Hi

What does the "design" comprise? Patterns for netball uniforms or something more/else?

Did you create it or the non sucessful supplier?

Are you in New Zealand?

What was the response? No attachments

Please advise

There are many things to consider when preparing a shareholders agreement. Most importantly, it's imperative that it is customised to your business and theobjectives of its shareholders. Matters that are customarily addressed in a shareholders agreement include:

1. Pre-emptiverights:That is, the ability for existing shareholders to have priority over any third party in relation to fundraising activities and any proposed sale of shares.
2. Voting thresholds and reserved matters:Namely, what level of approval is required by the board and/or shareholders for matters voted on and what matters (above that prescribed by law) are reserved for shareholder approval.
3. Composition of the board and nominee representatives.
4. Future fundraisingactivities.
5. Transfer or shares -processand procedure.
6. Dividend policies.
7. Preparation of accounts.
8. Drag and Tag alongrights - the ability to force a minority shareholder to sell and/or the ability for a minority shareholder to participate inthe sale of shares by a majority shareholder(s)
9. Matters which may trigger a compulsory exit by a shareholder (for example, shareholder default or death or disability of a key associated individual)and how such interest is valued
10. Restrictive covenants - do you seek torestrict a shareholder from having an interest in a competing business?
11. The establishment of business plans and budgets.

My advice would be to seek legal assistance in the drafting of this agreementand not rely on template documents.

Kind regards

Richard Partridge

Gadens

Hello. Thank you for the question. If you are approaching a rent review period in the lease and the lease indicates that the rent review mechanism attributable to that rent review period is a CPI review, then a CPI review will need to be instituted.

Your original business arrangement with your friend sounds like it may have been a legal partnership, even though you never signed a partnership agreement. Whether a partnership existed will depend on how the capital and property of the business venture was managed, how the profits were divided, and how the business interacted with third parties. If a partnership existed, this means that, under Victorian law, each partner is entitled to share equally in the capital and profits of the business and must contribute equally to any losses. Unless you reached an express or implied agreement with your friend to the contrary, you are entitled to 50% of the partnership property. As a general rule, a partner has authority to bind the whole partnership. This means your friend has the power to sign legal documents on behalf of the partnership, such as incorporation documents. However, incorporating the business would be a significant change to the nature of the partnership business and therefore cannot be done without your consent. Your friend may decide that he wants to leave the partnership, which he is entitled to do if there is no agreement otherwise on how to end the partnership. Upon your friend leaving, the partnership will dissolve and each partner will be entitled to half the partnership property.

There are a number of factors to be considered - the first is jurisdiction. Is it proposed that the law of a State in Australia will cover the agreement? It is important to ensure that the contract is enforceable and complies with the law of the jurisdiction. The second relates to IP and the third to liability.

Based on the limited facts provided, this may constitute actionable trespass to land. The appropriate remedy would be damages or mandatory injunctive relief.

This is not legal advice and should not be relied on for any purpose. If you wish to engage my legal services please contact me directly.Liability limited by a scheme approved under professional standards legislation.

YES

Bigamy is Illegal in Australia (which is being married to more than 1-person at a time)

An application for divorce will generally take 2-months.

1- month from filing until the date of the hearing, then if the Decree Nisi is granted it becomes final 1-month and 1-day later (decree Absolute)

other than that it takes about 7- days to register for a marriage permit but there are no other time limits under the law

Australia doesn't have Pre-nups as such, Instead we have what are known as Binding Financial Agreements and they can be entered into before marriage, during marriage or after marriage but before divorce. Defacto Couples can also enter into them.

However, please be warned there are specific requirements to be met before they are binding such as both parties MUST receive independent Legal Advice prior to entering.

Then even if the requirements are met there is a view in the courts that as these binding financial agreements are merely contracts, they can not be used to contract out of a persons right under the Australian Family Law Legislation.

That is the Family Law Act requires a court to make any orders it feels are just and equitable to do so. And these decisions are often made after intrinsically looking at parties relationship, length, severity as well as assets owned, contributions to the home and family etc...
It is said a BFA may be used to contract out of these rights, and so often Lawyers feel BFA's are not worth the paper they are written on as the courts are often over turning them

1. A person who suffers harm as a direct result of an act committed by another person in the course of a criminal offence in NSW.

