Francesco Maconi

When a person makes a Will they often believe it will go unchallenged and that their assets will be left to whomever they choose. This is partly but not completely true. A person drafting a Will must keep in mind that in some circumstances – where, for example, the testator excludes a spouse from their Will, or leaves everything to one child instead of dividing their belongings amongst all children, or decides to leave everything to charity – the Court can intervene on behalf of the excluded person.

Family members who have been excluded from a Will can bring what is known as a Family Provision Application for their proper maintenance and support out of the estate of the deceased person. Family Provision Applications are the most common “challenges” to a Will.

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John Formosa

What Do I Own?
We quite often experience a situation when taking instructions from clients in the preparation of their Wills that they do not clearly understand their business structures. As a result of this it is sometimes difficult to take proper instructions from clients in the preparation of their Wills without consultation with their accountant.
Many businesses are owner/operated by husband and wife teams and although they started off as simple partnerships, have over the years changed their business structure to a company or trust.

Of course with a trust they can either be personal trustees themselves or a corporate trustee.
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Andrew Telford

My great uncle Marc O’Donnell was the quintessential country farming gentleman. Marcus O’Donnell and his wife Kathleen lived on a farm near Bloomsbury and had seven children. Uncle Marc never swore, had a strong Catholic faith, loved his wife and children and all of his family. Marc was hard-working and because he was very careful with his money he accumulated a considerable amount of wealth, mostly comprising his farm at Bloomsbury, other outside property investments and a significant share portfolio. Money was never spent on luxury items such as a car or a house.
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If you are unmarried then marry, your Will will be revoked by the marriage unless the Will is expressed to be made in contemplation of that marriage. Consult a solicitor about your Will if you decide to marry.
Divorce may affect your Will. The matter is complex and the law is not uniform throughout Australia. In Queensland a Will leaving a benefit to a spouse is revoked after divorce to the extent of the benefit given to the former spouse but otherwise remains in force.

Clearly in these circumstances if you are contemplating divorce or have been divorced since making your Will you should consult a solicitor.Review the copy of your Will every two or three years or whenever a major event occurs in your family, your assets or the taxation laws (to make sure the Will is still what you want). continue

Damian Carroll

If you attend a Solicitor to make a Will, one of the first questions you will be asked is “Who will you appoint as your Executor or Executors?”
An executor is the person appointed by a Will to administer your estate. The executor has a serious obligation to carry out your wishes as expressed in your Will and more than one executor can be appointed in a will. An executor should be an adult.
Appointing a minor as an executor creates specific difficulties and is not wise. It is also not appropriate to appoint a person as your executor if that person suffers from a disability which prevents him or her from administering the estate.

Appointing a person as an executor places serious obligations upon that person to comply with the requirements of the law in the administration of your estate. A failure by the executor to carry out their duty may see them personally liable. The executor actually stands in your place and disposes of property as directed by you. continue

Andrew Telford

Before I married and had children, my mother asked me “Andrew, I assume that you have a Will? I do not want you leaving a mess behind for me if you die!” My response to my mother was “Don’t be silly Mum. Of course I have a Will, I am a solicitor.”

Unfortunately I remember saying these words, when in fact I didn’t have a Will. It seemed to me to be unnecessary given that I was not married and had little or no money so I did not really worry about it. Looking back now, I cannot believe my attitude.
I think it is one that is reflective of many aged in their mid-twenties or younger.
This anecdote is indicative of many family situations where a mother is trying to make sure that her young sons have their affairs in place so that if something does happen then the mother is not left with a bigger mess than should otherwise be the case.
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Andrea Green

The idea behind redundancy pay is to help former employees financially bridge the gap until they find a new job. This is only fair considering that the employee would have lost their job through no fault of their own.
But what happens when the termination of employment is not the employee’s, nor the employer’s, fault? Can the employer avoid paying redundancy pay? Employers may not have to pay redundancy pay if the fluctuation of work is standard to their business.
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