Legal Insights and Guidance
Access valuable legal resources and guides designed to empower you on your legal journey. Our downloadable resources, including informative ebooks and helpful checklists, provide practical guidance and support. Explore our collection and equip yourself with the knowledge you need to make informed decisions.
07 4638 4833
Follow us on social media and stay updated with the latest news and insights. Click the icons above to connect with us!
-
Buyer’s Guide & Moving Checklist
-
A guide to Buying Your Dream Home
-
10 Ways to help your Children get into property
(without losing yours)
-
A Guide to Successfully Separating
Thinking of separating or your relationship has ended? Now What?
Choosing Briese Lawyers for Your Amicable Separation: A Litigation-Free Approach
When it comes to navigating the complexities of a separation, finding the right legal representation is crucial. If you are seeking an amicable divorce settlement and wish to avoid the stress and expense of litigation, Briese Lawyers is the ideal choice for you. With our commitment to fostering cooperative solutions and prioritizing peaceful resolutions, we offer a unique approach to divorce and separation that focuses on collaboration rather than confrontation. In this blog, we'll explore why choosing Briese Lawyers for your amicable settlement can make all the difference in achieving a smoother and more harmonious transition.
Navigating Relationship Breakdown: Your Path to Empowerment and Resolution
The end of a relationship is a challenging and emotional time, often marked by uncertainty about the future and a range of complex legal concerns. At Briese Lawyers, we understand the turmoil that can accompany this phase and are dedicated to providing guidance, support, and legal expertise needed to make informed decisions that will shape our client’s futures. A decision to book a consultation is a pivotal step toward addressing concerns, gaining clarity, and finding a path forward.
Planning for the Future: The Vital Importance of Estate Planning for Couples with a Young Family
As young couples embark on the beautiful journey of starting a family, there's an important aspect that often gets overlooked: estate planning. While it may not be at the forefront of their minds, proper estate planning is crucial for ensuring the well-being of their children and providing peace of mind. In this blog, we will explore the profound significance of estate planning for younger couples who are beginning their family journey.
Estate Planning: Safeguarding Your Loved Ones' Future with Briese Lawyers
Estate planning is a crucial task for individuals and families of all demographics. Whether you're a young couple starting a family or retiree looking to protect your assets and loved ones, proper estate planning ensures your wishes are fulfilled and provides peace of mind. In this blog, we will explore the importance of estate planning and why Briese Lawyers (Toowoomba) is the ideal choice to guide you through this essential process.
Securing Your Legacy: The Vital Importance of Estate Planning for Baby Boomers
As the baby boomer generation gracefully moves into their golden years, it becomes increasingly crucial for them to contemplate a subject that is often overlooked: estate planning. While it may seem uncomfortable or morbid to discuss, proper estate planning is an essential step towards ensuring the security of your loved ones and the preservation of your hard-earned legacy. In this blog, we will explore the profound significance of estate planning for baby boomers in Queensland.
If you answer yes to these questions you may just want to read this very important information!!
As a Seller of residential Property, your main responsibility is to ensure that ownership of the Property can be transferred to the Buyer immediately after Settlement. For Sellers who have a mortgage over the Property, this means that you need to arrange for that mortgage to be released.
In Family Law, unless a Court Order has ruled otherwise, it is presumed that each parent has ‘equal shared parental responsibility’ with regard to major long term decisions involving a child.
So what is equal shared parental responsibility?
The presumption was created as a result of amendments to the Family Law Act (Cth) which encourages co-operative parenting by giving parents an equal say in the major decisions involving a child. Parental responsibility applies to each parent of a child regardless of whether the child’s parents are in a relationship or not.
Here is the latest update regarding the Legislation in relation to the Temporary Amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act which has been released for the Covid-19 emergency period.
There is often confusion about who is responsible for the property insurance for the period between entering into a Contract and the settlement date.
When you sign a contract to buy a house or a unit or even vacant land, one of the first things you will be told is – take out insurance.
“Why is it so important? I don’t even own the property yet”, you might ask.
