Graceville Lawyers

14/06/2024

Graceville Lawyers has come to an end as I have ceased practice as a sole practitioner.

Any client queries about files closed less than 7 years ago should be directed to [email protected].

30/04/2015

Delivered today in the Supreme Court case of King v Wogandt: Re Beutel (deceased). Success in removing the respondent Executor. Much thanks again to Mr Michael Lawrence of Counsel for his advice and assistance in this case.

SUCCESSION – PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES – TITLE AND ESTATE – REMOVAL AND DISCHARGE – GENERALLY – where an application by the respondent to rectify the testator’s last will was dismissed – where an order was made that the respondent sell the estate’s interest in land and administer the estate according…

06/08/2014

Delivered today in the Supreme Court case of King v Wogandt: Re Beutel (deceased). Success in both our client's show cause application and the respondent's rectification application with costs ordered against the respondent. Much thanks to Mr Michael Lawrence of Counsel for his advice and assistance in this case.

SUCCESSION – MAKING OF A WILL – STATUTORY POWER OF RECTIFICATION – where misdescription of named beneficiary as deceased’s “late wife’s niece” – where named beneficiary was the deceased’s late wife’s daughter – whether will should be rectified to refer to the deceased’s niece of a different name

21/06/2014

Investing, and being dudded, are as old as commerce itself.

Investing? Do you understand how your investment is structured and what legal rights you have in the transaction? Don't skip your investment legal advice.

15/05/2013

Quotes and a Decision of a recent matter I was involved in.

"It is clear that right from the beginning of the argument in correspondence between the solicitors, Ms Black has argued exactly what she has said to us in the hearing and in her filed material. This reasoning has not changed at any point."

"Another detailed explanation of the circumstances of the authorisation to take possession was given to Mr Varitimos in a further letter from Mr Edwards dated 28 October 2011, reciting the facts and the law as we have found them to be. Mr Varitimos could not have been under any misapprehension of the arguments mounted by Mr Edwards."

"Ms Black also seeks her costs. She has been wholly successful with her application."

[1]Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009s 13.[2] Ibid s 14.[3] Ibid s 14(3).[4] Ibid s 100.[5] Ibid s 102(1).[6]Ralacom v Paradise Island Apartments (No. 2)[2012] QCAT 334at [29]. [7]Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009s 102(3).[8] Refer to footnote 6.

06/05/2013

I'm a big fan of The Checkout on ABC.

The customer may not always be right, but they always have rights. The Checkout, a new satirical consumer affairs show, aims to inform, entertain and empower the ordinary consumer.

29/04/2013

The idea of managing your own super is tempting as many want the control over their own money, and the freedom to hopefully increase their returns by picking their own investments.

The costs and paperwork are however something that need t...o be appreciated and dealt with. Promoters of SMSFs promote them for the oldest reason in the world - to get business for themselves.

Their interest and concern is not actually your retirement, but their fees.

Additionally, 'investment advisers' with harebrained schemes abound, and some of them are also SMSF promoters, or are fed their gullible prospects by SMSF promoters.

While investing in GMO emu farms might be questionable even as a tax strategy, putting your super into it simply because you got a glossy coloured brochure is presumably not a good idea. Sound a bit oversimplified? People that invest in such schemes often reveal afterwards that they were 'swept away' by the sales presentations they received, and that they ignored the alarm bells they knew were ringing in the back of their heads because of the 'special attention' that the scheme promoters paid to them.

Accounting advice, separate investment advice (from someone independent of the scheme) and legal advice are probably needed.

If you're worried about the cost of the advice, ask yourself if you're really not worried about making the wrong decision or blindly walking into an investment you don't understand?

Taking control of your retirement funds can be rewarding, but there are potential pitfalls.

29/04/2013

Worth reading.

And acting on if you're going in to business with someone - getting things 'right' for succession planning purposes is a good excuse to formalise an existing informal arrangement if you've already waded in without thinking about the paperwork first.

Thinking about bringing loved ones into your business? Before you take that leap, here's what you need to know to protect your relationships and your...

28/04/2013

Always a good idea to check your assumptions before making a decision that's going to cost you more than a few bob. And get appropriate advice first if the investment means entering into a contract or a sizeable transaction. Those smiley friendly salespeople are smiley and friendly for a reason.

THOUSANDS of Australians are being stung in property investment schemes of dubious value, with real estate agents saying the practice has infested the entire industry.

31/05/2012

"In making his ruling, which was handed down this month, federal magistrate Michael Jarrett noted Ms Mulcahy had not suggested she had suffered “any particular loss, damage or injury”.

He said Ms Mulcahy had given evidence that she made the application in an attempt to have the matter “formally mediated", however Mr Jarrett ruled Ms Mulcahy's application had "no reasonable prospects of success” and should be summarily dismissed.

He ordered Ms Mulcahy to pay Ms Minchinton's costs."

Woman sues over charity catering

25/05/2012

"We feel like landlords are recognising the situation is hard right now, but publicly listed landlords are just doing business as per usual and expecting there will be a high amount of churn with their tenancies."

Dean Crowe is the managing director of retail coffee shop chain Coffee Guru. It’s been a hard year for retail, but Crowe has managed to turn his chain into a strong group of franchises, turning over $2.8 million a year.

12/04/2012

"The risk surrounding social media is that an applicant will discover a prospective employer has viewed one of their social media profiles and has used something found there as a reason not to hire them.....Employers may ask why this would even matter. After all, it's difficult or nearly impossible to prove that a potential employer visited a public profile.

But under Australian law, the burden of proof lies on the employer to prove they did nothing wrong."

A good read, for both potential employers and employees.

All this focus on obtaining information which may not be relevant to the tasks the potential employee will perform, is not going to end well.

And LinkedIn (like Facebook) could be required to divulge its records if a matter went to Court, so the idea that they can't be seen is not one to be given serious weight.

Social media is a legal minefield. Facebook and Twitter may have seemed like an innocent workplace distraction a few years ago, but they've transformed into something more complex – and potentially dangerous.