Charity begins when the judge decides
Felicity Wardhaugh is a Special Counsel at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and specialises in wills and estate planning, commercial dispute resolution & litigation, and employment law.
A recent Supreme Court decision, namely, Estate Polykarpou; Re a charity [2016] NSWSC 409 demonstrates the importance of keeping a will up to date or making substitute provisions in a will. The testator who made her will was obviously a fan of the Oprah Winfrey show and left half her estate to the Oprah Angel Network (“OAN”). Read the rest of this entry »
Adverse action and maternity leave
Tony Cavanagh is a Director at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and specialises in commercial dispute resolution & litigation, and employment law.
The Federal Circuit Court recently upheld a claim that an employer had taken adverse action against a worker, by making her position redundant whilst she was on a period of parental leave.
The employer restructured its operations whilst the worker was on leave. Her job was reclassified. Subsequently the worker made a request for flexible working arrangements in order that she could return to work on a part time basis. She was informed the request could not be accommodated because her (new) position was being considered for redundancy. She was in fact informed her position was redundant shortly prior to the date upon which she was to return from parental leave. Read the rest of this entry »
How will bankruptcy affect your superannuation?
Katie Thompson is a Solicitor at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and specialises in commercial dispute resolution & litigation, and employment law.
A person’s superannuation interests are generally not a type of property that is available to be divided among creditors in the event of bankruptcy. However, there are other legal and financial hurdles that a bankrupt person may face if their superannuation interests are held in a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF).
According to the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SISA) a bankrupt person is disqualified from acting as trustee of any SMSF or as director of the SMSF’s corporate trustee. Therefore, a bankrupt person cannot remain a member of the SMSF because in order to qualify as a SMSF each member of the fund must be either a trustee or director of the SMSF’s corporate trustee. If the SMSF does not meet this requirement, it could result in the income of the fund being taxed at a rate of 45%. Read the rest of this entry »
CTP Overhaul – a fairer system?
Katie Thompson is a Solicitor at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and specialises in commercial dispute resolution & litigation, and employment law.
On 29 June the NSW Government put forward its plan to overhaul Compulsory Third Party Motor Accident Insurance Schemes with the aim of making the system fairer and more affordable for road users.
As part of the overhaul, defined benefits will be introduced for low severity injuries. This will cover loss of earning and medical expenses for up to five years and give attendant care help for everyday tasks for up to two years. These benefits will be provided without the need for injured parties to prove who was at fault in an accident. Read the rest of this entry »
Sentencing in family law matters
by Rose Laffan
Rose Laffan is a Senior Solicitor at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and practises extensively in Family, Relationship and Matrimonial Law
In the recent case of Faukland and Shikia the Full Court of the Family Court considered an appeal by Mr Faukland who had been sentenced for contempt of court.
In June 2014 the Court restrained Mr Faukland from disposing a car. On 14 December 2014 Mr Faukland emailed Ms Shikia’s solicitor stating the car had been sold for $90,000 and that he had spent the money on gambling and drugs. The trial Judge then ordered that Mr Faukland was to provide to Ms Shikia contact details for the alleged purchaser or to deliver up possession of the car by 22 December 2014. Read the rest of this entry »
Security of Payments Act – what is a valid payment claim?
Lachlan Page is a Solicitor at Mullane & Lindsay and is part of our Commercial, Property & Estates Law team.
As discussed in my earlier article “Security of Payments Act – How it can Help You!”, using the Building & Construction Industry Security of Payments Act 1999 NSW (‘the SOP Act“) has significant benefits.
However, before you can access the many benefits of the SOP Act you must ensure that you are serving what is known as a Valid Payment Claim. A Valid Payment Claim is essentially an invoice for payment that contains a number of distinguishing characteristics. These are:
- It must adequately identify the construction works to which the claim for payment relates,
- It must indicated the claimed amount,
- It must be issued on or after a Reference Date,
- It must only relate to works performed before the relevant Reference Date.
- It must be served within the later of any period specified in the Construction Contract or within 12 months of when the construction works were last carried out.
The risks of a defamation claim
Tony Cavanagh is a Director at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and specialises in commercial dispute resolution & litigation, and employment law.
Some readers might recall that when Lance Armstrong was in his pomp, he protected his reputation by aggressively suing in defamation if somebody suggested he was a drug cheat. For a long time that was a successful strategy for him. We all know what happened in the end.
The South Australian Supreme Court recently considered a defamation claim by an Anglican priest, who claimed he had been defamed by a newspaper that had suggested (amongst other things) he had been involved in sexual criminal conduct with a minor whilst a priest; that he had been predatory and hypocritical; and that he had abused trust. Most, although not all, of the allegations or ‘imputations’ were established during the trial. The priest therefore failed in his claim and there was a judgment entered in favour of the newspaper. Read the rest of this entry »
Casual or part time?
Tony Cavanagh is a Director at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and specialises in commercial dispute resolution & litigation, and employment law.
The classification of employees is a common issue in employment disputes, and there are often problems when record keeping is poor, or where award provisions are not observed.
In January 2016 the Federal Circuit Court heard a dispute between a medical receptionist and a Doctor as to whether she was a casual, or a part time, employee. The receptionist said she was a casual and had been underpaid by reference to the applicable award rate. The Doctor said she was a part timer and had been properly paid under the award.
There was no written contract so the Court looked to the award for guidance. It defined a part time employee, relevantly, as a person who worked “reasonably predictable hours of work”. It also said that a part time employee was entitled to the pro rata equivalent of entitlements available to fulltime workers. Read the rest of this entry »