Blog

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 31 March 2023. Peter is looking for a premises to operate his business and finds an appropriate industrial shed. He asks his mother, Mary if she could help him purchase the freehold. He explains that if he is registered on title as an owner, that he will then be able to secure an overdraft to support his business. Mary pays the whole of the $400,000 purchase price and they are both registered on title as “tenants in common” with a 50% share each. Unfortunately, Peter’s business fails a couple of years later and [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 24 March 2023. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science that focuses on the development of intelligent machines that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as speech recognition, decision-making and language translation. In recent years, AI technology has rapidly advanced, and it is now being used across various fields, including education, marketing, healthcare, law and finance. AI powered legal research has become a tool for clients to further understand their legal issues and potentially draft legal documents, including documents associated with estate planning. However, providing instructions to draft [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 17 March 2023. Emily suffers from a severe disability, affecting her cognitive abilities and preventing her from making a will. Emily’s condition also means that she will likely have a  reduced life expectancy. Emily receives a substantial inheritance from her uncle, on her mother’s side. Emily’s mother has been her sole carer since birth and has dealt with the challenges arising from her disability. Emily has had no contact with her father, nor his side of the family. Emily’s mother is concerned about what will happen to Emily’s inheritance, if she passes-away without [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 10 March 2023. Mary has two children in their late 40s. Her children encourage her to update her will. Mary consults a solicitor who specialises in wills and estates. The solicitor reviews her existing will and explains that in light of her current financial circumstances, a “simple” will is no longer appropriate. Given that each of her children stand to receive an inheritance of around $1 million, the solicitor recommends a “testamentary trust” will (TT Will) as a more effective vehicle for them to receive their inheritance. Rather than each child receiving $1 [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 3 March 2023. David, 70 years of age, has three daughters. He makes a will, leaving one of his daughters Penny, just $100 and leaves the rest of his estate to his other two daughters equally. David’s will sets-out the reasons why Penny receives only nominal provision. It states that David had assisted Penny in renovating her house, funded an overseas trip and that she had recently engaged in threatening behaviour, which led to an AVO being made against her. When David passes-away 10 years later, leaving an estate worth $500,000, Penny commences [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 24 February 2023. Di wants to open a custom dress shop and after inspecting a few retail premises, settles on a location. Prior to signing the lease, Di and lessor, Martin, discuss Di’s idea of relaying the floor with a funky tile and paint the shop, as the off-white colour did nothing for the ambience Di sought to create. Di was happy to invest in shop improvements as she intended to sign a 5-year lease with a 5-year option to renew. The shop proved very successful, and after 5 years in the premises, Di [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 17 February 2023. Janine has two children that she raised as a single mother after her and her partner separated in the 1980s. She has not seen her ex-partner since their children turned 18. When Janine was in her late 60s, she met, fell in love with and became engaged to a man named Paul. Before the wedding, Janine instructed her solicitor to make a Will appointing her two children as her executors and naming them as the sole beneficiaries of her estate. Janine and Paul had discussed Janine’s proposed Will and agreed that [...]

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 [...]