2. A member of the immediate family if someone dies as a result of an act committed.

This includes children and young people who have been harmed as a result of a criminal offence.

If you are not on a good behaviour bond with Roads and Maritime then you have a right to appeal the decision to suspend you. I am assuming you are guilty as charged but seek a lighter penalty, namely no suspension.

The process would be to lodge a notice thatyou want the matter heard by a court. You wouldcomplete the back of the form issued to you or lodge anotice online using the particulars on the form issued to you.

The court will then allocate a court date and on that date you'll be required to attend the court.

When you go to court you will have an opportunity to present a case for why your licenceshould not be suspended. You would be asking for the court to make a Section 10 order under the Crimes(Sentencing Procedure) Act. This would, if you are successful, have theeffect of the court dismissing thesuspension notice in exchange for your "guilty" plea and on the basis that youare of prior good character.

If youare self-representing, youshould:

(a) give evidence of your good character in the form of character references from people who themselves are of good character;

(b) commenthonestly in relation to your driving history, how long you've been driving for and what your record is like;

(c) demonstrate a legitimate need for a licence such as the requirement to hold down a job; and

(d)tell the court about anything else impacting your circumstances or anything at the time of the offence that might be relevant.

Make sure you are prepared and have original documents. For example, character references and remember your employer might be able to write a letter in respect of your need for a licence.

The court has absolute discretion here and would consider the evidence before it. The court would also look at the circumstances of the offence such as what time you were driving, what the weather was like, where you were driving, what the road surface was like, whowas around and how many cars were on the road.

Section 97 of the Family Law Act 1975 specifies that all proceedings should be heard in open unless the court decides otherwise.

Section 121 of the Family Law Act 1975 makes it an offence to publish or radio broadcast any account of the proceedings that identify persons or witnesses involved in family law proceedings. Televising or disseminating pictures of persons or witnesses involved in the proceedings is also prohibited.

Section 121(9) of the Family Law Act 1975 provides for some exceptions to the prohibition rule.

For an overview of the responsibilities of executors click here.

The consequences of failing to carry out those duties will depend on whether the will maker has exempt the executor from liability for certain acts or omissions.

Suggest you look at the NSW Trustee and Guardian web site for general information about the role of Executor. As a trustee you have legal obligation to ensure the proper adminsitration of an estate in accordance with legal provisions. That is why engaging a solicitor to support your role as executor is generally a good idea. I don't administer estates myself but a search for a local lawyer dealing in estate management is recommended. Also the Public Trustee and Guardian office offer an executor service.

You could do it yourself but this is not advisable. You should consult a patent attorney with who has technical knowledge and qualifications in the area of the invention. Although you will most likely have all of the technical knowledge needed to describe the invention, there are particular skills in how the specification that needs to be filed is constructed that the patent attorney will be able to help with. In particular, the claims section of the specification describes the scope of the monopoly that you will have for your invention if the patent is registered and language used in describing the claims and they way they are constructed requires skill from the patent attorney. Most patent attorney firm websites will show the technical areas in which individual attorneys operate and many firms will give you a brief initial consultation without charging so that you can explain what you want to do.

You should make clear to them that what you are telling them is confidential and that you are only telling them the information on the basis that they will keep it confidential. If you give them any documents, mark them as confidential. More importantly, ask yourself why the person won't sign and NDA. If they haven't given you a good reason (such as that they don't think the NDA you've given them is well drafted or its unreasonable) ask yourself whether it's really a good idea to entrust your idea to someone who has already indicated that they may not treat it as confidential, no matter how much you think they could assist?

