DE FACTO RELATIONSHIPS: Am I entitled to a property settlement?
Published by Law Society of New South Wales
If you were in a de facto relationship which has broken down since 1 March 2009, you can make a claim for a property adjustment under the Family Law Act. However, you usually need to show that you have lived together for at least two years.
If your relationship has lasted less than two years, you may claim if there is a child of the relationship; or you are caring for a child of the other party, and the failure to make an order would result in serious injustice to you; or you made substantial contributions (financial or personal) for which you will not receive adequate compensation if the court does not make a property order, and the failure to make an order would result in serious injustice to you.
SEAL THE DEAL: Signing contract documents legally in the e-age
Published by Law Society of New South Wales
Often, not enough attention is given to the procedure for executing contractual documentation when finalising an agreement. This is increasingly an issue as the number of parties involved in transactions increase, parties often do not execute contracts in the same physical location, and frequently parties are required to execute signature pages and return them by email.
In a recent court case a tax consultancy operated a taxavoidance scheme for some of its clients. The revenue authorities suspected that the scheme had been dishonestly implemented and sought warrants to search for documents at a number of client premises.
Super Funds: Maintaining a sole purpose
Published by Law Society of New South Wales
Superannuation funds may be looking for more novel ways of accumulating wealth. People may want to accumulate wealth in a super fund by carrying on a business, but the tax office takes the view that this is not acceptable.
An alternative is for the fund to acquire shares in a private company or units in a unit trust which carries on a business. The tax office, however, will most probably say that this does not assist a trustee in avoiding the sole-purpose test.
Family Care: More leave entitlements in new employment system
National employment standards are an important feature of the new workplace relations system replacing Work Choices. Ten minimum working conditions will apply to all employees under the federal system from the beginning of next year.
The standards include a number of entitlements to help workers better accommodate their family responsibilities. They will include a right to 12 months unpaid parental leave, including birth-related and adoption-related leave.
Law Reform: Less Australia/New Zealand legal divide
Published by Law Society of New South Wales
The Australian and New Zealand governments have signed an agreement to make it easier to enforce certain judgments and sanctions between the two countries. It is also intended to streamline the process for resolving civil proceedings that cross the Tasman.
The direct result of this reform will be that parties in Australia or New Zealand with decisions not involving money that are captured by the trans-Tasman law reform will have more options for enforcement and a higher likelihood of success in enforcing when the defendant is in the other country or has property there.
The majority of civil proceedings will be able to be served in the other country without separately seeking permission from a local court, excluding such civil proceedings as dissolution of marriage, enforcement of maintenance obligations and enforcement of child support.
Landholder Duty: Tax base expands
Published by Law Society of New South Wales
New state revenue laws create a new model for imposing duty on land.
Since 1987, NSW has had a tax system which imposes duty on the acquisition of interests in private companies and unit trusts that hold land in NSW.
Prior to 1 July, the rules applied where a “relevant acquisition” was made of a “land-rich” landholder. A private company or trust was considered land-rich if 60 per cent or more of its total assets comprised land or interests in land in all places, and $2 million worth of it or more, needed to be in NSW.
Under the new system, provided the entity holds land worth $2 million or more in NSW, it is irrelevant what proportion of its value is in land.
This expands the tax base to acquisitions of many non landfocused entities, such as in the manufacturing and service sectors. Duty at a top rate of 5.5 per cent must now be calculated not only on the unencumbered value of NSW land, but goods in NSW held by the entity as well.