1 12, 2022

Claim on inheritance under Family Law Act

2022-12-01T13:41:35+10:00December 1st, 2022|

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 2 December 2022. Amanda and Robert meet each other in their early 50s and begin dating. After a few months, they consider themselves to be boyfriend and girlfriend. After Robert’s mother passes-away, he decides to move-in with this father, so that he can look after him. Shortly after moving-in, Robert invites Amanda to come and live with him and his father. Amanda and Robert give the house a thorough clean-up before she moves-in. They don’t pay rent. Unfortunately, after living together for six years, their relationship breaks down and they separate. Later that [...]

25 11, 2022

How a hooked fish leads to a family fallout

2022-11-25T08:53:50+10:00November 25th, 2022|

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 25 November 2022. Leon and Megan had been married for 30 years, they lived in a large house overlooking a pristine river where they would often fish in their younger years. One morning Leon, who had not caught a fish for a long time, finally got one! Such was his surprise that Leon sadly died of a heart attack. Megan, unable to maintain the home without Leon, decides to live with her son Phil. She gives Phil $300,000 to build a granny flat on his property. Phil then made a promise to his sister, Nola, [...]

18 11, 2022

Online Wills – Buy cheap, pay dear

2022-11-18T09:56:29+10:00November 18th, 2022|

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 18 November 2022. Steve and Sally were recently married and wisely decide to update their wills. Steve has no children but is very close to his nephew and his sister. Sally has three adult children to a previous relationship. Steve researches making an online will and after viewing several ads, decides to proceed, given that that the charges appear quite cheap. The online platform does not offer legal advice without an additional charge but the website suggests that the making of a will is relatively straight forward so he does not believe that [...]

4 11, 2022

Relationship breakdown after transfer of property

2022-11-04T11:50:32+10:00November 4th, 2022|

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 4 November 2022. John owns a 400-acre cattle farm. He resides in a home that he built on the farm and has conducted a successful business for the last 15 years. The farm was owned by John’s father and John grew up working on the property. John decides that it is time for him to transfer the property to his son, Peter with a view to him carrying on the family tradition as cattle farmers. The property is transferred to Peter and his wife by way of an intergenerational transfer and a small [...]

27 10, 2022

Will George get the bananas?

2022-10-27T08:47:30+10:00October 27th, 2022|

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 28 October 2022. Julie and Brian had been married for 20 years. Brian owned a banana farm that had been in his family for generations. When updating their wills, they decided that their son, George would inherit the banana farm as he had worked on the farm since he left school. Julie is granted a right to reside at the farm for life. To compensate their daughter Anna, it was agreed that she would receive a greater share of their other assets. Julie and Brian also made powers of attorney nominating each other [...]

20 10, 2022

Abandoned and Extinguished

2022-10-20T14:48:59+10:00October 20th, 2022|

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 21 October 2022. Jack lives up the hill, from his neighbour, Jill. They reside on adjoining lots, backing-on to each other and access is via different street frontages. The lots were initially subdivided 60 years ago. The plan of subdivision identifies a right of carriageway, 10 foot wide, running along Jill’s side boundary. The right of carriageway gives Jack the right to use the right of carriageway to travel between his lot and the road in front of Jill’s lot. However, fences were erected 35 years ago, preventing any vehicles from using the [...]

19 10, 2022

Unlucky Tenant in Common Loses Sale

2022-10-20T14:29:48+10:00October 19th, 2022|

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 14 October 2022. Glen and Luke inherit a property from their mother June when she passes away. They instruct their solicitor to transfer the property to them as Tenants in Common. As Glen was living in the property and taking care of June when she passed, Luke is content to let Glen continue to live in the property, provided he pays all rates, keeps it insured and well maintained. Decades later, Glen is diagnosed with a rather aggressive form of cancer and his ability to care for himself diminishes quickly. The property must [...]

19 10, 2022

Broken promises lead to super squabble

2022-10-19T14:14:10+10:00October 19th, 2022|

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 7 October 2022. John and Sally become romantically involved and a couple of years later, Sally moves into John’s home with her teenage son, Peter. John and Sally are soon married and they purchase and move into a new home. Peter had finished school and he moved into rental accommodation with his girlfriend. Unfortunately, 10 years later Sally is diagnosed with cancer and she sadly passes-away. Sally’s interest in the house passes to John by way of survivorship. Sally’s only other substantial asset is her superannuation. Sally’s superannuation fund writes to John and [...]

29 09, 2022

Divorcees avoid dispute

2022-09-29T11:50:05+10:00September 29th, 2022|

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 30 September 2022. Donald and Nancy were both divorcees when they met on a moonlit beach. Their relationship blossomed and they were soon married. They decided to purchase a house together overlooking ‘their’ beach. Both Donald and Nancy had children from their previous marriages. Later in life, Nancy was diagnosed with dementia. Nancy’s doctor encouraged her to get her affairs in order before she lost capacity. Nancy used a home will kit to detail her intentions. She decided to leave $100,000 to Donald and her half of their house to her children. After [...]

21 09, 2022

TAG sells home gifted to charity

2022-09-21T12:56:50+10:00September 21st, 2022|

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 23 September 2022. Elizabeth makes a will, leaving her “principal place of residence” to a particular charity. She leaves the rest of her estate to her nieces and nephews and appoints her friend, David as her executor. Ten years later, the NSW Trustee and Guardian are appointed as financial manager of Elizabeth’s affairs. Elizabeth moves into a care facility and the NSW Trustee and Guardian sell her principal place of residence for $700,000. The proceeds of sale are placed into a trust account for Elizabeth. Elizabeth had no other assets. The NSW Trustee [...]

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