As a Wills and Estate Lawyer, I thought I’d heard it all. Perhaps the craziest story – until now – was of a man who died in the opal mining town of Andamooka in the 1980s. His dying wish was for the surviving members of his social club to each drink a bottle of whisky, bury him in the desert and urinate on his grave. No priests. No headstones. Just his mates, some shovels and enough booze to … [Read more...]

If you were a kid in the 80s and 90s, there’s a harsh lesson in getting your estate in order in the untimely passing of cinema legend, John Singleton. Singleton is probably best known for his gritty coming-of-age drama, "Boyz n The Hood". The movie tracks the story of Tre Styles, a talented young black American caught between two worlds; the crushing poverty of LA suburbia, and the … [Read more...]

Most of us still think that social media is a bit of fun. It’s a place where we might express parts of our personality we normally keep hidden or engage in arguments we’d never have otherwise with total strangers. After all, what’s the harm, it’s not like it’s the real world? Trouble is, the courts don’t look at social media that way, as a recent case in NSW demonstrated  where a woman’s … [Read more...]

The trial, conviction and sentencing of Cardinal George Pell is a tragedy. It’s a tragedy for the victims who fought for decades to be heard. A tragedy for those who didn’t live to see justice. A tragedy for those in the Church whose work and faith carrying out the true teachings of Jesus has been tainted and betrayed by this awful, ongoing saga. And the trial cuts to the very heart of … [Read more...]

Today marks five years since Welden & Coluccio Lawyers was founded. Looking back, it’s hard to believe how far we’ve come from our first days consulting clients on plastic garden furniture while we sourced second-hand desks online. We started small because this firm was born out of necessity. As established lawyers, we didn’t like the way “big law” did business and vowed to start a … [Read more...]

There's good and bad news for property investors and first home buyers, right now. First, to property investors. For more than 20 years, Australians have been building wealth on a dream run of real estate growth. Figures released over the last twelve months show that dream could be over, with property prices sliding as Australia’s bullish property market runs out of steam. The nation’s … [Read more...]

   We live in an age of unrivaled convenience. If I wanted, with my phone, I could run my life without getting out of bed. I can work, pay the bills, shop for groceries, order dinner, hire a gardener, cleaner and a dog walker … the list is endless. The trouble is, that convenience costs me. The delivery fees, the credit card fees, the price of home-delivered food and the impacts on my … [Read more...]