Author: sam

01 Aug

Posted at 00:00h in Wills & Estates

Did you know that today is ‘Dying to Know Day’? The GroundSwell Project want to encourage all Australians to: develop their death literacy make the end of life plans such as a will and advance care plans share these wishes with their families get informed about end of life and death care options such as dying at home, home and community-led funerals and natural burial be better equipped to support family and friends experiencing death, dying and bereavement The thought of death is unpleasant for many people but a part of life. We encourage all of our clients to consider the inevitable and to prepare. A professionally prepared Will is crucial. An Advanced Care Directive lets you set out your wishes for your healthcare including the end of life care. Morbid? No, just part of living. Give us a call today to talk about Wills, Enduring Powers of Attorney and Advanced Care Directives. Or as we like to call them ‘A Peace of Mind Pack’! Phone: (08) 8212 1322 ...

01 Aug

Posted at 00:00h in General

Written by Eugene Reinboth (Adelaide Commerical Lawyer) The Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) is the single, national online database of security interests in personal property in Australia. It protects businesses that sell on terms, such as retention of title or consignment, or hiring, renting or leasing out valuable goods, machinery, vehicles and equipment. It also protects lenders. Businesses can register their interest in goods they have yet to receive payment for, helping them to recover the debt and lessen the risk of losing the goods if the customer does not pay or becomes insolvent. Lenders can also register their interest for loans provided to businesses or individuals using stock or other personal property as collateral. The PPSR legally defines the priority of security interests, with a ‘first in, best dressed’ principle. It is, therefore, necessary to register the security interest at the earliest and in time. The legislation provides for extensions of time to register in certain circumstances. The Supreme Court of Western Australia recently considered the following circumstances. In November 2014 the borrower company by its director requested that the lender provide short-term financial accommodation to provide working capital to the borrower company whilst it undertook a capital raising. The lender was not usually engaged...

01 Jul

Posted at 00:00h in General

Written by Eugene Reinboth With the rise in property prices, one of the approaches for a person to enter the property market is to turn to family and friends to help buy a home or investment property jointly. There are obvious advantages – such as being able to buy into a desirable location or to get a better quality property than would otherwise be possible individually. As the acquisition and ongoing costs such as rates and taxes are split, each co-owner’s proportion is more affordable. To be successful, it is essential that the co-owners be compatible. That helps harmonious decision making with less downtime with arguments. Additionally, a co-ownership agreement prepared by a lawyer will go a long way to dealing with predictable and unforeseen events. Who is to pay what and when? What if one wishes to leave? What if there is no consensus as to a particular matter? These issues can be dealt with in a formal agreement at the beginning, rather than when an event is upon the participants. Charlie Belperio or Eugene Reinboth from our property team would be pleased to assist you in such matters and are available on (08) 8212 1322 during office hours....

01 Jul

Posted at 00:00h in General

Written by Eugene Reinboth eugene@bc-lawyers.com.au From 1 July 2016, there is new country of origin labelling requirements for most food sold in Australia. These are set out in the Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard 2016 made under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). Businesses have two years to adopt the new labels before they become mandatory on 1 July 2018. Consumers have been confused about the country of origin food labelling for a long time. They have been calling for changes to simplify origin claims on foods and to make them clearer, more meaningful and easier to find. Businesses, though recognising the value of country of origin labelling, have often struggled to understand labelling requirements or to meet consumer expectations. It would appear likely that Suppliers who are prepared to adopt the Standard’s requirements before the 1 July 2018 deadline will be rewarded by Consumers’ custom. The Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard 2016 regulates the type and amount of information that businesses will have to provide to consumers about the food they buy. It will apply to most food offered for retail sale in Australia, including that sold in stores or markets, online or from a vending machine. The law does not apply to food sold in places like restaurants, cafes, takeaway shops, schools, or to...

01 Jun

Posted at 00:00h in Family Law

Written by  Erica Panagakos, Associate erica@bc-lawyers.com.au After years of ‘online dating’ being popular, ‘online separating’ is the way of the future – the Family and Federal Circuit Courts of Australia are making a shift to electronic filing of Applications for Divorce through the Commonwealth Courts Portal, the Courts’ electronic database. Parties can now complete an Application for Divorce through the Portal by using an interactive form to guide them through the process, step-by-step. Whilst parties will no longer be able to download the ‘Application for Divorce Kit’ from the Courts’ websites, the Courts’ web pages have been updated to include new guides to assist parties navigating their way through the electronic filing process. The shift to ‘eDivorce’ will alleviate the need for parties to attend at the Court Registry and should make the filing process more convenient for self-represented litigants. The filing fee associated with filing an Application for Divorce can also be paid online. Once an Application for Divorce is filed, divorcing parties will be able to access filed documents online, at any time, via the Portal and the Court will be able to notify the parties by email if there is any activity on their file. The ‘eDivorce’ process also enables parties to have...

