Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 10 November 2018. Mary leaves an estate valued at $1 million. Mary has two children, Peter and Liam. Since Liam’s marriage in 1990, he had “little or nothing to do” with Mary and did not allow her to spend any time with his children. […]
Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 3 November 2018. Steven has been living with and caring for his mother, Amanda for many years. Amanda owns a one-third share of the property and the rest of the property is owned by other family members. Amanda’s only other child, Robin lives alone in Department of Housing accommodation. When Amanda dies, she leaves her whole estate to Steven. At the time of making her will, Amanda composed a letter, outlining her reasons. Robin contests the will, seeking provision. […]
Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 27 October 2018. John, a single man with no children, suffers a stroke at the age of 45 and moves into his mother’s home. John resides with his mother, Ruth for eight years before her death. Ruth’s will allows John to continue living in the home for three years on the condition that he pays the mortgage, rates and insurance and keeps the property in reasonable repair. After the three-year period, the will provides that the property is sold and John receives 45% of the proceeds of sale, his sister Mary receives 30% and his brother [...]
Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 20 October 2018. Rodney is married to his second wife, Elizabeth. As part of his Estate planning, Rodney decides to transfer the title of his home, which was in his sole name only, into joint names with Elizabeth and to do likewise with his bank account. He then makes a non-binding death benefit nomination whereby he nominates his estate to receive the proceeds of his substantial superannuation fund. In his will, the superannuation benefits are to be held on trust for his three children from a former relationship, until they turn 25. […]
Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 13 October 2018. Julie and Justin have been looking to buy their first home for some time. They missed-out on the last house when another purchaser was able to exchange contracts before them. They have now found another home and they talk to their solicitor about the best way to secure the purchase. They are advised that they can exchange contracts subject to a five business day cooling-off period. This will allow Julie and Justin to sign the contracts immediately and conduct pest and building inspections and obtain approval of their home loan within this time. [...]
Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 6 October 2018. Jason and Kylie were married in 2007. Kylie gave birth to their daughter in 2009 and their son in 2012. Unfortunately, Jason and Kylie separated in 2014 and are estranged at the time of Jason’s tragic death in a motor vehicle accident in February 2016. At the time of Jason’s death, he has a superannuation fund with a modest death benefit of $60,000. Prior to his death, Jason purports to make a binding death benefit nomination dividing his superannuation so that upon his death, his daughter receives 25%, his son receives 25%, his [...]
Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 29 September 2018. Klever Kitchens Pty Ltd (KK) sets-up a kitchen manufacturing business at premises owned by Ethical Lessor Pty Ltd (EL) and enters into a six-year lease. For the protection of the lessee (tenant), the legislation requires a lease of more than three years to be registered, but unfortunately on this occasion, the lease was not registered. After two years, the lessor (landlord), EL sells the premises to another company, Quick Bucks Pty Ltd (QB) and EL puts a special condition in the contract which says ‘the purchaser acknowledges that the purchaser takes title to [...]
Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 22 September 2018. Gary sets-up a company with a view to running a business to provide first aid medical care at public events. Gary is the sole director, secretary and shareholder of the company. The business accumulates a roster of casual employees to provide the first aid services. Each employee, most of whom are university students, are required to hold minimum certification in first aid. After two years of operation, the Fair Work Ombudsman had received four complaints from former employees of the business, alleging they had been underpaid. The Ombudsman contacts Gary and requests evidence [...]
Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 15 September 2018. Sean has been engaged in Family Law litigation with his ex-wife, Justine. Justine has made several posts on social media that have shocked and offended Sean. Sean consults his solicitor and is advised that the posts on social media constitute “publication” under defamation law and that the posts contain “imputations” that Sean has committed acts of domestic violence and physical abuse. Sean instructs his solicitor to commence proceedings in the District Court under the Defamation Act. […]
Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 8 September 2018. Anna and Joel wish to purchase a unit. They are advised to ensure that they have unconditional loan approval from their bank, in writing, before they exchange contracts. They are also advised to obtain a strata records inspection report. When they receive the report, two things are of particular interest. Firstly, there are records indicating that there has been a problem with a tenant in one of the units relating to loud music and alleged drug use. Fortunately, the records also indicate that the tenant has since been evicted and there are no [...]