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Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 16 August 2024. Jack and Jill have been married for many years and each have two children to previous relationships. They own their $2m home jointly and they each have substantial investments in their sole names. They consider making wills to the effect that they leave the whole of their estates to each other and when the last of them pass, their will leaves their estate to all four children equally. However, Jack is concerned that if he passes-away before Jill, she may enter into another relationship, which would jeopardise his children’s inheritance. [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 9 August 2024. Love blossomed between Jenny and Dave, a 30-something couple and before long they were talking about marriage. They made the pragmatic decision to enter into a Binding Financial Agreement (BFA), sometimes referred to as a “Prenup”, before tying the knot. Jenny and Dave, meticulously drafted the agreement, reflecting their mutual respect and understanding of each other's financial independence. They both wanted to ensure that their own hard-earned assets were protected and that any future disputes could be resolved amicably. They each obtained separate legal advice before the agreement was finalised [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 2 August 2024. Larry is married with three children. He makes a formal will leaving the whole of his estate to his wife. When his relationship with his wife breaks down, Larry moves out of home and writes a new will on his computer, leaving the whole of his estate to his children. He does not print nor execute the document. When Larry passes away unexpectedly, his wife seeks a grant of probate over the formal will and a dispute arises as to the validity of the electronic Microsoft Word document. Although a [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 26 July 2024. Jessica and Elyse were the best of friends. Jessica recently triumphed over a life-threatening illness and decided to chase her long-held dream of opening a small business specialising in flowers and cakes. Jessica's dream began to take shape when she secured a $50,000 loan from the bank but despite this achievement, she still found herself $80,000 short and also in need of a guarantor for her lease. She turned to her trusted friend, Elyse. Elyse lent Jessica the additional money and signed on as the guarantor for the lease. Business [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 19 July 2024. John served in the Navy between 1940 and 1945. He earned several war medals for his courageous service. When John died in 1975, his widow gave his war medals to their eldest son, Matthew. Matthew treasured the medals and kept them all his life. He was a keen attender of Anzac day ceremonies and proudly wore the medals during these occasions. When Matthew recently passed-away, his will left the whole of his estate to his only child, Wendy. Matthew’s will made no specific mention of the medals. Matthew’s brother, Gary [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 12 July 2024. Harry and Wendy have been married for 20 years. When their relationship breaks-down, a dispute arises in relation to the division of their assets. The asset pool is assessed at $2 million. Harry seeks an overall division of their assets of 70/30 in his favour, stating that he made more significant contributions and that he has greater future needs. Wendy seeks a division of 55/45 in her favour, stating that during the course of their lengthy marriage, contributions should be assessed as equal and that she is entitled to a [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 5 July 2024. Ruth, aged 85, transfers a piece of real estate to her son’s wife and another property to his daughter. Ruth tells the solicitor that “they have always done everything they can to look after me and in return I want to give them the properties”. The price was recorded as one dollar and substantial stamp duty was paid on the market value of the properties. Ruth is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease one year later. When Ruth passes-away four years later, her other son, Gary discovers the transfers of Ruth’s real [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 28 June 2024. Brian and Julie married in the 1990s and enjoyed a strong marriage. Brian ran a successful business with the support of Julie and for several decades life was bliss. However, during COVID Brian and Julie spent considerably more time together, which led to tension between them and eventually they separated. Following their separation, both parties sought independent legal advice and ultimately executed a Binding Financial Agreement (BFA) to settle their property and financial matters. However, Brian had been foxy about his financial situation. During the period leading up to the [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 21 June 2024. When Jack passes-away at the age of 60, he had been in a de facto relationship with Jill for 6 years. Jack had three children to a previous relationship, one of whom, David, suffers from a severe disability. Shortly before Jack’s death, he transferred two properties into joint names with Jill. They also held joint bank accounts. The bank accounts included a substantial sum, which Jack had cashed-in from his superannuation fund. Upon Jack’s death, the jointly held assets passed to Jill by way of survivorship. These assets totalled $3 [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 14 June 2024. Scott’s parents divorce and when he is 3 years old, his father Tom, moves out. Tom re-marries 20 years later and spends the next 30 years, happily married to Wendy. Tom passes-away at the age of 75 and leaves the whole of his estate to Wendy. Tom owned the matrimonial home and an investment property as joint tenants with Wendy and had joint bank accounts with Wendy, totalling $1 million. Upon Tom’s death these assets pass to Wendy by way of “survivorship”. Scott makes a claim against Tom’s estate. The [...]