Szabo & Associates News & Updates

Appointing an Enduring Guardian can help prepare you and your family for sudden changes in circumstance. It is helpful for everybody to know who is entitled to make important decisions on your behalf when you are no longer able to make them for yourself. It is also useful for your family to know what you might have wanted in a range of common situations.

Last week we published the first blog in a two part series, which focuses on contesting a will in New South Wales. We explained that whilst actually contesting a will in Australia is not difficult, two recent NSW court decisions indicate that doing so successfully is much more so.

Contesting a Will in New South Wales is relatively straightforward, however doing so successfully would appear to be another matter altogether - after two recent NSW court decisions have highlighted the difficulties of mounting an effective challenge. This short blog looks at the first case of the two.

A General Power of Attorney, or POA for short, gives one person the authority to handle another's financial matters when they are unable, or do not want, to do so themselves. They are usually used for specific purposes. So, for example, a person with mobility issues who is unable to travel to the bank may grant a General Power of Attorney in favour of a younger family member who they trust, to do this on their behalf.

An inheritance dispute currently being heard by the High Court in England is a good demonstration of the problems that can arise when a Will is only written shortly before death and after illness has been diagnosed.