It is a misconception of some separated parents that relocating to another area with children is a relatively simple affair. You find another house, book the removalists, enrol your children in a new school and you inform the other parent that time arrangements have now changed to holiday periods. Right? Well….no, actually.
One of the most common issues that we hear from our clients after separation is confusion as to mortgage repayments and who is responsible for meeting the payments.
As at 1 October 2019, paper Certificates of Title no longer have any legal effect. A paper CT is now classed as an item of historic or sentimental value only.
It no longer needs to be deposited with the Titles Registry when a transaction is lodged over the title ie. a mortgage & no longer needs to be dispensed for a transaction to proceed ie. the sale of a property!
Separation can be a difficult time for not only the parties involved but also their children. Although we often see that parents' wish to shield their children from the unpleasantness of a family break down, understandably they also want to ensure that the children's wishes are taken into account for parenting arrangements.
This gives rise to the question, do your children have a say in who they want to live with?
The recent United States of America case of Rich and Mary-Beth Zelasko & Zelasko demonstrates the importance of finalising your property settlement after separation.
Mr. Rich Zelasko was ordered to pay $15 million to his wife who he had been separated for more than two (2) years. This decision may come as a surprise to many however, there has been similar decisions made in Australia in relation to lottery winnings after separation.
In the High Court decision of Masson v Parson [2019] HCA 21 made 19 June 2019, Mr. Masson successfully appealed against a decision that as a sperm donor, he was not a "parent" of a child.
In 2006 Mr. Masson provided his semen to the biological mother of the child in the belief that he would, as the child's parent, be named on the child's birth certificate as her father and would support and care for her.
The rise of the "fur baby" as an alternative to having children has been highlighted in a recent family law case.
In Downey & Beale (not Beagle), the Federal Circuit Court was asked to determine who was the owner of the dog, (name and breed omitted for privacy apparently so we'll call him Spot).
After a five-year relationship, Spot's parents managed to reach agreement about the division of all of their assets, including their jointly owned home, but neither could bear to part with their fur baby.
"Pre-nups" have been made famous by famous people. You can be sure that the likes of the Kardashians and the Rhineharts and the Murdochs wouldn't walk down the aisle without one. But does your average wage earner need one, and if they do, are they worth the paper they are written on?
In short, yes and yes.
Whilst we don't have too many celebrities knocking on our door in Toowoomba to draft their pre-nups, they are becoming increasingly common for your average couple. A pre-nup - otherwise known as a Financial Agreement under the Family Law Act - can be entered into before or during a marriage or a defacto relationship. We especially recommend them in these scenarios:
Up until June 2017, the end of a de facto relationship did not have any impact on any Will which the couple might have made during their relationship. That meant that if they neglected to make new Wills, their old Wills (which usually left everything to their former partner) remained effective.
We once acted for a son and daughter who were to receive nothing from their late father's Estate as he had neglected to change his Will after the very bitter end of his de facto relationship. He died eight years after he finalised a property settlement with his former spouse but that had no impact on his Will, which left everything to her. The result was that his children had to engage in a long and costly legal process in order to get any benefit from his Estate.
If you answer yes to these questions you may just want to read this very important information!!
As a Seller of residential Property, your main responsibility is to ensure that ownership of the Property can be transferred to the Buyer immediately after Settlement. For Sellers who have a mortgage over the Property, this means that you need to arrange for that mortgage to be released. This blog will explain how you can obtain the all-important release of mortgage, it will take a brief look at the ramifications if you don’t have it available at settlement, and we will let you know the magical, mind-blowing secret to making sure you will have the release ready on time, every time*.
What is an Enduring Power of Attorney?
There are two types of Power of Attorney – the Enduring Power of Attorney and the General Power of Attorney.
An Enduring Power of Attorney allows health, personal and/or financial affairs to be dealt with in the way you wish, even (and particularly) if you lose the capacity to make decisions for yourself. For example, if you suffer a head injury, develop dementia etc.
