Notarisation of Documents
Need a Notary?
I am Notary Public and we had the AGM of the Public Notaries Society of WA on Tuesday. At 54 I drop the average age ...
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Notary Assistance
I am Notary Public and we had the AGM of the Public Notaries Society of WA on Tuesday. One item discussed involved a solicitor in ...
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Notarisation of Overseas Documents
One of our clients needs some documents notarised and sent to the US, as part of the process of winding up her late husband’s estate.
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Estate Planning
Be Careful With How You Word Your Will
A lady called a few years ago wanting to change her mother’s Will, because the named executors has passed away. Her mother has dementia, and ...
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Advance Health Directive
I have client with a severe Heart condition. She’s only been given about a month to live. She has had enough and does not wish ...
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Deed of Gift
This week I’ve been giving advice to a new client about transferring her house into her name and her daughter, as joint tenants, so that ...
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Disputes over Deceased Estates
We settled a matter involving a deceased estate. My client’s father passed away, leaving a Will. He left a sum of money to each of ...
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Tax -Effective Estate Planning – Over 65
I came across an interesting private tax ruling. A lady who was over the age of 65 had a Will leaving her estate to her ...
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Tax- Effective Wills
Who would like to give 2% of their superannuation to the tax man, for no good reason? These days, most people have a half-reasonable amount ...
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Transfer of Farmland
We are dealing with an interesting matter involving transfer of farmland Our client’s husband passed away a year ago. He left his farming property to ...
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Grants of Probate & Letters of Administration in 7 Days!
The Western Australian Supreme Court is granting well-prepared Applications for Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration in about 7 days at the moment. However, ...
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Probate Applications
We are assisting with probate applications for a couple of executors. One involves an executor who is in Melbourne, but the deceased, his aunt, lived ...
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Superannuation and Wills
I spoke to a new client the other day. He is unsure if he has a Will. If he were to pass away without a ...
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Tax- Effective Wills
We received a reminder from the provider of our SMSF deeds the other day. If you nominate your legal personal representative to be the recipient ...
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Trust Deed Variations
One of our clients passed away last year. He and his wife were trustees of 2 trusts, so we need to replace him with one ...
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Enduring Power of Attorney
Enduring Powers of Attorney: We only ever allow our clients to execute the first type, because the other defeats the purpose of having an EPA, ...
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Evil Step-Mother Takes Inheritance
A sad story this week. My client’s father died a month ago. My client understands that her father’s intention was that he would leave everything ...
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Are you a Sole Director?
An old client contacted me the other week. His accountant has told him that one of his clients had died leaving behind multiple companies of ...
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Transferring a Farm
We recently had a query about a mother who wishes to transfer a farm to her daughter. There are transfer duty exemptions for transfers of ...
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Bequest of Houses
Another case was handed down involving the bequest of a house where the house had been sold prior to the testator’s death. Usually, the gift ...
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SAT Applications for Disabled Children
We saw a new client whose 30 year old daughter has Downs syndrome. The daughter is not mentally capable of managing her own affairs, but ...
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Trust Deeds
We reviewed a couple of trust deeds recently for a new client. One deed was validly executed and was effective to change the trustee, but ...
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Estate Planning for 80 Year Olds
I met a very fit and healthy couple in their 80’s to discuss some estate planning. They showed me their current Wills, which they had ...
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Non-revocable Trust Resolution
I met with a client who needs Wills with full discretionary testamentary trusts, EPAs and EPGs for himself and his wife. He wanted AHDs (Advanced ...
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A Few Good Reasons for Having a Will
Today I had the pleasure of talking about the importance of having a Will on 89.7FM with the hosts of “In Good Company”, Lisa Evans ...
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“Britney-Spears” Type Trusts
I saw a client who would like a Will with gifts given pursuant to the terms of a discretionary testamentary trust, which enables income and ...
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Superannuation Equalisation Provisions in Wills
Below is a sheet which shows the benefit of having superannuation equalisation provisions in a Will if there is at least one financial dependent sharing ...
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Wills and Enduring Powers of Attorney
I provided some advice to a lady who is the enduring attorney for her mother. Her mother now has dementia. She wanted to change her mother’s ...
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Wills and Will Disputes
Recently we gave some advice to a lady whose father had passed away about 15 years ago, leaving everything to his second wife. Instead of ...
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Deceased Estates & Winding-up
I received an enquiry from lady whose father passed away 5 years ago, and despite obtaining probate nearly 5 years ago, the executor has done ...
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Deceased Estates
We were instructed to seek letters of administration in favour of two sisters of a lady who died about a year ago now, leaving no ...
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Tax Effective Wills
We’ve been preparing a few wills of late. One set of clauses we are including deal with superannuation proceeds that are paid into the estate, ...
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Commercial and Deceased Estate Dispute
I was recently in a Supreme Court mediation in relation to a deceased estate from 10.30am until 3.30pm, without a break for a coffee or ...
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Double Deceased Estate
We are helping with the administration of a double deceased estate, where an elderly son died not long after his even more-elderly mother. The son ...