Yes, you do need a lawyer for the following reasons:

• Even if you have reached an amicable agreement before signing any papers you should know your rights and obligations.
• The application for divorce is only one aspect of a permanent separation. Other matters to consider are property settlement, parenting, child support and spousal maintenance. These are complex areas of the law and you should receive advice about advantages and disadvantages of the proposed agreement.
• Any agreement about parenting must take into consideration the best interest of your children. The Family Court may consider that your proposed arrangements are not in the best interest of your children. Your lawyer should be able to spot any potential problems before the agreement reaches the Family Court for lodgement.
• A property settlement must be fair and equitable and a lawyer can advise you if your agreement satisfies the criteria. If you have reached an agreement which is not fair and equitable the Family Court may reject your proposal.
• There are Court documents, such as application forms and minute of consent orders, that must be lodged at the registry of the Family Court. If the documents are not drafted correctly they will be rejected by the Court or returned with a requisition for significant changes.

Depending on the size and complexity of your assets you may also require an accounting advice about the possible tax effects resulting from the division of the assets.

You can negotiate with your lawyer the scope of their involvement in your matter so that you can feel comfortable and know what to expect.

LAWYERS' OBLIGATIONS

Itemised bill

Under the laws governing the legal profession in Australia you may request your lawyer to give you a breakdown of your fees and costs in the form of an itemised bill. Your lawyer must comply with your request within 21 days (28 days in some States) from the date of the request and give you a signed itemised bill. Youshouldn'tbe asked to pay for the preparation of the itemised billas your lawyer is not entitled to charge you for that.

Cost agreements

Your lawyer must disclose up front and in writing in a cost agreement:

• the estimate of your total legal costs
• your right to negotiate a cost agreement and the rate at which you will be charged
• your right to receive a bill of costs and your right to request an itemised bill after receiving a lump sum bill
• your rights in a dispute in relation to costs.

An exception to the rule about disclosing costs is when your legal fees are under a certain threshold which varies between different jurisdictions. For example in Western Australia a lawyer does not have to disclose legal costs if they are under $1,500.

YOUR RIGHTS

In relation to a dispute about legal costs you have:

• the right to apply for a costs assessment
• the right to apply to set aside your costs agreement
• the right to make a complaint.

If you think that you have been overcharged you should first talk to your lawyer who may agree to review your bill.

If 21 days have passed since you requested the itemised bill and you still haven’t received one and you are concerned that you have been overcharged you can make a complaint to the appropriate State or Territory Legal Services Commissioner.

If you are not happy with a lump sum bill or an itemised bill you have the right to have your legal costs independently assessed within 12 months after you were given the bill.If on assessment it is found that your lawyer has charged you excessive legal costs and your bill is reduced by more than 15 % your lawyer may be required to pay the fees for the costs assessment. If your bill has been reduced by less than 15% you may be required to pay the assessment costs.

Charging excessive legal costs is professional misconduct which is the most serious charge a lawyer can face as a member of the legal profession.You should seek legal advice if you are not satisfied with the outcome of your request for an itemised bill or if you think that you have been overcharged.

This is often used in tax planning where trustees want to distribute to a corporate beneficiary (taxed at 30%).

Provided the beneficiary class of the trust is broad enough to include related companies and trustswithin thegeneral beneficiary class,you are able to do this provided the shareholder of the company allows the company to be included in the general beneficiary class. Have a lawyer carefully review the terms of the trust deed and work alongside the trust's accountant.

You mayalso want to considerwhether another family discretionary trust should be the shareholder of the corporate beneficiary, so as to allowflexible distributions of income at the corporate beneficiary level.

It depends on the terms of the discretionary trust - most modern trusts include related companies and trusts within the general beneficiary class. If this is the case, and subject to the trust deed, so long as the estate had beneficiaries who were also beneficiaries of the discretionary trust, that should be fine.Sometimes the trustee also has the power to nominate beneficiaries under the terms of the deed.

Another thing - there can be taxation issues that need to be thought about, in particular whether a family trust election is necessary and if so, who should be nominated as the test individuals for each of the estate and the family discretionary trust (see Schedule 2F Income Tax Assessment Act 1936).

Consult a lawyer on point - preferably the lawyer drafting the Willmaker's Will or administering the deceased estate tosee whetherthe terms of thetrust deed and Wills allow forthe estate to be included as a relatedtrust.

Hi mate, this is very serious and we'd be happy to chat free of charge to give you guidance. Typically, you should consider our advice before entering a plea. We'd need more information about the facts of the case and how you were caught. We'd also need to know more about you and your background.

