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 J in the Supreme Court of Western Australia, PROSPA ADVANCE PTY LTD -v- TASOU [2024] WASC 359, relying on a Docusigned contract is not without risks, particularly when the authenticity […]
Trust Management: The Importance of Provisions for Incapacity
In the case Dryandra Investments*, delivered on 9 July 2024, the Supreme Court of Western Australia faced a significant issue: the incapacity of a trust’s guardian and appointor, Isobel May Hardie, due to dementia. This case underscores the critical need for trust deeds to include provisions for scenarios where key officeholders become legally incapacitated. The […]
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 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 […]
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 in super. Most married people who die give their super to their spouse, but what about the survivor? They typically give their super to their adult children. If they do […]
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 for a Debt Appropriation Order against the debtor’s bank, because, to the extent her bank account is in credit, it is a debt payable on demand by the bank to […]
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 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 […]
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 of their daughters. In the process of preparing the deeds to appoint the daughter as trustee, we noticed that in one of the trusts, the trustees of the trust were […]
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, 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 […]
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 the trust to its various beneficiaries to be made. If the resolutions are not passed, they cannot be made and back-dated. That amounts to fraud. Some deed have a default […]
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 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 […]