Too many people die in Australia each year without having a Will in place. If you want a say in how your personal property and belongings are distributed after you die, engaging a solicitor specialising in Wills, can help you put your Will in place.
A Will is a legal document that sets out how you want the things you own to be distributed after you die. Talking about death can be a sombre thing but making a Will is a wise decision to make for anyone over the age of 18 (who has mental capacity and fully able to understand the nature and implications of the document they are signing), regardless of whether they own property or many assets. You may only have sentimental or small valuable belongings but want a say as to who these belongings go to when you are no longer around to express your wishes.
Making a Will can ensure that you can appoint a person(s) of your choice as executor to carry out your wishes as expressed in the Will. It also allows you to provide for the people you care about, leave particular items to certain people and outline other instructions, for example, arrangements for your funeral.
Your Will should be reviewed and changed whenever your personal circumstances change such as getting married, divorced or having children. Many people are not aware that if they have a Will in place and then get married, that Will is no longer valid and that each party needs to have a new Will prepared.
If you die without making a Will, your estate (your property and belongings) will be administered by a person appointed as administrator of your estate by the Court. Normally, the person appointed as administrator will be someone that has an interest in the estate. If an administrator is appointed, what happens to your personal assets and belongings, could be different from what you intended.
A Power of Attorney is a legal document that appoints someone to make decisions on your behalf. The Power of Attorney can be a General Power of Attorney which is given for a specific time (for example if you are going overseas) and then ceases to have effect after that period of time. It also ceases to have effect if you lose the mental capacity to make your own decisions. An Enduring Power of Attorney allows the person you appoint an attorney to continue to make decisions on your behalf even after you lose the capacity to make your own decisions.
Anyone over the age of 18 who has mental capacity is able to make a Power of Attorney.
If you do not have one in place and lose capacity, the job of managing your property and financial matters will be very difficult for your family members and there will be no one with legal authority to make these decisions on your behalf. A family member or someone else close to you may have to apply to the relevant court or tribunal to have a financial manager (someone you may not have chosen) appointed.
It is therefore pertinent that everyone considers have a Power of Attorney in place along with their Will in the case of unexpected occurrences such as sickness, accidents or absences or to cover planned absences.
M Legal can assist you with getting your affairs in order by preparing your Will and Power of Attorney to reflect your exact wishes and leave no room for uncertainty in the event of death, unexpected life occurrences or planned absences. Please book a consultation with our Will Solicitors today.
COVID-19 Immigration Update
As we enter a new phase of COVID-19, there are more uncertain times ahead for all of us. From an immigration perspective, tighter measures are being enforced by Australia’s border security and we urge travelers in and out of the country, to consult with immigration experts if they have concerns or questions about their migration situation.
It is important we share the right information given that government policy is changing rapidly and is having a far-reaching impact on individual movement.
What we do know
What we don’t know
We highly recommend that you consult M Legal before making travel arrangements or apply for a visa for Australia. We continue to stay abreast of the latest advice from both the Australian Department of Health and NSW Health as well as the Department of Home Affairs so that we can inform our clients accordingly.
On behalf of everyone in M Legal, we hope you and your family stay safe.
M Legal 2019 – Year in Review
Changes to the ACT Home Buyer Concession Scheme
For Contracts of Sale entered into after 1 July 2019 (i.e. dated 1 July 2019 and after), new homeowners will pay no stamp duty if:
https://www.revenue.act.gov.au/home-buyer-assistance/home-buyer-concession-scheme/transactions-entered-into-on-or-before-30-june-2019
Applying for a visa is no piece of cake: Why you should engage an immigration lawyer.
In making the visa application process user-friendly, a false sense of security has emerged that it’s easy to apply for Australian visas. There are certain instances when visas can be straightforward, but every individual’s case is different. With a lack of understanding the layer of laws and policy behind a visa application process, we have witnessed clients bewildered by negative visa outcomes of late.
