Difference between a loan and a gift
When parents see their married children trying to create a home and a family of their own, they are often tempted to offer assistance. When that assistance takes the form something financial, it is important for everyone involved to understand the circumstances of the transaction. Financial assistance can take two forms; a gift or a […]
5 simple PPSR errors
Unfortunately, simple and innocent mistakes during the registration process are far too common – and usually made unknowingly. Based on our PPSR audits of hundreds of businesses over the years, we’ve found that more than 80 per cent had serious errors in their PPS registrations, which limited or invalidated the company’s security interests. For example, […]
Basics of Succession Planning
Effective succession planning is extremely important to your business. Getting it wrong will carry a high cost for you personally and the value of your business. We believe succession planning should be broken down into four very important elements: Developing a strategy to ensure that any untimely exit of a key person does not destabilise […]
Basic asset protection
In an increasingly litigious environment, many of our clients are concerned about asset protection. Typically they want to ensure that: Their assets are protected from attack from their creditors, bankruptcy or divorce Their personal and business assets are protected for future generations The assets they pass to their children are protected from creditors, bankruptcy or […]
Discretionary trust and land tax (NSW)
Your family discretionary trust may be liable for NSW ‘’surcharge land tax’’ in the current land tax year if it owns “residential land” in NSW and a “foreign person” is a potential beneficiary of the trust. Many readers will be aware that the NSW State Government introduced “surcharge purchaser duty” in June 2016 and […]
Employment contracts in Court
As a rule of thumb, it is always better to assume that the terms of an employment contract will hold up in court. However, the reality is that courts will not always enforce all contractual provisions. Specific clauses or even the entire contract may fail for two general reasons: poor legal drafting or provisions that are overly […]
Elder Abuse
“From this time on in Australia, elder abuse will no longer be someone else’s problem and I am committed to working with [organisations] to eradicate it in our community,” Mr Porter told a conference assembled in Sydney. What Does Elder Abuse Look Like? Elder abuse can be defined as the single or repeated act, or […]
Wills for same sex couples
Although no more special than heterosexual families, the same sex or ‘Rainbow’ family has its own intrinsic features and therefore need to be accounted for in their individual Wills and estate planning. While there is literature both for and against same sex couples raising children, the fact of the matter is that couples in same sex […]
Casual to Permanent
Historically a casual employee in New South Wales had a very limited avenue to become a permanent employee. Either your boss wanted you to become permanent, or they didn’t. However, due to recent changes from December 2017 the Fair Work Commission has said that casual employees now have a detailed path for requesting permanent employment […]
Getting the PPSR right
Do you borrow or lend money with security? Or are you involved in invoice financing, floor plan financing, debtor financing, chattel mortgages or equipment leasing or rentals? If so, then read on – this article is for you! We are told that the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) as it applies under the Personal Property […]
