Category: Guardianship

Homemade documents, such as do-it-yourself will kits or handwritten notes, are often inadequate in clearly stipulating what you wish to happen to your assets after you die. A properly laid out and executed will can avoid unintended consequences,...

In the unfortunate event that you lose the ability to manage your own financial affairs, it is common for a trusted relative, friend or solicitor to take over the management of your affairs. But it is important that you elect a Power of Attorney while...

    In a very interesting case before the Supreme Court of NSW on 13 September 2013, His Honour Justice White considered an application to “suspend” the decision-making powers of a Guardian appointed under a Deed of Enduring...

While preparing a will is seen as essential for anyone who owns property or possessions and has dependents, details and security of a person’s online accounts and profiles is often overlooked. Although the Internet is a relatively recent phenomenon,...

    A recent case in the NSW Supreme Court has helped define who can undertake the role of financial manager of a person’s assets when a person is incapacitated. It also helped define what constitutes a conflict of interest in the circumstances...

Do you have a friend or relative that suffers from a physical or mental disability and currently has a matter in the Family Court? Are they having difficulty understanding and communicating? If so, then they may lack the capacity to manage their own...

A proposed new Super Tribunal will take over the role of the current Guardianship Tribunal, along with 23 other NSW tribunals in 14 months time. From January 1, 2014, the Guardianship Tribunal, the Consumer Trader & Tenancy Tribunal and the...

A Power of Attorney is a legal document enabling someone to act on another person’s behalf. It can be very useful but it is essential that the person who grants this ‘power’ have the ‘capacity’ to do so. In July 2010, a case in the Supreme...

After 30 years of marriage what would you expect from your husband's estate? When your husband has a $15 million estate probably quite a bit. In this fascinating case a widow turned to the courts for help in receiving a greater share of the estate. The...

Does a Deed of Enduring Guardianship allow a hospital to stop medical treatment even if it is keeping a patient alive? The case of Hunter and New England Area Health Service v A [2009] NSWSC 761 in 2009  raised this very important question. A Deed of...