General Overview of Australian Laws on Wills and Estates

General Overview of Australian Laws on Wills and Estates

Under Australian law, it is possible to discern several legal documents and proceedings that directly pertain to cases of distribution of an individual’s assets in cases of the person’s death. They include wills, powers of attorney, estate plans, testamentary trusts, superannuation death nominations, powers of guardianship, anticipatory direction, legal and financial housekeeping, etc. Thus, an estate plan may be defined under Australian law as a will or any other directions on how an individual desires to have his or her assets allocated after his or her death. An estate plan also involves legal documents that regulate how the person will be treated, both financially and medically, in case of his inability to make his own decisions in the future.

In a nutshell, an estate plan encircles all possible estate related documents and legal acts, such as a will, superannuation death nomination, testamentary trust, powers of attorney, powers of guardianship, and anticipatory direction. If an individual have made a binding nomination in his super or insurance policies, the beneficiaries named in those policies will override anyone specified in the will. If a person has a family trust, the trust will go on and its assets will also be distributed in accordance with the trust deed, irrespective of what has been written in the will.

Wills constitute another major group of estate related documents. A will takes legal effect only in case of a will maker’s death. A will can regulate different issues, such as a manner whereby an individual’s assets will be shared, who will care for the children if they are still young, what trusts will be established, how much money will be donated to charities, as well as instructions regarding a will maker’s funeral. Under Australia’s law, a will may be drafted and amended by solicitors or private trustees, who usually charge a fee. Certain public trustees will not charge a fee to compose and amend a will, but only if they act as the executor of the person’s will. Other public trustees may exempt an individual of a fee for the preparation or amendment of the will if the person a pensioner or aged over sixty.

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Irretrievable Breaking Down of a Marriage

Irretrievable Breaking Down of a Marriage

The principle of irretrievable breaking down of a marriage as the only ground for divorce in Australia

Legal experts suggest that the laws that regulate marriage breakdown are subject to constant and substantial changes. Thus, the Family Law Act 1975 came into effect in January 1976, as a result of a protracted debate.[1] The Act repealed the Matrimonial Causes Act 1961, which had rested on fault as the ground for divorce.[2] The court used to consider the spouses as either guilty or innocent of matrimonial misconduct, such as cruelty, adultery and desertion (abandonment). It was incumbent on the applicants to prove that the other party had committed a matrimonial offence in order to succeed in the proceedings. Failure to prove the case would usually result in a court’s refusal to grant the divorce.

In the framework of the old system, the allocation of fault concerned such legal issues as property, spousal maintenance and child custody, while a ‘guilty’ spouse could be punished by being denied contact with his or her children, or losing an entitlement to be financially supported by the other spouse. When the new Family Law Act came into effect in 1975, the number of divorces significantly increased. This is largely because the new legislation enabled a much easier no fault proceeding of divorce. However, the rapid increase in divorce numbers ignited vivid debates on whether the introduction of no fault divorce had degraded the institution of marriage by way of fostering marriage breakdown.

Legislative tenets of no fault divorce in Australia

As a matter of Australian law, marriage and divorce are both subject to federal regulation. Thus, the Australian Constitution clearly prescribes that the federal law governs all matrimonial causes of action, such as marriage and divorce, as well as all cases involving parental rights and the custody and guardianship of infants. To that end, the key legislation regulating marriage and divorce in Australia include the Family Law Act and Marriage Act.[3] The salient features of the Family Law Act 1975 as the legal framework for no fault divorce are the following. First and foremost, the Act defined irretrievable breakdown of marriage as the sole and only ground for divorce and thus adopted the no fault doctrine of dissolution of marriage in Australia. Second, the Act established the Family Court of Australia to handle disputes between married individuals, as well as between the parents of dependent children. Third, the Act constitutes the only legal framework for settling disputes involving financial issues and children. Fourth, the Act sets forth legal safeguards that protect family members in cases of domestic violence.

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How to Keep Out of Trouble with Marketing

How to Keep Out of Trouble with Marketing

If you are a new business owner, whether by simple website or something more complex, you are sure to need some kind of marketing and advertising. However, commercial lawyers will advise you to take care with the wording so that you don’t become liable to litigation.

The problem may not even be your own, but those who pass training or information of any kind on as part of their work for you. Unless there are regular updates to the material and training to keep them up to date on any changes, they may not get it right, but you’ll be the one responsible.

In addition, if you use materials – including music – in your marketing or advertising, or if you compare your product or service to others that are better known, you risk being in breach of copyright. That is why it’s a good idea to look through a directory with the best commercial lawyers, before going ahead with any marketing information including brochures, website copy, YouTube clips, Facebook advertising, direct mail campaigns and even call centre scripts and product disclosure statements.

The three main things to watch out for are:

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What You Need To Know About Buying Strata Title Property

What You Need To Know About Buying Strata Title Property

Not that long ago, the favourite type of property to purchase was the stand-alone home on a block of ground. These days, several factors have combined to make buying an apartment more popular. But property lawyers agree that most apartments in a complex have Strata Title, which is quite different from the titles of homes on blocks of ground. You need to know what these differences mean for you before going ahead with the purchase.

  • You will own your apartment, but in the complex there are many areas such as stairways, laundry rooms or social meeting rooms that are deemed to be ‘common property’. The upkeep and maintenance for these areas must be paid for by everyone who owns an apartment in the complex. So you’ll be in for an annual levy to make this possible. If the building has been poorly maintained it is likely to be a high levy due to the amount of maintenance needed. There may also be a second levy for what is known as a ‘sinking fund’ which addresses long term expenditure. You need to inquire about the balance of this fund to get some idea of what you are likely to have to pay, and if it’s enough to do the repairs that are needed.