01 Jun

Posted at 00:00h in General

Written by Eugene Reinboth  The Press has recently referred to yet another well-known Australian who has had family members make a claim on his estate. Richie Benaud’s estate had claims made by his former wife Marcia and his eldest son Gregory. It is reported that Mr Benaud married Marcia in 1953 and divorced her in 1967 (almost 50 years ago). He married Daphne that year. Mr Benaud died in April 2015 and was survived by Daphne, Marcia, Gregory and another son Jeffery. The litigation settled very recently in the New South Wales Supreme Court with Marcia apparently indicating that she was “very happy, thank you, dear”. Gregory is also reported as being pleased with the result. Justice Hallen praised the parties for reaching an agreement. There is similar legislation in all States as that which permitted the claim to be made in New South Wales. Here in South Australia, a spouse, former spouse, children, and grandchildren, amongst others, can all make claims. Persons making their wills and potential claimants will, therefore, benefit from discussing these issues with lawyers practising in the area, such as our team of Charlie Belperio, Eugene Reinboth and Roy Hasda who can be contacted on (08) 8212 1322....

01 Feb

Posted at 00:00h in General

A recent article in the Australian Newspaper brought to our attention the unfortunate widespread issue of bullying. It is difficult enough when this occurs amongst adults in the workplace and elsewhere. We have been asked to assist in relation to bullying issues. Some useful resources to assist children being affected by bullying were referred to in the recent article in the Australian and they included bullyingnoway.gov.au, safety.gov.au and kidshelpline.com.au 1800 551 800. Non-lawyer based resources hopefully may help and should be explored wherever possible....

01 Feb

Posted at 00:00h in General

We are excited to announce that we are moving to newly renovated premises at the end of March 2016! Our new address will be 94 STURT St, ADELAIDE SA 5000 Our email and phone number remainthe same. We are not going too far, just a few blocks WEST.  Still very accessible by Tram and the Free Circle Bus 99 stops in front of us. We will announce in this Blog and on Facebook when we have moved as the exact date is still in the hands of the Renovators...

01 Nov

Posted at 00:00h in Wills & Estates

From Lexology 31 Jul 2015 Case Review: Burke v Burke [2015] NSWCA 195 Recently, the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales has given some firm guidance upon community values and expectations when an estranged adult son made an Inheritance Family Provision claim against his mother’s estate Mrs Beryl Burke died a widow aged 93 years. She was survived by her three adult children, Terry, Alan, who was the executor of her Will and Diana. In her Will, the deceased left a legacy of $100,000 to her grandson, Stephen and the residuary of her estate was divided equally between Alan and Diana. She made no provision for Terry with whom she had no contact for about 20 years prior to her death. In a letter prepared before her death, Mrs Burke explained that she had not included Terry in her Will to reflect the fact that he, through his own choosing, was no longer a part of her life, having become totally estranged from the entire family. Terry commenced proceedings in the Supreme Court seeking a family provision order out of Mrs Burke’s estate. It was not disputed that Terry was in financial need. The trial judge found that Mrs Burke was...

01 Nov

Posted at 00:00h in Collaborative Practice

The International Academy of Collaborative Professionals annual forum was held in Washington DC in October 2015. Bev Clark was privileged to attend. The calibre of the speakers was excellent. The international forum is attended by hundreds of collaborative professionals from around the world. This year’s forum was particularly important as it celebrated the 25th anniversary of the process since inception. Bev is very proud to be part of the promotion and development of Collaborative practice in South Australia. Collaborative Practice is a cost-effective, problem-solving approach that can minimise the impact of conflict on parties and their children. Parties are guided and supported by professionals with the right expertise to achieve the best possible outcome. The parties are guided and empowered to make a sound, long-lasting decisions that stand them in good stead for years to come. The Collaborative process preserves their privacy and dignity while giving parties the best possible chance of resolving their dispute respectfully – and the results are legally binding. So why choose Collaborative Practice? Avoid long, difficult and often expensive Court battles Focus on problem-solving and finding respectful solutions Create personal, cost-effective solutions that are right – and tailor-made –  for the family Protect the well-being and needs of the children Maintain decision making...

Contact
close slider

Contact us