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Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 8 September 2023. John was born in 2000. When John was 4 months old, he was admitted to hospital in a critical condition with severe head injuries. John was placed on life support for several weeks. The doctors believed that John's injuries were consistent with 'Shaken Baby Syndrome' although John's parents consistently denied that they had injured him and no charges were ever brought. In 2001, John was removed from his parents and was placed into foster care as a ward of the Minister for Community Services. In 2002, John was awarded a [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 1 September 2023. Penny plans to purchase a vacant block of land. The property is in the process of being subdivided from its parent property. Development Approval has been granted by Council but NSW Land Registry Services has not yet registered the new lot. Penny wishes to secure her purchase and wants to exchange contracts before registration. The vendor provides Penny with a contract for the sale of the land and she makes an appointment to review the contract with her solicitor. The contract contains a draft “plan” which has been prepared by [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 25 August 2023. In 1983, Richard made a Will in which he gave the whole of his estate to his brother James. Richard did not have any children at the time, but he wanted to make a Will that he wouldn't have to update again. In 1993, Richard suffered a debilitating injury at work and was in a coma for several months. Richard never recovered fully from his injury and had severe and permanent cognitive impairment, to the extent that he was incapable of managing his personal and financial affairs or of making a Will. [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 18 August 2023. Greg and Mary have been in a de facto relationship for 13 years. There are no children to the relationship. Greg purchases their Smith Street home in joint names early in the relationship and they live there together until their relationship breaks-down. A dispute arises in relation to the division of their property and proceedings are commenced in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. The parties concede that apart from their Smith Street home, they kept their financial affairs separate and each maintained their own business and bank [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 11 August 2023. Peter has two children, Amy and Sam. At the age of 17, Amy developed a heroin addiction and was soon charged with offences relating to shoplifting and soliciting drugs, resulting in her being imprisoned several times. For years, Peter’s relationship with Amy is plagued by periods of estrangement and tension. When Peter is ultimately admitted into aged care, Sam visits him each week. Amy only visits her father a few times over the next four years. Peter makes a will, leaving just $100,000 to his daughter Amy, $20,000 to each [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 4 August 2023. Sarah owns a unit in a strata development. She is concerned about the repair and maintenance of some of the units and is unsure whether the individual owners or the body corporate (owners corporation) is responsible. The body corporate is only responsible for the upkeep of “common property”. Generally, common property includes the perimeter walls, the ceilings and floor of each lot, the roof and gutters, the windows and doors within perimeter walls, the plumbing in perimeter walls and under the floor, as well as the balconies of each lot. [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 28 July 2023. Julie and Brian were married on the Trent Bridge cricket ground in the UK, and moved to Australia to begin a life in the sunshine. They became successful businesspeople, enabling them to frequent their family and friends in the UK every year or so. After retiring from day-to-day business activities, they wanted to update their wills. They decided to leave, their north coast holiday house to their UK siblings to enjoy the summer, their company shares to their English nieces and nephews, and a considerable amount of money to a [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 21 July 2023. Henry is in his 70’s and has been recently diagnosed as suffering from the early onset of vascular dementia. Henry sees a solicitor about making a will. The solicitor explains to Henry that the diagnosis does not necessarily mean that he does not have the capacity to make a valid will. The legal test involves establishing that Henry possesses “testamentary capacity” and Henry’s “knowledge and approval” of the will. There is a presumption of testamentary capacity if the will is “regular on its face” and is duly executed but this [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 14 July 2023. Matthew is concerned that his grandmother, Mable, may be the victim of Elder Financial Abuse. He describes his grandmother as “old and frail, depressed and vulnerable”. Matthew is aware that Mable has a large amount of money in her bank account after recently selling her home and moving into a retirement village. Examples of elder financial abuse include; incurring bills for which an older person is responsible, stealing money or goods, abusing power of attorney arrangements, refusing to repay a loan, living with someone who is not helping to pay [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 7 July 2023. Robert is the sole owner of a successful cattle farm. He is not in a relationship and has no children. Helen is a friend of Robert’s. She lives on the farm and although she does not pay board, she assists Robert in various aspects of running the farm. Robert makes a homemade will, leaving the farm to Helen together with his livestock, plant and equipment and his other personal effects. His will then states that in the event that Helen suffers from ill health or for any other reason wishes [...]