We love being part of the vibrant community that is the City of Prospect. Our involvement in the ‘Tourrific Prospect Street Party’, this year held on 17th January, is an important way that we are able to engage with locals and other business owners all along Prospect Road and in the immediate vicinity. While we have previously used this event as an opportunity to educate the community in the … [Read more...]
Swimming Pools: Know Your Legal Obligations
As a father of three I know too well the importance of pool safety especially where young children are concerned. In fact, our youngest child is currently enrolled in VacSwim, a brilliant government-funded program that is designed to promote water safety in our primary school-aged children. While programs such as this are important, alone, they are not enough to prevent water related deaths. … [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...]
Parenting Solo After Separation: 5 Tips for Smoothing the Transition
Joanna Diamantopoulos has more than a decade's experience as a family lawyer. Today, she shares some wisdom for parents who are in the throes of a relationship breakdown, with advice for making this event a smooth transition for children. Separation and divorce is unquestionably one of the more stressful life events you can experience. It creates an emotional upheaval, not only for you but … [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...]
Property Settlements After Separation: Who Gets the Toaster?
Relationship breakdowns are frequently likened to a death. Certainly, like a death, there is a good degree of grieving involved, along with the more practical management of affairs. During what is nearly always an emotional time this can seem like an insurmountable challenge. Property Settlement is an arrangement about how you and your ex-spouse or domestic partner distribute property. It … [Read more...]
All I Got For Xmas Was A Divorce: Where To Next?
It is a sad fact that, with the Christmas season over, many couples move into the New Year with a plan to go their separate ways. Certainly, once the children head back to school it is not unusual for lawyers to be inundated with queries from people who need legal support during this time. Admittedly, supporting families through this experience is one of the saddest and confronting … [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...]
Estate Planning Series: Part 3 “Dealing with Non-Estate Assets”
With many ‘average Australians’ having assets which are ‘non-estate’ assets, it is crucial that these individuals develop strategies (ie an estate plan), to ensure that the control of these assets is passed to your loved ones upon your death. In part 2 of the Estate Planning series I identified some situations where assets may be non-estate. In this article I will explore some general … [Read more...]
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