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 while she had an enduring power of attorney, making a Will is something an attorney cannot do. I advised that it was not worth making an application to the Supreme […]
Be Careful With How You Word Your Will Read More »
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 it does not form part of her estate and be the subject of a claim by her other daughter, from whom she has been estranged for 14 years. The transfer
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 my client’s children and half the balance to my client’s sister, the executor. The rest was to be held on trust by the Public Trustee with the income from the
Disputes over Deceased Estates Read More »
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 who was much more aggressive. He got his solicitor to issue a default notice and a termination notice. The termination notice required my client to vacate by today. My client
Fast Dispute Resolution Read More »
We settled a sale of land contract dispute. Our client contracted to buy a strata unit, subject to the standard REIWA Major Structural Defect provisions. Our client obtained a report which indicated major structural defects in relation to some outside walls. The seller tried to argue that the outside walls were a strata property issue,
Sale of Land Dispute Read More »
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 truck drivers. One new requirement is to quote a maximum fee for towing and salvage and a maximum fee for storage. Towed cars are usually taken to a holding yard
Analysis of new regulations Read More »
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 a landholding trust. She has been running the farm in her own name since. Our client wants to sell some of that land to her children, but without incurring substantial
Transfer of Farmland Read More »
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 the bank $1 million after the friend died a bankrupt and his company went broke and was facing deregistration. Well, after: … the saga finally came to an end last
Messy Dispute- Thinking Outside the Box Read More »
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, given that the same evidence is needed if you need to go to the SAT for an administration order if your loved one does not have an EPA. We have
Enduring Power of Attorney Read More »
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 of those works has lodged an objection, claiming that our clients trade mark is deceptively similar, is likely to deceive or cause confusion, and that our client was deliberately seeking
Trade Mark Dispute Read More »