Ticli Blaxland Lawyers

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 19 January 2024. Mal was an eccentric millionaire and later in life he was well known for bouts of mental instability. Mal died and his will left the bulk of his estate to two of his three children. Ronny was given a comparably very small amount due to his vengeful relationship with his father. Ronny, not happy, challenged the will, alleging that his father lacked the mental capacity to make sound decisions regarding his large estate. Ronny’s legal argument hinged on Mal’s well-documented mental health history, alleging to the Court that his father [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 12 January 2024. Jane’s mother passes-away leaving an estate worth $3 million. Under the will, Jane only receives some of her mother’s jewellery and a gift of $50,000. The rest of the estate is shared amongst her siblings. At the time of executing her will, Jane’s mother also made a statutory declaration stating that she considered the terms of her will in great detail and that the provision that Jane receives under the will was relatively small because she had been estranged from Jane for approximately 10 years and during that time Jane [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 22 December 2023. On a magical Christmas morning, George, aged 8, and his younger sister Milla, aged 7, woke up to find two adorable and fluffy bunnies under their Christmas tree - gifts from Father Christmas himself. Their parents, however, had their reservations about these new additions to the family, considering they already had a Labrador named Paddy, who was the apple of everyone's eye. Before the arrival of these bunnies, their parents had voiced their concerns to Father Christmas's elves, who assured them that the rabbits would not disrupt their household's balance. [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 15 December 2023. Helen and her husband separate and they divide their assets amicably. Consent Orders are filed with the effect that Helen receives a substantial lump sum and her husband retains the matrimonial home. Twelve months after separation, an Application for divorce is filed and granted. In light of the divorce, Helen is aware that her ex-husband will not receive anything from her estate when she passes-away and she is happy that her two children will receive the whole of her estate “on intestacy”. She sees no reason to make a new [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 8 December 2023. Tara has just purchased her dream family property. She now wants to install a basketball court for the kids. Tara calls a local concrete landscaper to see if they can convert an old tank foundation into a court. Brad from Dodgy Dog Landscaping tells Tara that he can do the job. “Trust me”, he says. Tara enters-into a contract with Dodgy Dog to prepare the court and install the backboard. After two months of competitive ball, Tara notices cracks around the backboard base. The cracks get bigger and bigger, until [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 1 December 2023. Susan’s husband passed-away many years ago. She has three children and six grandchildren. When Susan passes-away at the age of 85, her will leaves the whole of her estate to her three children equally. All three children are appointed as executors and obtain a grant of probate. Susan’s estate is valued at $1.5 million. Gary, one of the grandchildren makes a “family provision” claim against the estate. Gary claims that he is eligible to make a claim because he could establish that he was a grandchild who was partly dependent [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 24 November 2023. John and Mary have two adult children and several grandchildren. They have joint assets of $1.5 million. Their children have almost paid-off their home mortgages and are both gainfully employed. When they talk to their solicitor about their estate planning, their solicitor recommends that they consider making wills that establish testamentary trusts (TT Wills). The effect of these types of wills is that upon John and Mary’s passing, their children have the option to use a testamentary trust as a vehicle for their inheritance. John and Mary own most of [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 17 November 2023. Robert has lived and worked on a vegetable farm for 40 years. Robert had an agreement with the owner which allowed him to grow crops and maintain the property in return for a share of the profits. He was also given the right to reside in a cottage on the property. During the course of Robert’s occupation of the property, the owner made several promises to him to the effect that the farm would pass to Robert upon the owner’s death. Many years later, the owner passes-away but under his [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 10 November 2023. John operates an earthmoving business. He enters-into a lease of an industrial warehouse to store the earthmoving equipment. Several years pass and when John wishes to relocate, a dispute arises with the landlord. The landlord claims that John had not complied with the “permitted use” of the premises, that he had breached the “make good” provisions of the lease and that the landlord had suffered damages due to the consequential delay in re-letting the premises. The landlord claims that the concrete slab needed to be replaced and the total damages [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 3 November 2023. Penny and Nick separated after a 4 year marriage. They have one child, now 5 years old. They have resolved their parenting dispute but Penny now applies to the Court for a determination regarding a property settlement and spousal maintenance. Penny seeks 60% of the parties’ assets but Nick proposes a payment equivalent to just 30%. Another issue in dispute is the nature of “add-backs” claimed by Penny. Add-backs are sums that are added-back to the parties’ present assets. They can include funds expended on legal fees, funds relating to [...]