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Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 10 February 2023. Peter has been residing in a strata unit for six years. Barry moves into a unit 5 meters directly below him. Peter soon notices that Barry smokes cigarettes on his balcony and that the smoke drifts up to Peter’s unit. The by-laws of the strata plan do not prohibit smoking cigarettes. Peter proposes a special resolution to adopt a by-law prohibiting smoke drift/penetration but his motion is defeated. Peter writes to Barry, stating that the cigarette smoke is preventing him from using his balcony and that it is causing health [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 3 February 2023. William disappeared 50 years ago, when he was in his mid-20s. He was not married and had no children. William’s sister, Jane discovers that William had superannuation and life insurance. However, Jane is unable to have the funds released because there was no will and no death certificate. Jane sees a solicitor and is advised that she will need to obtain a grant of “letters of administration” to have the authority to claim William’s super and life insurance. This grant is similar to a grant of probate but is made [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 27 January 2023. Adam wants to buy a property but has not obtained finance approval. He instructs his solicitor to add a ‘subject to finance clause’ into the contract which will allow him to secure the property, but also terminate the agreement if he is unable to obtain finance. The clause states that if Adam fails to obtain finance, he will only be required to pay the vendor 0.25% of the purchase price. Liz, the vendor of the property, agrees to the subject to finance clause, if Adam waives his right to the [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 20 January 2023. Robert and his mother, Janice each own neighbouring properties. Robert moves-in with his mother to look after her and decides to rent-out his property. Robert’s work as a truck driver means that he is often away. David has been a good friend of Robert’s for many years and after Robert has problems with his tenants, he talks to David about moving-in. Robert says to David; “If you look after my mother when I’m not there, you can move into my property. All you need to do is pay the rates [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 23 December 2022. It’s gift giving time, so what better time to be reminded of your consumer rights? Meet Dean. Dean decides to buy his 16 year old son, Tom, speakers and an amplifier for Christmas. After Christmas, Tom has his mates over for a party. Disastrously, the speakers blow and the party is a “silent night.” The next day Dean takes the speakers back to the Speaker Shop, seeking a refund or replacement speakers. Charlotte, the Speaker Shop salesperson, questions Dean and Tom regarding the speaker use. Tom says “We were having [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 16 December 2022. Paul makes a will, appointing his best friend and business colleague, Michael as his executor. Paul appoints his brother David as his back-up executor. Paul leaves the whole of his estate to his wife and children. When Paul passes-away, Michael obtains a grant of probate and begins performing his executorial duties and administering Paul’s estate. Two years later, Michael resigns from his senior management role, for health reasons. Michael feels that now that he has effectively retired, he no longer wishes to act as Paul’s executor, despite the fact that [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 9 December 2022. John decides to sell his home and retains a real estate agent in early December. The property is promptly listed for sale. The agent meets with John several times at John’s house and finds John to be quite an easy-going man. The agent does not receive an offer on John’s house until May. John accepts the offer and drives to the agent’s office where he signs the Contract. The agent notices that John is quite agitated. The signed Contract is then forwarded to a solicitor who immediately attempts to contact [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 2 December 2022. Amanda and Robert meet each other in their early 50s and begin dating. After a few months, they consider themselves to be boyfriend and girlfriend. After Robert’s mother passes-away, he decides to move-in with this father, so that he can look after him. Shortly after moving-in, Robert invites Amanda to come and live with him and his father. Amanda and Robert give the house a thorough clean-up before she moves-in. They don’t pay rent. Unfortunately, after living together for six years, their relationship breaks down and they separate. Later that [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 25 November 2022. Leon and Megan had been married for 30 years, they lived in a large house overlooking a pristine river where they would often fish in their younger years. One morning Leon, who had not caught a fish for a long time, finally got one! Such was his surprise that Leon sadly died of a heart attack. Megan, unable to maintain the home without Leon, decides to live with her son Phil. She gives Phil $300,000 to build a granny flat on his property. Phil then made a promise to his sister, Nola, [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 18 November 2022. Steve and Sally were recently married and wisely decide to update their wills. Steve has no children but is very close to his nephew and his sister. Sally has three adult children to a previous relationship. Steve researches making an online will and after viewing several ads, decides to proceed, given that that the charges appear quite cheap. The online platform does not offer legal advice without an additional charge but the website suggests that the making of a will is relatively straight forward so he does not believe that [...]