If this was a guilty plea, we'destimate $7,000.00 + GST for sentencing including reps to police to negotiate the charges, psych report, pre-sentence report, extensive submissions, character reference material and all incidental mitigation work.

If this was adefended hearing youwould be looking at $20K +.

You can checkus out at www.dowsonturco.com.au

Yes, Will-kits are lawful.However, the enforceability of a Will-kit (or any Will) depends on whether or not it has been prepared in accordance with various formal witnessing requirements for Wills. A Will only comes into effect on your death, at which point it's enforceability will be assessed.

What are the formal requirements of valid Wills?

The requirements for witnessing Wills in SA are set out under the Wills Act 1936 (SA)and these are broadly similar to all of the other Australian jurisdictions and include the following:

• the Will-maker must have testamentarycapacity to make a Will, including that they are over 18 years of age and of sound mind, memory and understanding; and
• the Will-maker must have theintentionthat the document they are signing constitute their Will - accordingly there must be a document (defined broadly) that expresses these intentions; and
• the Will must be signed by the Will-maker (or at the Will-maker's direction if he or she is unable to witnesses the document); and
• the Will-maker's signature must be witnessed by at least two witnesses present at the same time (the witnesses are not required to be present at the same time, though practically they should be and this is best practice).
  

Are Will-kits worth the risk?

No. The Supreme Court does have jurisdiction to look beyond a failure to meet most of the above requirements in a range of circumstances - excluding those relating to capacity (as a statutory 'Court ordered' Will should be obtained for this purpose not a Will-kit). However seeking the courts 'rectification' or 'construction' of a Will that fails to meet these requirements or conceals the Will-maker's intentions will come at great expense to your beneficiaries.

Will-kits are an alluring economic option for many, however even the most straight forward of family and property arrangements require a level of qualified advice in order to achieve your intended outcome.I have heard many refer to will-kits as creating a 'false economy', quite simply on the basis that they are initially very cheap - however, if they are not correctly prepared, they will produce significant costs and confusion for your estate and your beneficiaries, perhaps requiring the intervention of the Court to put right.

Do they achieve the best outcome?

Rarely. In terms of the outcome that these documents achieve for your beneficiaries, they do little more than appoint someone to manage your affairs and name the beneficiaries of your property. Will-kits offer no tax effectiveness or asset protection, as compared with tailored Wills that are shaped to meet your families needs, both now and long into the future. You are also likely to own a range of non-estate assets (such as superannuation, life insurance or family trusts) and these assets require the implementation of separate mechanisms altogether.

What other options are available?

A specialist estate planner should always be contacted. Particularly as most lawyers will now offer complementary estate planning consultations with no obligation to engage the firms services. Many lawyers are also more than happy to have a preliminary chat over the phone. Will drafting is increasingly a specialist area of law. Unfortunately I have seen far too many Wills that have been prepared by qualified solicitors, but that fall far short of the mark.

I recommend that you view your estate plan as an investment for your family and act accordingly.

No, you cannot change unilaterally an existing pre-nup agreement.

You and your wife can terminate the existing agreement by either entering into a subsequent binding financial agreement or signing a termination agreement.

You and your wife must each receive an independent legal advice before entering into a termination agreement.

You may find the answer to another question about pre-nup agreements useful. Just follow this link for more details.

A pre-nuptial agreement also known in Australia as a binding financial agreement is an agreement between two spouses about the division of their assets and spousal maintenance should their marriage or relationship break down.

A binding financial agreement removes the power of the Family Court to decide these issues. This means that by entering into such an agreement you will be giving up your rights under the Family Law Act 1975.

The following slideshow summarises some important aspects of pre-nuptial agreements in Australia.

There are various ways you can structure and run a business in Australia, each involving different legal obligations. The professional services firm in Queensland you are considering buying may currently be structured as a proprietary company, a partnership or sole proprietorship.

Proprietary company

Proprietary companies in Australia are regulated by the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). This legislation allows foreign citizens to be directors of companies. However, for proprietary companies, there must be at least one director who ordinarily resides in Australia. This means you can be a director of the Queensland business you are considering buying, but you would need to appoint an additional director who lives in Australia.