Australian migration law stems from the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). The online visa forms that individuals see are the simplified version of these laws. At a glance, these forms are a series of straightforward questions. What is not told to applicants is that each question on the form is crafted to meet a point of law or government policy, determining your visa eligibility. Therefore, there are serious ramifications for missing questions or not answering questions correctly.
A good migration lawyer can safeguard you from making these errors. Even if a client feels they have only received one good piece of advice in the process, this alone can save them the anguish of losing thousands in visa application fees (in most cases which are non-refundable).
Example
To give you an example on how questions can be multifaceted, here is a question that’s commonly asked in permanent residence applications:
Clients would usually answer ‘no’ to this question if they believe they’ve addressed this earlier by naming accompanying family members. A good migration lawyer would tell you instead that this question is really asking if you have ‘dependant’ family members, such as children or stepchildren remaining in your home country. Why is this an important question? Because if you become a permanent resident, there’s a chance you may eventually bring these children to Australia. Therefore, their health conditions are just as important an issue to address for your application. If any of these ‘unaccompanied’ children are found to have a serious condition, this compromises your whole permanent residency application, even if the rest of your accompanying family are healthy.
Migration law is an expertise built over time and an advisory service that keeps in mind how the relevant legislation applies to each client’s situation. The online form and the Department of Home Affairs’ website is not sufficient to give the full picture. There is quite a great deal of analysis that goes into answering each question on the form and preparing a client’s application to ensure it meets the technical visa requirements. Having a good migration expert to guide you can make a significant difference to your chances of securing an Australian visa.
Please contact M Legal’s immigration lawyer/agent should you wish to discuss your case further.
Do I need a Lawyer to assist with a Will and Power of Attorney?
Too many people die in Australia each year without having a Will in place. If you want a say in how your personal property and belongings are distributed after you die, engaging a solicitor specialising in Wills, can help you put your Will in place.
A Will is a legal document that sets out how you want the things you own to be distributed after you die. Talking about death can be a sombre thing but making a Will is a wise decision to make for anyone over the age of 18 (who has mental capacity and fully able to understand the nature and implications of the document they are signing), regardless of whether they own property or many assets. You may only have sentimental or small valuable belongings but want a say as to who these belongings go to when you are no longer around to express your wishes.
Making a Will can ensure that you can appoint a person(s) of your choice as executor to carry out your wishes as expressed in the Will. It also allows you to provide for the people you care about, leave particular items to certain people and outline other instructions, for example, arrangements for your funeral.
Your Will should be reviewed and changed whenever your personal circumstances change such as getting married, divorced or having children. Many people are not aware that if they have a Will in place and then get married, that Will is no longer valid and that each party needs to have a new Will prepared.
If you die without making a Will, your estate (your property and belongings) will be administered by a person appointed as administrator of your estate by the Court. Normally, the person appointed as administrator will be someone that has an interest in the estate. If an administrator is appointed, what happens to your personal assets and belongings, could be different from what you intended.
A Power of Attorney is a legal document that appoints someone to make decisions on your behalf. The Power of Attorney can be a General Power of Attorney which is given for a specific time (for example if you are going overseas) and then ceases to have effect after that period of time. It also ceases to have effect if you lose the mental capacity to make your own decisions. An Enduring Power of Attorney allows the person you appointan att orney to continue to make decisions on your behalf even after you lose the capacity to make your own decisions.
Anyone over the age of 18 who has mental capacity is able to make a Power of Attorney.
If you do not have one in place and lose capacity, the job of managing your property and financial matters will be very difficult for your family members and there will be no one with legal authority to make these decisions on your behalf. A family member or someone else close to you may have to apply to the relevant court or tribunal to have a financial manager (someone you may not have chosen) appointed.
It is therefore pertinent that everyone considers have a Power of Attorney in place along with their Will in the case of unexpected occurrences such as sickness, accidents or absences or to cover planned absences.
M Legal can assist you with getting your affairs in order by preparing your Will and Power of Attorney to reflect your exact wishes and leave no room for uncertainty in the event of death, unexpected life occurrences or planned absences. Please book a consultation with our Will Solicitors today.