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Posted on 1 Dec 2017

Major Change to the Laws of Intestacy

New Provisions as to the distribution of the assets of a deceased person dying without a Will become operative as from 1 November 2017 Intestacy Means a person has died without a valid Will…

Posted on 20 Jul 2017

Watch this space: Fair Work Commission flags broadening of casual conversion rights

On 5 July 2017 the Fair Work Commission (FWC) issued a preliminary determination in relation to the rights for casual employees to convert to permanent employment under 85 modern awards. Some awards, such as…

Posted on 11 Jul 2017

New arrangements for domestic building disputes now in place

Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria (DBDRV): for better or worse, this is a name that builders and consumers in Victoria will become very familiar with following recent changes to the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (Vic)….

Posted on 7 Jul 2017

Soil Test Special Conditions

Be wary of Vendor prepared soil test special conditions For many Australians, buying vacant land in a new estate, and then building their dream home, is a cheaper alternative to buying an existing residential…

Posted on 7 Jul 2017

Capital Gains Withholding Tax

In an effort to combat tax avoidance by foreign residents in 2016 the Federal Government introduced new laws requiring the purchasers of real estate worth $2 million or more to withhold 10% of the…

Posted on 8 Dec 2016

Clever will-makers don’t give assets to their family

Instead they pass control of the assets to their family. Why does it matter? It matters for two reasons – tax minimisation and asset protection. If you leave assets – whether real estate, shares…

Posted on 3 Nov 2016

Personal Property Securities

Does your business’s asset protection structure still work? Introduction of the personal property securities (PPS) scheme in 2012 brought in the biggest change to business law in many years. In simple terms, the scheme:…

Posted on 20 Sep 2016

New Ministerial Determination – Retail Leases Act

The Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade has published a new Determination pursuant to the Retail Leases Act 2003 to exclude from the operation of the Act retail leases to tenants which are…

Posted on 7 Sep 2016

Calculating notice and redundancy entitlements

Casual time now in the mix for calculating notice and redundancy entitlements under Fair Work Act In a decision which could have wide-ranging consequences, a recent decision of the Full Bench of the Fair…

Posted on 26 Jul 2016

Double Duty and Land Development

The Victorian Government can assess double duty on a transaction where the purchaser named in the contract of sale is different to the person to whom the property is ultimately transferred, unless an exemption…