Bankruptcy Trust in Wills

Smart people do not hold assets in their own name. Thus they keep assets out creditors’ reach. This is useful for business owners as well as the wealthy. Lose in court? You lose your assets. But you generally do not lose the assets held in your ‘safe harbours’: your spouse […]

The Statutory Regulations 2018 (Cth) allows financial planners and advisers to witness Commonwealth statutory declarations. This has been the case since 18 September 2018. This means that financial planners are in the group of ‘authorised witnesses’. This is long overdue and I applaud the FPA and many other groups, including […]

At times you may wish to change the trustee of your trust. There is no change of beneficiary. The same beneficial owners are still there. There is no change on who the equitable owners are. But in NSW you may have to pay ad valourem stamp duty on the market […]

States punish ‘foreigners’ in family trusts for stamp duty and land tax We amend Family Trust deeds to exclude foreign persons from being beneficiaries. However, we believe it is incorrect to have your initial trust set up to exclude foreigners. Instead, you should do a “Deed of Variation to Remove Foreigners” […]

How to legally murder a person in Victoria Action films take murder lightly. With the use of a gun or a knife; a person’s life can end. Life goes on. In the real world, this is not the case. The right to die requires you tick many boxes. You need […]

Pets in Wills I grew up with dogs, cats, birds and other pets. They are now an important part of our son’s life and development. Australia has one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world. Over 62% of Australian households own pets. There are more than 24 million pets in […]

We are forever travelling. I spent two years with my wife and son to complete my doctorate in tax and estate planning in England. Many of us have insurance, real estate, bank accounts and pension funds overseas. When you build your Will on our law firm’s website, does it cover these […]