Australian law also places special legal duties on directors of companies. For example, a director needs to know what their company is doing and must ensure the company keeps proper records. If you intend to be a director of the Queensland business, you will still be required to comply with your legal duties as a director even though you are based overseas for most of the year.

If you simply intend on becoming a shareholder of the business (and not a director), then your control over the running and management of the company will be limited to your rights as a shareholder. For example, you would be entitled to vote at general meetings but you would not be able to set the strategic direction of the business, as this power sits with the director(s) of the company.

Partnership

If the Queensland business is structured as a partnership, you would be joining the existing partnership as a partner of the firm. This would require you to sign an accession deed under which you would agree to be bound by the terms of the partnership agreement. This document sets out how the partnership operates, including your level control over management of the business. Importantly, partners in a partnership owe special legal obligations to each other and one partner’s liability can affect the entire partnership. Subject to the terms of a partnership agreement, there are generally no restrictions on a foreign resident becoming a partner of a partnership in Australia.

Sole proprietorship

If the Queensland business is currently operated as a sole proprietorship, this could present difficulties for you when purchasing the business. Without a company or partnership structure, it is possible that the outgoing principal holds all the business agreements (such as leases and customer contracts) in his or her own name. Assigning these agreements to you as the incoming purchaser may be a difficult and time consuming process.

Other issues to consider

You should also be aware that, as a foreign resident, you may be taxed by the Australian Taxation Office on your Australian-sourced income, such as the money you earn working in Australia running the Queensland business.

We suggest that you speak to a lawyer about the various legal issues that you may face in purchasing and running the Queensland business, regardless of how it is structured. A lawyer can help you understand your options, the risks you may face in buying the business, and your legal responsibilities after purchase. By pressing the "Take Action" button - which opens late July 2015 - LawAdvisor can help you search for experienced lawyers and obtain fee proposals for their services.

It is impossible to give you any meaningful advice without more information, but in general terms, it depends on what led to you to believe that you had to pay the lower amount. If it was your own carelessness in failing to read the contract properly, then most likely you will have to pay.

If the other party said or did anything to make you believe that you had to pay less than what was actually provided in the contract, or if they knew that you were under the wrong impression but did nothing to correct your understanding, then you may have a remedy in law. In that case, you should go and see a solicitor and talk through the situation.

A Will of an unmarried minor will not be valid unless approved by a court in accordance with s 20 of the Wills Act 1997 (Vic). An application would need to be made to the Supreme Court and the Court would need to be satisfied that your daughter understands the proposed Will and it is reasonable that it be made.

Hello and thanks for your question. It is helpful to consider whether the product you are looking to develop is patentable right from the word go before you spend too much time and money on the new product. Patent protection is a long lasting and strong intellectual property right once you have it in place. The existing patent owner here seems to have a very broad set of claims some of which may or may not be defensible.

We would recommend seeking professional advice from a patent attorney specialising in the relevant industry for your product. e.g. technology, engineering, chemistry etc or contacting an intellectual property lawyer. Both will be able to assist you to determine whether the scope of the existing patent has been drawn too broadly and is subject to attack. It will also be helpful to confirm that the product you are seeking to develop does not infringe on the existing or other patent owner's rights (ie conducting a freedom to operate search). Depending on the situation you may be able to negotiate an appropriate licence with the patent owner, develop a product outside the claims and seek your own protection or challenge their patent in some way. Good luck with next steps.

This is the perfect occasion to retain a lawyer, whether a solicitor or a barrister, for advice.

Retaining a solicitor has the added advantage of the solicitor being able to act for you in further negotiations and, if you provide instructions and authority to do so, sign the contract on your behalf (a barrister cannot generally do so due to the nature of their profession and work.)

You should not feel forced to agree to a contract that you do not understand and you always have the option of reviewing the contract, coming back later, and even suggesting amendments that might make the contract fairer. Signing a contract has important legal consequences and you should not do so unless you understand the contract and / or have been advised by a lawyer as to what the contract means.

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Disclaimer: This advice is general and is not intended to be relied upon as advice for your specific situation and circumstances. In order to provide an advice taking into account the entirety of your unique circumstances, I would strongly recommend that you seek further professional legal advice.

