There’s an old saying; the only winners in a messy trial are the lawyers. It’s not strictly true. Litigants often have fantastic wins in the courts, righting wrongs thanks to the hard work of dedicated lawyers. But we need to acknowledge that trials can be very expensive. As a rule most decent lawyers will do everything to steer a dispute away from court as the costs can quickly eat-up … [Read more...]
ACT BEFORE 1 JULY TO SAVE YOUR SUPER’S LIFE INSURANCE
If you’ve got multiple super accounts, alarm bells should be ringing. Not because you’re missing out on the compound interest of a consolidated nest egg, but because your super funds could soon rip an important safety net from under you. From 1 July 2019, your super fund has a green light to cancel insurance policies attached to accounts that have been inactive for 12 months or … [Read more...]
CAN A LAWYER REFUSE INSTRUCTION ON A WILL?
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...]
Any fool with a pen …
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...]
TRUST ISSUES – OLDER AUSTRALIANS AND THEIR WILLS
If you’re an older Australian who hasn’t reviewed their estate plan in a while, you need to read this. As a specialist Wills and Estates lawyer, I get to meet people from all walks of life. Some of my clients are barely out of school, others lived through WWII. But it’s attitude, not age that sets them apart. Most older Australians respect authority. This is not to say that younger people … [Read more...]
“EMOTIONAL WILLS” COULD CAUSE MORE PAIN THAN GAIN.
Legal Wills are boring documents. Make no mistake, as Wills and Estate Lawyers we love our work, but Wills aren’t exactly page turners, if you know what I mean. That’s because legal Wills serve a very clear purpose – to take your testamentary wishes (what should happen to your assets when you die) and translate them into legal wording. That’s why sometimes when children finally get to see … [Read more...]
FACEBOOK RELATIONSHIPS AND YOUR WILL – IT’S COMPLICATED
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...]
TO PRESERVE THE INTEGRITY OF OUR COURTS, WE MUST KEEP THE CAMERAS OUT.
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...]
WILL FORGERY? IT CAN HAPPEN
(two minute, easy read) It’s hard to believe that in 2019 people are still trying to forge legal Wills, but a remarkable case in the UK has reinforced the need to have your Will drafted – and stored – by a qualified legal professional. The criminal law case, out of Gloucestershire, involves a married couple who sought to exclude their relatives from their late mother’s estate by writing a … [Read more...]
FIVE YEARS GOING STRONG
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...]
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