Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 5 March 2016. John decides to ask the Public Trustee (now known as the NSW Trustee and Guardian) to make him a new will. The service is “free”. When John dies unexpectedly in his 50’s, having no children and no spouse, he leaves his estate to his extended family. The beneficiaries include his siblings, nieces and nephews and he leaves the bulk of his estate to his widowed mother. […]
Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 19 December 2015. Manny Wood, our dedicated columnist and resident legal eagle has now attained specialist accreditation in wills and estates. We take a break from his regular column to speak to Manny about his career and what specialist accreditation means. […]
Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 24 October 2015. Donald has been in a de facto relationship with Daisy for the last 10 years. He has three sons to a previous relationship; Huey, Dewey and Louie. Donald owns a house in Coffs Harbour and has a significant amount of savings together with a substantial share portfolio. […]
Published in the Coffs Cost Advocate on 2 May 2015 During the course of a 25 year marriage, Jim and Jane have 4 children. When their marriage breaks down, Jim and Jane engage in contested family law proceedings and their two daughters provide evidence in support of Jane. Jim’s relationship with his two daughters deteriorates and they have no contact after the conclusion of proceedings. […]
Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 28 March 2015. Jim is single and has two children. He has accumulated substantial assets including real estate and a large self-managed superannuation fund. Jim consults a solicitor regarding the drafting of his will and his estate planning in general. The solicitor examines Jim’s financial circumstances and takes further instructions regarding his children’s stations in life. […]
Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 17 January 2015 James, his wife and children live in Coffs Harbour, having relocated from Sydney several years ago. James’ mother, Mary has visited Coffs Harbour a number of times, including staying with James during the recent Christmas break. Mary was widowed a couple of years ago and is finding it difficult to maintain her home in Sydney. She also wishes to spend more time with James and her grandchildren. […]
Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 10 January 2015. Joseph runs a small business through a family trust which was established by his accountant many years ago. Joseph is not quite sure how the trust works and is concerned about whether the business could continue to operate when he dies or if he were to become incapacitated. The trust is what is known as a discretionary trust and is fairly common. The trust allows the trustee to distribute business profits to Joseph, his wife, their children and a broad range of other related beneficiaries at the sole discretion of the trustee. […]
Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 13 December 2014. John and David, both in their 50’s, are avid cyclists. They are good friends and work colleagues. They live close to each other and will often go riding together. Nearby, there is a dedicated cycling track that runs parallel to a busy road. […]
Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 6 November 2014 Thomas, in his late 50’s, works as a sawyer in a local saw mill. Unfortunately, Thomas has an accident at work whereby he suffers an injury to his lower back. The injury prevents him from working. Thomas has worked in the saw mill industry his entire life and he has no other skills that would allow him to take on a “light duties” role. […]
Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 29 November 2014. When Peter and Kim were in their early 40s, their 15 year relationship broke down and they separated. They negotiated a property settlement and consent orders were made under the Family Law Act. The agreement between them was that Peter would pay Kim the sum of $72,000 which consisted of half the value of his superannuation fund and half the equity in their home. The parties had no other assets of any significant value. […]