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Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation

Yes, it is possible to give your estate to a charity in your will.

Leaving your estate to a charity is a commendable act and to ensure that your gift does not fail you should be aware that:

• There are certain categories of eligible persons who can make a family provision claim if you have failed to provide adequately for them in your will. Eligible persons in Western Australia are your:
• spouse or de facto partner
• former spouse or de facto partner if they were entitled to receive maintenance from you at the time of your death
• children regardless of their age
• grandchildren
• step children
• parents

• You should do some homework about your chosen charity.
• What is the precise name and address of the charity – ask for the ABN
• Is your intended beneficiary really a charity
• Will the charity accept the type of gift that you wish to make, or has the charity a preferred form of bequest.

• You should consider giving your executor the power to select another charity which will fulfil the charitable purpose of the original charity because your chosen charity may have stopped to exist or may refuse your gifts.

I don't see any obstacles for a free service like this to be offered in Australia. There are already several paid online will assembly sites.

It is important to keep in mind that there are several aspects to estate planning and the drafting of the will is done after a thorough investigation by a lawyer of the client's circumstances. The question that remains to be answered is if the logic of such an investigation can be built into an online wills service.

I have included an example of the investigation process I undertake in the preparation of a client's estate plan.

An important step in the estate planning process is to ascertain what assets and liabilities form part of the client's estate. For example, some jointly owned assets or assets held in a trust cannot be gifted in a will.

Below is a chart with assets commonly owned by a testator.

One of the most important tasks for a lawyer advising on your will and estate plan is to identify key risks.

Examples include:

• Protecting your estate assets in case of a financial failure
• Ensuring that gifts to spendthrift beneficiaries are protected from creditors
• Life risk
• Marriage or relationshipbreakdown risk - a binding financial agreement may be suitable
• Taxation issues
• Family business retention

Below is a chart which gives examples of some of the risks and the potentially affected persons.

Hi, based on the limited facts provided there may be a cause of action for oppression of shareholders under Part 2F.1 of theCorporations Act 2001. The remedies available are outlined in section 233 which include a winding up order or an order for the purchase of shares by certain persons/members of the company. Other remedies may also be available subject to further information.

I note that this is not an advice and is not to be relied upon. If you wish to contact me regarding the issue please be in contact. I have experience as a Barrister in this area and specifically on this point of law.

Liability limited under a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation

An ABN (Australian Business Number) is a unique identifying number issued to businesses in Australia. You can obtain an ABN if you are "carrying on an enterprise" in Australia.

If you send someone an invoice but do not supply an ABN then they are usually required to withhold tax from the payment to you. The amount they withhold is normally about half of the invoice amount.

The tax office provides a good overview of what constitutes carrying on an enterprisefor the purpose of getting an ABN. Normally if you are carrying on an enterprise you should get an ABN.

Your ABN is published together with your legal name and postcode on the Australian Business Register. You need an ABN:

• in order to register a business name;
• to register for GST (which you are normally required to do if you have a turnover exceeding $75,000 a year); and
• in order to have invoices paid without tax being withheld by the payer.

Your ABN should be placed on most business documents, for example contracts, invoices and receipts.

Hello - good question. You are on the right track and it is important to make sure you have the legal rights to use this content before you incorporate it into your app. Emailing the content owner is a good start and you don't have to provide anything more than a summary of your app along with your request. This will help reduce the risk of them "copying" your idea.

Patents are a different thing altogether and would not protect your "idea". Once you have developed your app, copyright laws will provide you with a measure of protection.

If the content is important to include in your app you will need to ensure you obtain appropriate rights to use it. A lawyer can assist you with your initial request and can help make sure you have broad rights to use the content if the owner agrees to license it to you. Good luck!

A trust is an arrangement where one person or organisation (the trustee) holds assets (the trust property) on behalf of another person (the beneficiary). Trusts can be established for a number of reasons such as tax planning, providing for children or charitable causes.

