Hypotheticals & Articles

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 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 [...]

Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 1 September 2018. Robert dies leaving few assets other than a substantial amount in his superannuation fund which has death benefit insurance of $600,000. Robert had prepared a will leaving all of his superannuation fund to one of his sons, Luke.  He left nothing to his son, Jason who he was estranged from as a result of continued abuse and assaults from Jason over a number of years. Robert had also made a non-binding death benefit nomination for his superannuation funds to be paid to his legal personal representative with the intention that it is paid [...]

Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 25 August 2018. Nina dies at the age of 92 leaving no biological children but leaving two adopted children, Jim and Jane. Nina adopted Jim and Jane shortly after their birth and they lived together during the whole of their childhood. Under her will, Nina leaves Jane 15% of her estate, Jim 10% and the rest to Jane and Jim’s children. The estate is worth $600,000. […]

Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 11 August 2018. Susan and Gordon have been in a relationship for 20 years. Susan has two children to a previous relationship. When Susan dies, her will makes provision for Gordon by way of an indexed annuity of $52,000 per year. This means that Susan’s executors must pay Gordon one thousand dollars per week for the rest of his lifetime. This amount is adjusted in-line with CPI. […]