Services
Home Sale and Purchase
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Buying and selling a home or making a land purchase requires early legal advice to ensure that a Contract contains all relevant details and protection for a client.
Contracts should be tailored to the individual needs of every client so it is important to obtain legal advice before signing any documents.
Consideration should be given to all time frames for investigations, finance, building reports and searches. Rob specialises in ensuring your needs are highlighted whilst maximising your protection.
Conveyancing
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Conveyancing is the process of creating and dealing with the ownership of land and the various interests in land.
It also involves the buying and selling of businesses where leasing and other commercial arrangements require detailed investigation and advice.
In the succession context, it also involves having executors recorded on land titles as the personal representatives of the Estate for the purpose of selling or leasing a property.
A Will may leave a property to a particular person and it is then necessary to convey the property to that person by way of a Transmission by Death with the production of the Sealed Probate.
Conveyancing skills are essential to the proper conduct of an estate as the type and nature of dealings in land are very broad.
Wills
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Preparing a Will involves the taking of instructions to prepare a person's last Will and Testament in association with relevant legal advice. It will address the appointment
of an Executor as well as the disposition of the person's financial estate and other matters considered necessary.
Then follows the drawing up of the Will and its formal execution following any revision undertaken. The Will takes
effect from the date of death of the Testator. Every adult should have a Will prepared.
Power of Attorney
- ■ The document that appoints an Attorney to act
on behalf of a person (donor) during the donor's life time. It may contain conditions regarding the Attorney's powers.
A Power of Attorney ends on the donor's death or upon the incapacity of the donor or
upon its revocation by the donor. Legislation provides that if a Power of
Attorney is expressed to be enduring and is executed in
accordance with that Legislation, then it will survive and be effective
notwithstanding the incapacity of the donor. It is essential
that every adult considers preparing an Enduring Power of Attorney.
Deceased Estates
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The administration of a Deceased Estate involves attending to the legal, financial and personal affairs of a deceased person and the whole
of his assets, liabilities and debts in accordance with a Will or the rules of Intestacy and the law generally.
An executor or other person appointed to administer the estate must generally prove his or her right so to do (eg. Probate, Letters of Administration) though in some small estates this formality may be waived if asset
holders so agree. After Probate, assets may be collected and debts will be paid by the Estate and the wishes of the deceased will be
put into effect. When the administration period is complete, a distribution may be made to the residuary beneficiaries.
Probate Applications
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■ Probate is the Court procedure by which an Executor
proves to the satisfaction of the Supreme Court that he or
she has a right to
administer the deceased estate in accordance with the deceased's Will and that such Will is valid. The application may be contested on the
grounds of there being a later valid Will or that the Will being propounded lacks validity because of some fatal defect or perhaps because
the deceased lacked the appropriate testamentary capacity at the time of making the Will. Probate applications must be publically
advertised so that any person making a claim in the Estate (eg.a creditor) has an opportunity to prove the claim and seek its
satisfaction. Asset holders generally require the production of a Sealed Probate before releasing an asset to the Estate.
Intestacies
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■ To die intestate simply means to have died without a
Will. The law (intestacy rules) provides as to which
relatives of the deceased will
take the Estate and their proportions. An interested person may apply to the Supreme Court for Letters of Administration (ie. similar to
Probate) which, when granted, allows such person to administer the Estate in accordance with the intestacy rules and the law generally.
The intestacy rules try to do the job the deceased should have done in his or her Will but rarely do they cover the deceased's
circumstances as successfully as a Will can achieve.
Succession Advice
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■ Because today we live in a more complicated world than
ever, it is very necessary to obtain proper advice so that a
person's succession
plans can be achieved. For example, there are many blended families today where people have entered into second or even third marriages.
Often, each of these relationships has produced children and at the same time each of the financial arrangements surrounding each
relationship may also differ. A wise Testator will give a lot of thought to the contents of his or her Will when faced with these
circumstances and obtain proper legal advice. A failure to do so may often lead to ugly and costly claims in a deceased person's estate,
many of which could be prevented with early and detailed legal advice.
Estate Planning
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■ Economic and financial planning for the ongoing nature
of businesses and other assets (eg. a family business or
company) is often a must for larger Estates. Issues such as personnel requirements,
taxation impacts, superannuation effects and the type of
testamentary and other legal instruments (eg. trusts) that may be brought into
effect in this process, require detailed thought and advice
from a range of professionals. It is never too early to consult a Solicitor concerning these matters.