Have you ever wondered if your fence is in the right place? A house may be bought and sold numerous times before anyone notices there’s a problem with the boundary. If a boundary fence has been replaced at any time in the history of the property, and done so without a survey, it is quite likely the fence may not be in the correct position. This can have serious implications when it comes to the … [Read more...]
I Might Lose My Home: What To Do When Mortgage Stress Reaches Boiling Point
"I don’t know what to do. The bills are piling up and I’m behind in my mortgage repayments. Today I received a letter from the bank and they are talking about taking possession of my home. I feel like I’m in a huge hole and I don’t even know where to start to dig myself out of it.” The possibility of losing your family home, your largest asset is increasingly one of the greatest challenges facing … [Read more...]
What is stamp duty and how do I avoid paying it?
As we enter the New Year many people use the holiday break as an opportunity to discuss the potential purchase of big ticket items. When speaking about ‘big ticket’ items I am specifically referring to the purchase of a new family home, investment property, or vehicle (car, boat). Similarly, January is frequently the time of year when many people start making plans to start a new business … [Read more...]
Nailing the New Year
I just love a clean slate. I think it goes back to my primary school days when we trundled into school late January to collect our tidy bundles of new stationery, complete with perfectly sharpened HB pencils and crisp white interleaved notebooks. I think it was the promise of new beginnings and of new opportunities that I relished. Perhaps I was just pleasantly asphyxiated on the fragrance of … [Read more...]
Service of Documents in the Age of Facebook
Greg Welden likes to tell a story about how, when he first started working in the Law (in 2001), he wasn’t even provided with a computer. I should probably milk this for all it is worth (after all I am the younger partner). However, in truth, it reflects the nature of this profession, revealing how slow us lawyers are to adapt to change. Of course even the legal profession is not immune to change, … [Read more...]
A Christmas Wish: From Our Family to Yours
As 2016 draws to a close we wish to thank our loyal clients, referrers and professional colleagues for their continued support this year. We wish to announce that both our Prospect and Flinders Park offices will be closed from Thursday 22nd December and will reopen on Tuesday 3rd January. However, as always, a closed office does not mean that we are not available. Should you require urgent … [Read more...]
Drink Driving: Taking the ‘Silly’ Out of the Silly Season
With the Christmas festivities in full swing and everyone heading off to functions it is probably timely for me to address the issue of driving under the influence and the Law. At Welden & Coluccio Lawyers we enjoy a nice drop of whiskey. That said; we are strong advocates for ‘all things being enjoyed in moderation’. Without sounding too preachy, over-indulgence leads to a host of … [Read more...]
Top Excuses For Not Having a Will
When you are dead, you are dead. Nothing can be done from the grave to counteract what you should have planned for when you were alive. In spite of this, too many of our clients leave it until they are in their twilight years before making the appointment to have their first Will drafted. These are the lucky few in an all too common scenario of people who have delayed drafting a Will. The … [Read more...]
eConveyancing: Welcome to a Brave New World!
Without overstating matters the legal profession is reluctant to embrace change. Suffice to say that there are many legal procedures that have stoically remained in place for many years (sometimes a few hundred). Indeed it is this stubborn refusal to budge on tradition that is sometimes to our detriment as professionals. While some things are worth holding onto (we should perhaps keep our … [Read more...]
Understanding Your Title: Strata or Community?
In 2009 Strata Title divisions ceased in South Australia. These divisions have effectively been replaced with Community Title divisions. What is the difference between Strata Title and Community Title divisions? Strata Title A Strata Unit is defined by structural divisions of a building (ie the inside lining of the wall, bottom of a ceiling), not by reference to the land. Common … [Read more...]
