Szabo & Associates News & Updates

Estate planning can sometimes be thought of as something for families. Parents usually want to protect what they have accumulated in their lifetimes for their children and find an efficient way of passing on their assets.

If both parties to consent orders conspire to suppress the existence of a third party debt in their application for orders, what is likely to be the outcome? 

A life estate can play a useful role in estate planning. However, there are drawbacks that need careful assessment when considering whether one would be right for you.

The principle underpinning the NSW statutory provisions relating to this question can be traced at least as far back as England’s Wills Act of 1837. Rather than the gift lapsing, in essence, the principle states that if a parent leaves a gift to their child, where that child had died leaving children of their own, then those children (the grandchildren of the person making the Will in question) should receive the share that would have gone to the parent had the parent not died. That is unless a “contrary intention” was to be discerned from the Will.

Short marriage (or de facto relationship) is an expression used, in a family law context, for one which has lasted less than about five years. The Court will determine what property settlement will be “just and equitable” for each of the parties. Outcomes can be quite different compared to a long marriage.