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The Advantages of a Restraining Order

The Advantages of a Restraining Order

In cases where there is abuse in a relationship and it falls apart, a restraining order may be necessary. A good family lawyer such as Robinson Family Lawyers will advise you how to take out a restraining order against an abusive ex and what the advantages of it are. They can give you specific advice for your situation that will explain all the legal ramifications of any decisions you make.

A restraining order can be taken out if there is –

  • Domestic violence
  • Sexual assault
  • Stalking
  • Harassment

A couple don’t have to be married or in a de facto relationship for a restraining order to be taken out. The relationship may have ended, or it could be taken out against a parent on a child’s behalf.

Taking out a restraining order has several advantages: –

  • It orders the abuser to stay away from your home, workplace or school.
  • It can prohibit them from contacting you by email, phone, fax, notes or snail mail.
  • In some cases it can prevent them from going to the same social places as you.
  • If the person ignores the restraining order and you call the police, they will know to respond quickly because they realise the situation is more serious.

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The Importance of Keeping a Balance in Your Business Life

The Importance of Keeping a Balance in Your Business Life

Business people are busy people. Having a place outside where you can relax alone or with family, or even take those account books to finish off will make your busy life more pleasant. Using comfortable outdoor furniture such as tables and chairs that can stay outside all the time without being ruined is the best way to ensure your place is ready for you whenever you decide to use it.

Most people in business work many more hours than those who work for them or who have any other kind of 9-5 job. The buck stops with the business owner and if anything is not done at the end of the day, they are the ones that must do it. Then they take the books home to work on after dinner and this eats up more of their time. Often, family time or relaxation is limited to a few short hours a week, if that.

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5 Steps to Ensure the Success of Your Business

5 Steps to Ensure the Success of Your Business

One of the best ways to ensure the success of any business is to get help from a financial planning expert. Without working out how much you can spend on each aspect of the business so that you stay within your budget, you can easily overspend, or not spend enough on the most important elements. If you are not used to doing this – and many people aren’t – a professional digital agency and financial planner will be able to help you.

Most financial advisors would tell you there are 5 main steps to plan the finances of a business.

  • Work out your set-up costs. These will include costs such things as: licences and registrations, accounting fees, equipment and fit out and the initial working capital. When you deduct all your costs from your investment equity, it will give you a ball-park figure for what you need to borrow.
  • Work out the profit and loss for the first year. This may seem difficult, but you can get a good idea of expected sales by looking at The profit and loss statements of several similar businesses, often available online. Include the costs of the goods sold as well as the cost of doing business. Work out what your profit is likely to be and watch to see if it is accurate as the year advances. Adjustments may be necessary. (more…)

4 Different Land Titles

4 Different Land Titles

If you are purchasing land, it’s important to know what the title is, because this can effect what you can do with it. It’s important to consult with property lawyers to ensure any problems to land use can be determined and explained in a way you can understand. Simply knowing the title may not be much use; you have to also know what it means to you and your property specifically in order to avoid any problems.

Here is a list of the different land titles in Western Australia and what they mean: –

  • Green title: This title usually indicates that the property has no areas on it that have to be shared. This is what most land sold for residential purposes is in WA. If it is a property with a free standing home, it is most often a green title. However, this is not always the case and you should look into the matter before signing on the dotted line, because occasionally green title does come with restrictions. One example could be a sewer line that runs through your property that could prevent you from adding an extension to the house or even installing a pool.

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The Importance of Good Grooming for Businessmen

The Importance of Good Grooming for Businessmen

These days you need to have everything in place to succeed in business. You may run an honest business and have a pleasant personality but still not have the success you first envisioned. Many women choose to go down the path with cosmetic surgery; businessmen may need something different.

If you have the kind of business where you interact with people a lot, it is important to pay attention to your grooming. Not all men see the need for anything more than a shower and shave every morning. This is just not enough for some. Men who sweat excessively also tend to have body odour (BO) that can be very off-putting. Botox treatment is very useful for anyone who sweats from their underarm area, drenching their shirt twice or more often each day.

The trouble is that sweat stays on the shirt and the skin and bacteria in the area soon increases and gives off an odour. Deodorants may help a little, but using them is just attending to the tip of the iceberg.  It is more important to get rid of the cause.  Because Botox freezes the nerves where it is injected, it prevents the sweat glands from working.

This has no side effects on the person because if they need to perspire there are plenty of other sweat glands to take care of it.  These are in places where the perspiration doesn’t show up so much. The underarm area is difficult to keep dry because of the position of the arm, which is close to the body. This prevents air from circulating and drying it out.

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Traffic Offence Penalties and Defence

Traffic Offence Penalties and Defence

If you have been charged with a traffic offence, what will happen? Much depends on how serious the charge is.  A good criminal lawyer will tell you that minimum penalties for various offences have been pre-set and the court must apply these at the very least. They can also give a higher penalty if they think it is deserved, but not one that is lower than the minimum.

If your traffic offence is a serious one the best thing to do is contact a criminal lawyer and ask his or her advice.  If you are not sure how serious it is you can find out by going online to a traffic authority website, but it is better to consult a lawyer because there could be extenuating circumstances that may reduce the penalty in your case. Each case is different and will be judged accordingly.

You can be sure that your offence is serious if you were breaking a traffic law and someone died or was seriously injured as a result.  However, there are other serious offences too, which is why a lawyer is needed. A lawyer will know the likely outcome of your offence and will be able to gather evidence you need to help your case in court. They will also represent you in court if you wish.

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