Hypotheticals & Articles

Hypotheticals by Manny Wood Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 8 December 2018. Mary separates from her husband and moves in with her cousin, Christine. They sign a six month lease and share the rental payments. They both receive the Newstart Allowance and share their other living expenses, including utilities, food and outgoings, to cater for their tight budget. Mary and Christine share the domestic duties, including cooking, cleaning, shopping and the care of their animals. Mary dies three months later at the age of 55. Mary is survived by three children, aged between 25 and 30 years. […]

Hypotheticals by Manny Wood Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 24 November 2018. Mary and her son, Daniel purchase a property together as joint tenants in the early 1980s. Half the purchase price is paid by Mary and they obtain a home loan to fund the balance. Daniel earns a small income, which with Mary’s income, allows them to service and soon pay-out the loan. Mary’s other son, Peter is an unemployed minor. […]

Hypotheticals by Manny Wood Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 17 November 2018. Barry, Accountant, is visiting his clients when he notices that a property on the street is unoccupied and falling into disrepair. A year passes and Barry observes that nothing has changed. Barry speaks to his clients who inform him that an elderly lady had died and since then the property has been vacant. Barry is aware that it may be possible to obtain title to the property by taking possession of it over a sufficiently long period of time. […]

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. […]