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Family Provision
On Tuesday I attended a 4¼ hour seminar on legal issues concerning the Family Provision Act, which was rather timely, given that we have 4 ...
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Wills and Testamentary Capacity
In relation to another matter we are handling, we tried unsuccessfully to contact a lawyer who had prepared a Will for a now-deceased client. That ...
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Importance of Binding Death Benefit Nominations
Just as everyone should have a Will to ensure their assets are disposed of according to their wishes, and not according to the outdated Administration ...
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Novel Binding Death Benefit Nominations
We have a client who has separated from her husband and she wants to leave her super to her 4 kids. She does not wish ...
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Case Summary Mcgeough v Ian Torrington Blatchford as administrator of the estate of Margaret Mary Mcgeough [2019] WASC 454
This court case illustrates why these sorts of family provision matters should settle, particularly for a small estate. The first 132 paragraphs deal with the ...
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Do you have a Will?
The results of a poll that I looked at last night estimated that that 55% of the adults in Western Australia have no Will, or ...
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Wills with Tax Benefits
We have been finalising wills for a couple with a large combined estate, however, the wife will not have much in her estate if she ...
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Help with a Deceased Estate
This week we received a referral from another lawyer to prepare the paperwork necessary to effect a transfer of one third of a property from ...
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Family Provision Disputes
I went to a 4 hour seminar on Family Provision actions on Tuesday, in which relatives of the deceased claim to have special need that ...
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Guardianship and Administration Order
What to do when a loved one has Alzheimer’s and is incapable of looking after themselves or making decisions: You would need to obtain a ...
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Case Summary of Walsh v Adrian Cory Sloan as Executor of The Estate of The Late Laurette Dorothy Keddie [2019] WASCA 107
This case is an appeal regarding a Will bequeathing a house as a gift to a friend. On the face of it, the clause was ...
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Probate of Will with Informal Codicil
This week Michael met with an accountant to receive some instructions to apply for probate on a Will that we drafted about 10 years ago. ...
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Family Provision Dispute
This week we received an e-mail from a lady whose step-son has served a Family Provision claim on her and his half-brother, his father having ...
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The Importance of a Binding Death Benefit Nomination
I was reading a recent case yesterday about a lady whose husband passed away with no will, a small estate, $500k in super and no ...
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Grants of Letters of Administration and Reseals
A South African lady was referred to me this week. Her husband passed away leaving a bank account in Perth and the NAB will not ...
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Wills for Blended Families
I had a chat with another lawyer yesterday about Wills. He has seen my article in the West last year about why kids should pay ...
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Requisitions when Executors Apply for Probate Themselves
I saw an executor of an estate yesterday. He was doing his probate application himself. He received a requisition from the Probate Registry of the ...
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Executor’s Of Deceased Estates
I saw a couple of sisters for some advice about obtaining probate or alternatively, letters of administration. Their late father told them that he had ...
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Longest Mediation Session Ever!
Last week we attended the longest day’s mediation we’ve ever been involved with. We did not get out until after 7.00pm. We almost finished settling ...
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Multiple Court Actions
Today Michael will be in Court most of the day attending a mediation in which he will be trying to settle six related Court actions. ...
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Red Cross Wills
Irene and Jarred were busy over the last couple of days taking instructions from clients and preparing wills as part of a fund-raiser for the ...
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Special Purpose Wills
We have been preparing some special purpose wills lately: Wills that make special provision for intellectually disabled children; and Wills that only allow the next ...
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What is Estate Planning?
What is estate planning all about? It’s about making adequate provision for those you leave behind. From a legal point of view this includes Wills, ...
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Letters of Administration in Lithuania
We have been having fun obtaining letters of administration for the estate of a man from Lithuania. We have needed: certified copies and translations of ...
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When Probate isn’t Necessary
We spoke to an old client yesterday. She wanted help getting probate on her late mother’s will. We could have helped her do that, but ...
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EPA & EPG
I saw a lovely 79 year old lady on Tuesday. She is moving into a nursing home in Glendalough run the Little Sisters of the ...
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Life Support with no Will
Here’s a sad story. We learnt of a young chap last week who is on life support, but more than likely brain dead, so his ...
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Old Will After Divorce
We saw 2 clients two weeks ago to prepare some wills. Both were divorced some 20 years ago. Both were unaware that the wills that ...
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Winding Up Estates
We’ve been helping a client wind up an estate. Unfortunately, she started without us, and distributed a lot of what should have been the residuary ...
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Red Cross Will Special
Yesterday Jarred and Irene spent half a day each interviewing clients as part of a fund raiser for the Red Cross. The clients paid the ...
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Documents for a Proposed Development and a Visit from Constable Care!
We are working on a set of documents for a proposed development: A trust deed making it clear that the trustees are purchasing the land ...
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The Importance of Joint Tenancy
Our client’s recently ex-husband died. The house was in joint names, so it automatically went to her and did not form part of his estate. ...
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