Generally speaking, the contents of a Will are private and are not able to be disclosed without the testator’s authority until after they have died. However, there are some circumstances where you might be able to get a copy of Will without waiting for it to be admitted to probate.
As the founder of an enterprise you must ensure that the legal entity you set up to exploit your business concept owns all of the IP associated with the concept. This includes the IP that is created directly on behalf of the company, but also any IP created by parties outside the company or in the time period before the company was formed.
The ATO’s ‘debt holiday’ is well and truly over, and it has moved past the warning phase and has been issuing a steady stream of director penalty notices (DPNs). As an accountant, there is a fair chance you act as the registered office for your client’s company. ...
It feels like an unbelievably short time has passed since we last summarised the top legal issues you would be facing in 2022. As another year zooms into focus you may be curious about what we think has changed since the last time we shared our thoughts. Interested? Read on.Â
This VideoPost is a recording of our 'Succession Strategies and Estate Planning' seminar, which we presented to clients on Kangaroo Island in July 2022. This seminar will be most helpful for business and farming families, but it will also be useful for anyone wanting...
Please find below a copy of the slide deck for our presentation on Private Ancillary Funds in November 2022 For further information about the issues raised in this Seminar, please contact us on 1300 654 590 or by email. To download our slide deck, enter your email...
​​If you’ve been named as an executor in someone’s Will but don’t want to act, here’s what you need to do.
Do you have more than one executor named in your estate planning documents? If you don’t, then you need to read on.
You are at the finish line – you are about to sign your Will. You have balanced the needs of your family, thought about your wealth distribution and your lawyer has drafted a protective and tax efficient Will. What could go wrong?
​You may have heard of the concept of a family office and wondered what on earth it’s all about. If you have sought retail therapy at MYER, watched free to air television on the Seven network or treated yourself to some Paspaley pearls, then you have inadvertently been in the realm of a family office.
You must understand the full implications of the share structure you adopt in your companies. How you set your companies up will have a material impact on the commercial control, commercial return, tax, asset protection and estate planning outcomes you achieve.
There are several ways a doctor can join your medical practice. As the owner of the practice, it is important for you to understand the key differences between each arrangement, and ensure you have the right agreements in place. Independent Practitioner (or...
When it comes time to make an Estate Plan, most people have at least some idea who they want to give their wealth to. In many cases, they first want to give it to their partner, and then after their partner dies, they want to share it equally among their children. This is what we call the ‘standard’ or default choice.
For families with considerable wealth, there is one more ‘layer’ of planning you must consider. This is the scenario if one of your children dies, either before or after inheriting.
Once again, there tends to be a default in this scenario, that is, the children of your child (i.e. your grandchildren) will take their parent’s share. In this manner, the wealth passes down your ‘family’s bloodline‘.
This sounds simple and appropriate, but it does raise several critically important issues – that justify more thought.
A farm trust is a discretionary trust that is used to own land for primary production while also providing flexibility so the property can eventually be transferred to other family members. Asset protection, tax efficiencies, and ‘controlled succession planning’ are the key benefits of a farm trust.
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