It may surprise many that an estimated 75% of Australians do not have a Will. So, if you are in the 75%, what does that mean? If you die without a Will, your assets are distributed under a formula that depends on your family circumstances. The end result is usually quite different to what most […]
Archive | Blog
Defending an Invasion by Defence
The Department of Defence is currently undertaking a massive land grab of prime agricultural land near Townsville. From the scant information provided by Defence to date, it is understood that approximately 200,000 ha of mostly high-quality grazing land is to be taken, by compulsory acquisition if need be. This would more than double the size […]
DIY Will kits and internet Wills – are they a good idea?
Are DIY Will kits or internet Wills a good idea? Ok – you are reading something written by a lawyer who specialises in Wills and estate planning. Read on though – what are your options if you really do only need something very basic? I have to say that estate lawyers love DIY Wills. They […]
The mythical telephone Customer Service Guarantee
If you have had problems with your telephone service provider recently, you may have some vague inkling that phone companies have some sort of obligation to provide a working phone line. You might be sure you recall the Government telling us that they were forcing the telephone companies improve their service standards. Indeed, former Telecommunications […]
Banana growers ballot successful
The ABGC has today announced that that a ballot of Australian banana growers has backed an industry levy that will in part, fund the purchase of the Robson family’s banana farm. The Robson family are pleased that this key requirement for the sale to proceed, has been satisfied. Whilst there are a number of other […]
3 things most likely to destroy your business (and how to avoid them)
I have done a lot of insolvency work over the years. There are many different reasons businesses go broke. Here are the 3 causes I see most often: 1. Not getting paid No surprises here I’m sure. So if we all know the risk, why do so many business owners go out backward after not […]
Panama disease property under conditional sale contract
It is now public knowledge that the Tully Valley banana farm infected by Panama Disease owned by the Robson family, is now under a contract for sale to the Australian Banana Growers Association Inc. 15 months after the detection of Panama Disease on the property, this remains the only confirmed outbreak of this disease in […]
The passing of BCK
On “Black Friday”, 13th May, 2016, the Townsville legal firm Bolton Cleary & Kern announced that it is closing its doors after 80 years of continuous trading. I joined BCK in 2000 when our family moved to Townsville to be closer to my wife’s family. I spent 11 of the 14 years I was there, […]
How can former BCK Clients access their Wills, documents and files?
With the sad closure of BCK, a number of former BCK clients have asked us what to do about their Wills, documents and files held there. Clients of law firms own their Wills and other documents held in their lawyer’s safe custody facility. Clients also own most of the documents on the files held by […]
End to discussions for sale of Panama disease property
The Robson family’s world changed on 9th March, 2015, when they took a call from Biosecurity Queensland. Samples taken from yellowing banana plants on their Tully Valley banana farm had tested positive to Tropical Race 4 (TR4). This is a soil borne variant of the Fusarium fungus that affects Cavendish bananas. There is no known […]