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Hypothetical by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 19 March 2021. Ronald is charged by the RSPCA with serious animal cruelty under the Crimes Act, alleging that he committed a serious act of cruelty upon a dog, with the intention of inflicting severe pain and that he seriously injured and killed the animal. Ronald appealed his conviction by the Local Court arguing that he had a valid defence because the dog was a “pest animal” and that his conduct, amounted to nothing more than “extermination of pest animals”. The Court of appeal accepted that the dog was a “pest animal” because [...]

Hypothetical by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 12 March 2021. Mary executed a power of attorney in favour of her daughter Helen, 20 years ago. Mary, now aged 85 resides in an aged care facility. Mary has one other child, Frank and a grandson named Ben. One day, while visiting the nursing home, Mary tells Frank that she is concerned about the balance of her bank account. Frank is aware that Helen has power of attorney and tells his mother that he does not want to cause any trouble in the family and reassures her that there is no reason [...]

Hypothetical by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 5 March 2021. Jane is a divorcee, in her mid-seventies.  She is very close to her daughter, Mel. In 2010, Jane’s lease runs out, allowing her and Mel go on a six-month tour around Australia in her caravan.  They made it from Sydney to Emerald Beach and immediately both fall in love with the area and Mel finds the perfect two-bedroom place over-looking the beach.  Unfortunately, Mel cannot afford the deposit. Jane has some savings and says to Mel “I’m getting on a bit and find it more difficult to be on [...]

Hypothetical by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 26 February 2021. John and Paul live with their mother Jude who is a single parent.  When John and Paul are still fairly young, their mother meets Sargent Pepper at the lonely-hearts club. Jude eventually marries Sargent and they go on to have two more sons, George and Ringo.  Although John and Paul get along famously with George, none of them can stand Ringo. Decades later, during Jude’s Wake, John and Paul are discussing their affairs.  John says to Paul, “I just want you to know, I’ve made a will, if anything happens [...]

Hypothetical by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 19 February 2021. Jack and Jill own most of their assets jointly, with a view to making their estate easy to deal with when the first of them passes-away. Their joint bank account can be transferred into the name of the survivor by attending the local branch with their identification and a certified copy of their spouse’s death certificate. Their jointly owned IAG shares can be dealt with easily with the assistance of a local broker. The jointly owned family home, can also be registered in the survivor’s name relatively quickly and without [...]

Hypothetical by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 12 February 2021. Fred and Anne own their modest home jointly and each have $20,000 in separate bank accounts. After receiving marketing material in their letterbox from the Public Trustee (now the New South Wales Trustee and Guardian) they attend a consultation at the courthouse to make their Wills. Their Wills are prepared free of charge on the basis that Fred and Anne appoint the Public Trustee as their executor. When Anne passes-away many years later, Fred seeks legal advice regarding her affairs. The solicitor advises Fred that their home can be registered [...]

Hypothetical by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 5 February 2021. Penny wants to relocate from Sydney to Coffs Harbour. She places her Sydney home on the market and researches Coffs Harbour properties. Penny soon realises that homes in Coffs Harbour are selling quickly and that when she finds the right house, she will need to be in a position to exchange contracts as soon as possible. Penny finds a buyer for her Sydney home and exchanges contracts with an extended settlement period, so that she can find the right property in Coffs Harbour. Penny also contacts her bank to obtain [...]

Hypothetical by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 29 January 2021. Mary establishes a self-managed superannuation fund and as the sole member of the fund, appoints herself as sole director and shareholder of a company that becomes the trustee of the fund. Mary’s superannuation fund consists of shares and cash totalling $1 million. Mary makes a will valid appointing her daughter, Kate as her executor. The will states that her superannuation is to be shared equally between Kate and Mary’s only other child, Greg. Mary does not execute a binding death benefit nomination in relation to her self-managed fund. When Mary [...]

Hypothetical by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 22 January 2021. Tony is in his early 60s. When he was five years of age, his mother left his biological father and commenced a relationship with Tony’s stepfather. Tony did not have a continuing relationship with his biological father and was part of his mother and stepfather’s family unit until he left home at the age of 18. Tony’s stepfather has three other children who also lived with them. Tony’s mother passed away more than 10 years ago and she left the whole of her estate to Tony’s stepfather. Tony’s stepfather recently [...]

Hypothetical by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 15 January 2021. Peter, 75, is suffering from poor eyesight and lives alone on a large rural property. Peter informs an acquaintance, David, that he has eye surgery scheduled and that he is concerned about his future and his finances. They agree that Peter will sell David 50% of the property for $400,000 and that David can move into one of the two houses on the property. David prepares a document purporting to record the sale of 50% of Peter’s property to David. Peter signs the document and accepts a $100 deposit. He [...]