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 »
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 to be resuscitated if her heart fails, so she wanted to sign an Advance Health Directive. There is a new AHD form, which, I am happy to report, is a
Advance Health Directive Read More »
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 of your superannuation proceeds, make sure that they are dealt with separately in your Will, especially if your will has discretionary testamentary trust provisions. For example, if you leave your
Tax- Effective Wills 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 »
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 to his second wife, my client’s step-mother, including superannuation and the proceeds of a life insurance policy, but that the survivor would leave everything to his 3 children, 2 from
Evil Step-Mother Takes Inheritance Read More »
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 to extort a settlement for a lesser sum by withholding the whole amount. We issued a creditors statutory demand about 4½ weeks ago for the undisputed portion. If the debtors
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 which he was the director and no Will. The companies will now languish until one or more administrators are appointed by the Supreme Court. Even with a will, the companies
Are you a Sole Director? Read More »
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 software was being provided: in the cloud, with the licence changing to a monthly subscription model. This is where my computer science degree comes in handy. For help with legal
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 to get into. Last week it obtained Deductible Gift Recipient status in Category 1, the best category to be in. This means the all donations made to the Foundation are
Setting up a Charity Read More »
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 line-ball and could go either way. My clients are broke and this was a pro bono matter, so I do not get paid for all the work we did unless