Have you made (or are you intending to make) a gift to a charity in your Will? What if the charity ceases to exist? This issue recently faced the Queensland Supreme Court for determination. Mr Graham died in 2016. His Will gifted half of his sizable estate to the...Read More
Recently, our firm assisted in a matter where the original Will of our client’s late father could not be located. Our client could only locate a copy of the signed Will. The Court ended up admitting the copy of the Will to Probate and the administration of the estate...Read More
If you have recently moved to QLD from another Australian State or Territory, it may be time to review your Will and Enduring Power of Attorney. The legislation regarding Wills and Enduring Powers of Attorney differs between each of the States and Territories. In...Read More
On 30 November 2020 numerous changes were made to the law regarding Queensland Guardianship Systems. Some of the changes that came into effect include: Changes to the general principles and health care principles; Clarity on applying the presumption that a person has...Read More
It is often the case that executors live far and wide and that is usually not an issue in estate administration. Care must, however, be taken before appointing an overseas resident to be the sole executor of an Australian estate. An estate is a trust. The residency...Read More
People are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of having in place a Binding Death Benefit Nomination to dictate who receives their superannuation on death. Your superannuation is not an asset of your estate. The Trustee of your superannuation fund will...Read More
This is the fifth in our series answering common questions about Estate and Probate disputes. I am often asked whether a “Homemade Will” is sufficient and whether it will “do the job”. It is a question that both troubles and intrigues me. If: you prepare it correctly;...Read More
This is the fourth in our series answering common questions about Estate and Probate disputes. We are often asked about the need to obtain a Grant of Probate as part of the administration of a person’s estate. Typically, the decision to obtain a grant of probate is...Read More
This is the third in our series answering common questions about Estate and Probate disputes. It is a common feature of estate planning for a person to appoint someone to act for them in the event they lose capacity. This is typically done through an Enduring Power of...Read More
This is the second in our series answering common questions about Estate and Probate disputes. Challenging the validity of a Will is different to challenging a distribution under a Will – which was the topic of Part 1 in our series. A challenge to validity is...Read More