I recently did an initial consultation with a Family Law client. Hers was not an unfamiliar story. She had been reluctant to go to a lawyer (for a variety of reasons) but expressed feeling a great sense of relief and empowerment once she had actually done so. When she shared that with me I told her that I would love to be able to reach out to more people in her situation that could benefit from the peace of mind of just knowing what their rights, entitlements and options are. In response, she provided the following testimonial:
"Divorce is emotional and unchartered territory. I was hoping to settle assets with little drama and in the best interest of both my Ex and I. It's tricky, even with the best of intentions and relationships.
An Advanced Health Directive (AHD) clearly states what sort of medical treatment you do and do not want to receive if you are seriously ill and comes into effect when you are unable to make your own decisions. You may also set out preferences about organ donation and life sustaining medical treatment.
How an AHD works:
You will out a form with general or specific wishes for treatment; and
Your General Practitioner certifies that you understand the choices you have made; and
Treating medical staff will subsequently refer to your AHD if you can no longer make decisions for yourself.
Elder Abuse
This fact sheet is provided as a general guide only and should not be used or relied upon by any person without obtaining legal advice in relation to their own circumstances.
Judge Sends Queensland Father to Jail
The recent events which led to a Family Court Judge jailing a father should serve as an important reminder to parties to comply with Court Orders.
Whilst this was an extreme case, Judge Cassidy did note that it was important that Court Orders be obeyed to ensure the proper working of a court system. Too often, parties underestimate the implications of not following Court Orders. There are significant consequences that can be imposed and parties should ensure that they fully understand what these are.
Do you know what happens if you die without a Will?
If you die without a will, you will have died “intestate”. The distribution of your estate will be in accordance with the rules set out in the Queensland Succession Act 1981 (assuming you lived and owned assets in Queensland).
Straight away, the administration of the estate is made more difficult because strictly speaking, no-one has authority to administer the estate until appointed by the Court. Alternatively, where there is a will, the executor’s authority to act comes from the will itself. Accordingly, the expense of obtaining a Grant of Letters of Administration from the Court may need to be incurred, whereas this may not have been necessary if a will had been made.
Is it worthwhile appointing a guardian for my infant children under my Will?
The simple answer is "yes".
A guardian appointed under the Will has all the powers, rights and responsibilities for making decisions about the long-term care, welfare and development of a child that are ordinarily vested in a guardian. An example of such a decision would be in relation to a child's education and religious upbringing.
The Ins and Outs of Child Support
When parent's are unable to reach an agreement with respect to the cost of raising a child, they are able to apply for an administrative assessment through the Child Support Agency.
In assessing the contribution to be paid, the Child Support Agency uses a particular formula that considers a range of factors. Some of these factors are:
The costs of raising a child, which has been determined by independent research;
Both parent's annual income; and
The level of care that each parent has with the child.
DIY Consent Orders - Do They Hold Up?
When parties reach an agreement in relation to property or parenting matters (or both), the terms of that agreement can be drafted into Consent Orders to be filed with the Court. Once Orders have been filed, the Registrar will determine whether the documents have been drafted correctly and whether the terms of the Agreement are worded in a manner that is fair and reasonable to those involved.
Have you got an Enduring Power of Attorney?
Did you know that if you were to temporarily or permanently lose capacity to make decisions and do not have an Enduring Power of Attorney ('EPOA'), the Public Trustee would step in to make financial decisions for you (for a fee) and health matters would be decided by your statutory health Attorney. Your family would be left to make an Application to the Guardianship and Administrative Tribunal for the management of your affairs.
Judge Orders Payout to Married Millionaires Mistress
A Taiwanese business man has been ordered to hand over $800,000 in 'gifts' to his ex mistress. Justice Lyons of the Supreme Court discerned that the items that the business man had purchased were intended to be loving gifts to his mistress.
Whilst the above Order was made in response to a Civil Claim being initiated, it is important to note that under the Family Law Act a party to a de facto relationship may apply to the Court for a property order, providing the Application is made within the necessary time frames.