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Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 27 September 2024. When Frank and his wife divorce, their adult daughter, Amanda moves into the matrimonial home with Frank. Amanda contributes to the payment of a lump sum to her mother, in return for her transferring her interest in the home to Frank. Amanda also pays for significant renovations to the property. To protect Amanda’s interest in the home, they enter-into a Deed, transferring the whole property to Amanda in return for Frank retaining a “right to reside in the home for life”. A few years later, Amanda enters-into a relationship and [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 20 September 2024. Pam and Peter are the only beneficiaries of their late father’s estate. Pam is appointed as the sole executor. Pam retains a solicitor and in accordance with the legal advice that she receives, attends to realising the assets of the estate. Pam’s solicitor publishes the usual “Notice of Intended Distribution” online and after the expiry of the requisite 30 days, the estate is fully distributed and Peter receives his 50% entitlement in the estate. However, Peter is concerned that Pam may not have administered the estate properly and demands that [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 13 September 2024. Robert and Ruth have been married for 40 years. They share a son and each have another child to a previous relationship. Ruth has lost the capacity to manage her financial affairs and is under the financial management of the NSW Trustee and Guardian. Robert and Ruth’s jointly owned home is sold to fund their placement in full-time care. The NSW Trustee and Guardian propose to distribute the proceeds of sale equally between Robert and Ruth. Ruth’s son, to a previous relationship, challenges the proposed distribution and files an application [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 6 September 2024. After Nigel died, his iconic family property was left to his two surviving nephews, Alex and Ben. The property was transferred to Alex and Ben as joint tenants. Alex lived in the property for 10 years, but as his circumstances changed, he became eager to sell it and use the proceeds to start a new chapter in his life. He wanted to travel and eventually relocate permanently. Ben, who lived interstate, was deeply upset by Alex’s decision to sell. He wanted to keep the property as a family heirloom and [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 30 August 2024. Sam passed away 20 years ago. His wife, Ruth, is now 90 years of age. Paul was recently told by his mother that despite what he had been led to believe during his lifetime, Sam was in fact his biological father. Having not received any inheritance from Sam’s estate, Paul files a Summons in the Supreme Court of NSW, seeking a lump sum from the estate, by way of a “family provision order”. These types of claims are subject to a limitation period of 12 months from the date of [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 23 August 2024. Mary makes a will leaving two thirds of her estate to her son, Michael and one third of her estate to her daughter, Jane. She appoints Michael as her executor. When Mary passes-away, Jane claims that the will was the subject of undue influence and on the basis that Mary lacked capacity to execute the will, says her mother died “intestate”. In the alternative, Jane seeks $500,000 by way of a “family provision” order. Michael makes a cross claim, seeking orders that he obtains a grant of probate “in solemn [...]

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 [...]