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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 [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 27 October 2023. Paul, Amy, Grace and Harry are the adult children of Brian. Brian appointed Paul as executor of his will, as he thought having his 4 children as executors would just be too many cooks in the kitchen. Brian has considerable assets which are to be split equally amongst his children. After Brian passes-away, Paul retains a solicitor to assist him with obtaining a grant of probate and to provide advice regarding the administration of the estate. However, while the grant of probate was being processed by the Court, Paul decides [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 20 October 2023. Jack and Jill, in their early 30s, have two young children and were recently married. They have worked hard to pay-off half of their mortgage and they have already accumulated a reasonable amount of superannuation. Jack is concerned that if he were to pass-away unexpectedly, whilst still being relatively young, it is likely that Jill would enter-into another relationship and that her new partner could “end up with everything” and that his children could miss-out on their inheritance. Jack seeks legal advice and is advised that it is possible for [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 13 October 2023. Adam and Rebecca separate after a 20 year relationship. They have one adult child. Adam own shares in a company that operates a business. The parties agree that the business is worth $500,000. They jointly own their matrimonial home, worth $1.5m, subject to a $500,000 mortgage. They each have personal effects and motor vehicles as well as credit card debts. The parties’ superannuation totals $300,000. Rebecca received a $200,000 inheritance, post separation. They each claim that they are entitled to a 60% share of the pool of assets and after [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 6 October 2023. Beth and Sarah met through a mutual friend. As their friendship developed, Sarah asks Beth to help with clerical work to assist her prepare documents in relation to a property settlement in the Family Court. Sarah said to Beth “If things go well and I get what I want from the property settlement, I’ll buy you a seaside unit”. Beth was currently renting a small place in the suburbs. As it happened, Sarah was successful in her property settlement proceedings. Beth then began her search for a unit. However, this [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 29 September 2023. When Daniel meets Ruth, he has two children to a previous relationship. Daniel and Ruth purchase a vacant block and build their dream home. They own their home as tenants-in-common. They have two children together and they reside in the home for several decades. Daniel wishes to ensure that upon his death, Ruth is able to reside in their home and when she passes away, their children receive the home. He wishes for all of his children to ultimately receive an equal share of the rest of his estate. Daniel [...]