The requirements for setting up a trust depend on the type of trust you want to establish and its purpose. To create any trust in Queensland, you will need to:

• select a trustee who will agree to be responsible for administering the trust in accordance with the terms of the trust deed;
• have a lawyer prepare a trust deed (a legal document that sets out the rules for establishing and operating the trust) that is to be signed by the trustee;
• give the assets (even if only a nominal amount) to the trustee;
• pay stamp duty to the Office of State Revenue if a trust is created over ‘dutiable property’, as that term is defined in the Duties Act 2001 (Qld); and
• apply for an ABN and TFN for the trust online via the Australian Business Register or through a lawyer or accountant.

You should also be aware of additional legal requirements that apply to particular types of trusts. For example: a trust used to run a business must be registered for GST if annual turnover is $75,000 or more; a trust used to run a self-managed super fund must ensure it complies with the relevant superannuation and taxation laws that apply to it; and charitable trusts are subject to special laws and may be eligible for tax exemptions.

You should speak to a lawyer if you want to set up a trust in Queensland. By pressing the "Take Action" button - which opens late July - LawAdvisor can help you search for experienced lawyers and obtain fee proposals for their services.

No, your estate does not revert automatically to the State if you die intestate.

In Western Australia the property of a person who dies intestate is distributed according to a legislated will found in the Administration Act 1903 (WA).

The property will pass to the Crown if a person dies intestate leaving no husband or wife and no issue, parent, brother, sister, child of a brother or sister, grandparent, uncle, aunt or child of an uncle or aunt.

The following is a decision tree about entitlements on intestacy in WA.

An enduring power of attorney is a legal agreement that enables the donor to appoint one or more trusted persons as their attorneys to make financial and property decisions on their behalf.

Please view the following brief presentation about enduring power of attorney in Western Australia for more information.

Yes, prenuptial agreements prepared under Australian law are binding in Australia.

The following presentation will give you a brief summary of the advantages and disadvantages of such agreements. The circumstances when a prenuptial agreement can be set aside by the Family Court are summarised on slides 22-24.

Australia's Trade Marks Office is part of a Commonwealth Government organisation calledIP Australia. There is some helpful information on the IP Australia website at http://ipaustralia.gov.au/get-the-right-ip/trade-marks/about the procedures for applying to register a trade mark and the applicable government charges. Trade mark registration works on a country by country basis, so an Australian trade mark registration will not coverany other territory. You will have to apply separately in each other country, buthere is a mechanism for filing multiple applicationsfor other countries simultaneously. The IP Australia website also has information about this (seehttp://ipaustralia.gov.au/get-the-right-ip/trade-marks/international-trade-marks/).

By law contracts some types of contracts must be in writing(for example,wills and contracts for sale of land). Apart from that, an enforceable contract can be: (i) entirely verbal; (ii) partly verbal and partly in writing; (iii) in writing but spread across more than one document; or (iv) entirely in writing.

Hello

Hello there and thanks for your question. The answer is no - your agreement with the registrar for the .com domain name doesn't give you any rights over the corresponding .au domain name. If the .au domain name is available, you can register it separately.

Hi! Your situation is not an unusual one - choosing the right way to structure your business is among the most important a business owner makes. Using a company structure can be advantageous for a successful business, particularly for tax purposes. This is because the company tax rate in Australia is 30%. As a partner in a partnership, you are taxed as an individual at the highest marginal rate, which may be more than 30% depending on how much you earn. Therefore, structuring your business as a company can save you a substantial amount of money.

Aside from tax, partnerships can have other disadvantages compared to companies. Perhaps the major disadvantage is that, as a partner, you are personally jointly and severally liable with your other partners. This means that should the partnership fail, or one of the other partners incurs a personal debt, your personal assets can be accessed by creditors.

A company is different as it is a separate legal entity from the people who own it. This means that, as a director of and shareholder in a company, you will not be liable for the personal debts of the other shareholders or directors. Moreover, companies are generally “limited liability”, which means that, absent any misconduct or guarantees by directors or shareholders, creditors are only able to enforce debts against the assets of the company, plus any money unpaid on shares. As a business owner, this means that you can enter into contracts and borrow money without your personal assets being at risk.

So depending on your circumstances, it may be a good idea to change to a company structure instead. The best thing to do is to get legal advice - this would mean a lawyer would be able to look at your specific situation to help you figure out what would be best.