legalonline.com.au

Free Will

Posted in Estate Planning, Will Kits, Wills by OnlineLegal on the October 19th, 2007

Searching for a free Last Will and Testament?

The only place I know that still has a free Will making service are the Public Trustee offices. However this is often accompanied by the Public Trustee needing to be appointed as executor of your Estate and charging a fee for administering your estate (often based on a percentage of your estate).

The alternative is one of our online Will LawPacks from only $14.50 and you can appoint whoever you like as your executor (usually a close family member or friend).

Buy one of our lawyer written Wills online and the Will Template (Word) and detailed step by step DIY instructions are immediately emailed to you by our sever twenty four hours a day seven days a week.

At only $14.50 a Will Kit from OnlineLegal may as well be a free Will. No travel. No inconvenience of needing to make an appointment. Twenty four hours a day seven days a week.

And our Wills are simple to use with lawyer written instructions to lead you every step on the way.

And if you’re not happy a 30 day money back guarantee. Plus a lowest price guarantee. Find a lower price for an equivalent product and the Will LawPack is yours free.

Don’t put it off any longer, make your Will now:

One Page Will (Basic) - for gifting to partner, children and grandchildren - For 1		$14.50
One Page Will (Basic) - for gifting to partner, children and grandchildren - For 2		$19.95
One Page Will (Basic) - for gifting to partner, children and grandchildren (plus Guardian Appointment) - For 1		$14.50
One Page Will (Basic) - for gifting to partner, children and grandchildren (plus Guardian Appointment) - For 2		$19.95
One Page Will (Basic) - for gifting to named people in certain percentages - For 1		$14.50
One Page Will (Basic) - for gifting to named people in certain percentages - For 2		$19.95
Advanced Will - For 1		$28.95
Advanced Will - For 2		$38.95

More online Will making and Estate Planning resources at: www.onlinelegal.com.au

Comments Off

Real Estate Agents are not Lawyers

Posted in Property, Real Estate by OnlineLegal on the October 19th, 2007

It seems obvious doesn’t it, but in Queensland there is some confusion.

This article is in support of a piece written by Mr Tim O’Dwyer Solicitor, in the Courier Mail on October 18, 2007 titled, “Agents lose conditional support”. This article was the subject of some extensive comment in interviews yesterday aired on 612 ABC Brisbane.

My basic point is this – Real Estate Agents should do what they are good at and Lawyers should do what they are good at.

As a Lawyer, I am not skilled and experienced at identifying potential buyers for a property, matching those buyers to properties, effectively marketing a property to a buyer, and leading that buyer to the point of making an offer to purchase the property.

As a Lawyer, experienced in property law, I am skilled and experienced at clearly and concisely documenting the terms of a contract of sale in order to protect the legitimate interests of the parties to it.

Preparing a contract for the sale and purchase of land is never as simple as completing blanks in a standard form contract.

Let me give you some recent examples that have come across my desk:

1. There is a section in the standard form contract titled, “Encumbrances” which is usually completed “Nil”. Exceptions are rare, eg. when there is a registered easement over the property. That easement is then noted in this section by a specific reference to the easement document. Otherwise, the buyer wants to be sure that when they buy the property there will be no other encumbrances that they have not been made aware of

Despite very clear notes on standard contracts that this section should be completed “Nil” contracts still come into our office with this section completed, “None known to Seller”. What does this mean? The buyer is now in a situation where their lawyer has to seek to have the contract varied during the cooling off period and bear the cost of doing so.

2. When a contract is subject to finance it is common practice for Real Estate Agents to complete the finance amount as “Sufficient to complete”. What does this mean? Again this is uncertain and results in a need for the buyer to engage their lawyer to seek to vary the contract after it has been signed during the cooling off period and bear the cost of doing so.

“Well that’s what the cooling off period is for”, I hear you say. True. However, there is a “small matter” of 0.25% penalty being charged to the buyer if they terminate the contract in reliance upon cooling off. On a $500,000.00 purchase this amounts to $1,250.00. Not a “small matter” for most buyers. I therefore ask the question, are Real Estate Agents are really preparing contracts for free?

There is an urban myth that if a contract is sent to a Lawyer for comment or checking prior to it being signed that the Lawyer will bog the matter down and make everything far more complicated than it needs to be. This is not my experience. My experience is that most Lawyers turn these matters around very quickly (normally within a matter of hours) and are highly commercial and practical in the advice that they give.

A Lawyer, just like a Surgeon, will be able to look at something that appears to be pretty standard or benign on the surface of things and know what risks might be lying just beneath the surface. We insist that our moles and other skin blemishes be examined by a Medical Practitioner with specialty in identifying what appears to be ok on the surface of things on the basis that it may in fact be hiding something far more sinister. Equally, we should not be entrusting the examination and completion of what appear to be fairly benign and standard documents to those who are not specifically trained in carefully considering them and making sure they are appropriately drafted. After all, the purchase of a home is a very significant transaction. Additionally, in the event that the person who is doing this for you makes a mistake you want to know that they have some insurance to cover you for your loss and damage.

What’s the solution?

There are a number:

1. Real Estate Agents should stick to what they do well and let Lawyers do what they are trained to do (preparing and advising on contracts);

2. Lawyers should stop bagging each other and charge appropriately for pre-contractual advice that they give. (Do Real Estate Agents perform their service for free on next to nothing? No).

3. Practically, many contracts are prepared after hours or on weekends when lawyers are simply not available to consider and advise on those contracts. The penalty for the termination of a contract under a cooling off period has to be removed. It is truly then a cooling off and advice period.

2 Comments

Why do I need an Enduring Power of Attorney as well as a Will?

Posted in Enduring Powers of Attorney, Estate Planning, Powers of Attorney, Will Kits, Wills by OnlineLegal on the October 16th, 2007

Your “Will” only applies when you die. Your executors do not have power to make decisions for you during your lifetime.

An alternate decision maker (attorney) with power to make decisions for you during your lifetime is appointed by a Power of Attorney. If the power is to endure though an incapacity you may experience, the power needs to be expressed to be Enduring (and comply with legal requirements as to its form and manner of being signed).

The importance of having an alternate decision maker during your lifetime is illustrated in these examples:

Financial decision making

If you are overseas on extend travel and you need a document signed or money transferred
If you are injured or incapacitated and need a document signed or bills paid

Health decision making

If you are incapacitated and unable to make medical treatment decisions for yourself an appointment of an alternate decision maker (that endures through incapacity) provides your loved ones with certainty about who makes these decisions for you.