How to leave a legacy for your pet
Trouble was the name of a cat which had its legacy of US$12 million cut back to US$2 million after a court case by unhappy human dependants. Your pet may not benefit by as much, but to ensure its future wellbeing, carefully prepare the legal groundwork.
Pets cannot inherit from a will directly, since they are classified legally as property and have no capacity to hold money or property themselves.
There are several options. A simple clause in a will leaving your pet and a sufficient gift of money to a carer you nominate, while not binding, will enable the carer to use the legacy to care for your pet. Talk to the person first to see if they are willing.
MANAGING SUPER FUNDS: Breach of rules can lead to imprisonment
A fund must be deemed a super fund under the superannuation laws for contributions to be tax-deductible and the fund concessionally taxed.
The strategy of tax planning through super funds is a simple one – you contribute as much as possible to a super fund whose income is then subject to, at most, 15 per cent tax, and in due course withdraw the contributions and income as a tax-free pension or lump sum.
However, the government imposes a quid pro quo. It expects that the super fund will be managed in accordance with its rules. The tax office regulates self-managed super funds. If a fund fails to comply with the requirements and becomes a non-complying fund, it will lose its ability to accept tax-deductible contributions and will not be taxed at concessional tax rates. Penalties can also be imposed on trustees and others.
WRONGFUL TERMINATION: Keen interest for employers to get it right
Wrongful termination of an employee can be a costly business. It is in an employer’s interests to get it right. There are generally two scenarios in terminating someone’s employment.
In the first, when an employee has conducted themselves in a manner to warrant summary dismissal, the employer does not have to provide a period of notice or payment in lieu to the employee.
In the second, where an employee has done nothing to justify summary dismissal, the employer must provide notice, or payment in lieu, in accordance with the express or implied terms of the contract.
The situations in which employers can summarily dismiss an employee will therefore be of keen interest to them. This is especially so because employers who wrongfully summarily terminate an employee may be liable for breach of contract.
One way an employer can be justified in summarily terminating an employee is if the employee disobeys a lawful direction the employer gives them.
However, if the employer acquiesces in such disobedience, or condones the employee’s conduct, the right to terminate in such circumstances is lost.
Failure to clarify an employee’s rights and failure to intervene in wrongful conduct constitutes condoning it.
An employer who wrongfully terminates the employment of an employee can be liable for a significant sum – in a recent case, $500,000 had to be paid out in damages to an employee who was wrongfully dismissed.
DOCUMENT RECOVERY: Make it easy on yourself
Recovering information from backup or disaster recovery systems is almost always very expensive and consumes valuable employee resources.
If you are (legitimately, of course) destroying documents, you should probably consider the adequacy of destruction.
Deleting from a live IT system doesn’t mean files disappear from backups or disaster recovery systems. Those records may exist on dozens of backup tapes or other media.
TAX LAW: Longer to appeal
A recent court of appeal decision affects the future conduct of state tax appeals generally, whether they concern stamp duty, land tax or payroll tax in NSW.
The court of appeal has found that where the Chief Commissioner of Tax refuses to give permission to lodge an objection to a decision after the 60-day period allowed in the tax laws, an objection may still be lodged under another part of the law.
For the person in the case, it kept alive his right of objection and appeal for earlier tax years 1997 to 2004 when he had lodged objections against his assessment for land tax after the 60-day period.
Contact your solicitor for further advice.
FIRST HOMEOWNER GRANT: Penalties if you don’t meet criteria
Current low interest rates and the increase in the government’s first homeowner grant to $21,000 for a new house purchase may be tempting, but you will have to repay the grant if you do not meet the eligibility criteria.
The residency requirement is that you move into the property within 12 months after completion and live there for a continuous period of six months. Read the rest of this entry »
Anti Spam Law: Unsubscribe facilities do not infer consent
Regulators are increasing efforts to pursue those in breach of the anti-spam law and they can impose substantial penalties – up to $1.1 million per day – against a corporation that repeatedly breaks the law.
Recently, two infringement notices of $110,000 were issued to a major telecommunications company for sending out 20,000 SMS messages. The messages promoted the company’s entertainment service, with the sender identification shown merely as a three-digit number.
Clear and accurate sender identification, along with accurate information about how to contact the sender, is one of three legal requirements of sending commercial electronic messages with an Australian link.
LAND TAX Where is the principal place of residence?
Sourced: Law Society of New South Wales
The most common area of dispute in land tax matters is a person’s entitlement to the principal place of residence exemption, and people should know what sort of supporting evidence they will be expected to produce to claim the exemption.
In convincing the Tax Office of a person’s actual residence, a great deal of emphasis is placed on formal documentation, such as rates and electricity notices, phone bills, driver and boating licences and place of electoral enrolment.
If the principal residence is being renovated, people may move temporarily to a cheaper residence. Some, articularly baby boomers, may own the temporary residence as an investment property. These people would like to continue to claim the exemption on the more expensive property being renovated, but not lived in, and pay land tax on the cheaper.
The Problem with Homemade Wills
Sourced: Law Society of New South Wales
When the judge decides
A recent case was a clear example of a will prepared without legal advice failing to express the deceased’s intentions.
The courts had to interpret a homemade will for an estate with a gross value of about $3.6 million. The deceased had died in 2006, aged 83. He had seven children, then aged between 34 and 57.
He had made at least 13 wills between 1987 and 2004, the last three in 1999, 2002 and 2004. The will of 2004 was typed by a business centre which offered word processing, typing and secretarial services. The document was signed in the presence of people employed in the business centre, who also witnessed it.
In February 2006, the man had again attended the business centre to have some handwritten changes he had made to the 2004 will incorporated into a new document. This new will, typed in February 2006, was said to be his last will and testament. Read the rest of this entry »