Szabo & Associates News & Updates

The English High Court is currently hearing an interesting case where the former head girl of a private school, Ms Voysey, inherited the $7.5m estate of the school’s headmistress and owner, Mrs Renny. The estate mainly consists of the former school and land in Hertfordshire, north of London. A previous Will from 2016 divided the property among various family members, but a 2019 Will left everything to Ms Voysey. Shortly after making this Will, Mrs Renny passed away, aged 82.

The COVID-19 pandemic considerably impacted existing lease relationships between tenants and their landlords in Australia. COVID-19 Regulations introduced by the NSW Government provided some protections to commercial lease tenants, but as these are wound back, it is possible that there may be more commercial property lease disputes in the coming months.

In step with current trends to update environmental legislation and expand the scope of liability for environmental offences, the NSW parliament has recently passed some important changes to environmental legislation administered by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA).

If a relationship breaks down, the parties involved will need to consider what will happen in respect of the division of any property owned, separately or jointly, by them. This is referred to as property settlement under the Family Law Act. It is an important step in ending the financial relationship between the parties.

When someone dies, the property they leave behind is called their estate. Assuming the deceased made a Will, this document usually names the Executor who is to be the person (or persons) who will be legally responsible for collecting the estate’s assets, paying off its debts and liabilities and distributing the net residual to the beneficiaries named in the Will.