The recent high profile case heard by the Supreme Court in Victoria between actress Rebel Wilson and German media giant Bauer Media has come to a dramatic conclusion, with Justice Dixon finding that Bauer Media had maliciously defamed Ms Wilson. Ms Wilson was awarded a large sum of $4.5 million dollars in damages, resulting in...
A question that pops up every so often is what are the obligations of the seller when selling a house which has a somewhat murky or mysterious past? It goes without saying that properties hold many stories within their walls, hence the colloquial “if the walls could speak’, however as a buyer in Queensland there...
Following on from a recent article we published regarding cheap ‘will kits’, we often find that clients are also compromising one of the largest purchases they will make in their lifetime, being the purchase of their first home or real estate, all for the sake of saving a small amount of money. We find that...
Since the 1st October 2016 residential conveyancing transactions for which the liability for transfer duty (stamp duty) has arisen, and where the subject property is classed as ‘Additional foreign acquirer duty’ (‘AFAD’) residential land’, then if the purchaser falls within the meaning prescribed in the Duties Act 2001 as a ‘foreign acquirer’, then it is...
One of the most common myths when it comes to separation is that “all family disputes go to the Court”. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth as a vast majority of cases are resolved without the need of going to Court, and of those matters that do end up in the Court room,...
Following on from the implementation of the Tackling Alcohol-Fuelled Violence Legislation Amendment Act 2016 and to last year’s article regarding the change to trading hours (https://www.affinitylawyers.com.au/blog-view/reducing-alcohol-fuelled-violence-will-this-179), a new piece of legislation named the Liquor and Other Legislation Act 2017 was introduced in March 2017 and as a result, all premises that fall within the definition...
On 6 June 2017, the Fair Work Commission (‘the Commission’) handed down its decision in relation to the annual wage review., As a result, from 1 July 2017, the minimum annual wage in Australia has risen from $672.70 p/w ($17.70 p/h) to $694.90 p/w ($18.29 p/h). Modern award minimum rates of pay will also increase...
One of the questions that we are posed by many of our clients, time and time again, is ‘why can’t we just use one of those $20 will kits from the newsagent?”. In fact, in our experience many people are hesitant to pay for a lawyer to prepare their will properly, instead preferring just to...
Where there has been a relationship breakdown and there is real property involved (for example the matrimonial home or an investment property), then depending on how the property is held by the parties, a caveat may need to be lodged over the property to protect your rights and interests in it before your ex has...
Affinity Lawyers first discussed the Western Australian case of Lemon v Mead back in April 2015, (you can read the article here). In essence, the case deals with the estate of a wealthy mining magnate who left two of his surviving children approximately $400 million each in his will, while the remaining surviving child...
