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Private Client Practice


Private Client Practice

Our private client team is made up of trustworthy legal practitioners dedicated to delivering personal, high quality and cost effective legal services to clients.

Expertise

Our private client team includes some of the most experienced lawyers in this area. We advise clients in respect of all aspects that arise in business planning and succession including: estate and business succession planning, estate administration and loss of capacity, self-managed superannuation, estate and trust dispute resolution and inter-generational family business.

We have a full-service offering to clients in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales.  We also see clients frequently on the Gold Coast and often travel to remote areas across the country to assist our regional clients.

Experience

Estate and business succession planning

Our experienced team can provide you with a comprehensive strategy to manage the safe transition of your wealth to your intended beneficiaries.

When looking at your estate planning requirements, our team work alongside your existing advisors such as your accountant or your financial planner to ensure that whatever plan is put in place achieves your ultimate goals.

Our advice and plans are comprehensive and take into account all assets, and our lawyers have significant experience in dealing with family business succession issues. 

Some of the issues and documentation we can advise on include:

  • wills and testamentary trusts
  • general asset protection and structuring advice
  • enduring powers of attorney, including limiting risks of elder abuse
  • issues regarding loss of capacity
  • advice on payment of superannuation death benefits
  • business succession plans, including shareholder and buy-sell agreements
  • business continuity plans in case of loss of capacity or death
  • advising on existing trusts – how will they operate post death or on loss of capacity?
  • agri-business and family succession plans
  • lineal descendant trust advice
  • protecting inheritance from creditors
  • minimising risk of inheritance being subject to a claim by a former spouse of a beneficiary
  • planning to minimise risk of people “challenging” your will
  • advanced health directives
  • advising medical professionals on issues that are specific to their industry and situations
  • special disability trusts and related structuring. 

Estate and trust dispute resolution

Our team has extensive experience in all areas of estate and trust litigation. We understand and appreciate the difficult nature of this type of litigation and we aim to get a cost effective resolution early on in matters, although, whilst this is desirable it is not always achievable.

We act for executors, beneficiaries and any other interested party to a proceeding.

We guide you each step of the way and make the process as easy as possible for you with our clear communication and accessibility.

We can assist you with all types of litigation including:

  • family provision applications (where someone feels their inheritance is inadequate)
  • constructive trust and proprietary estoppel claims (for example where someone has worked in the family business for years without market salary)
  • applications to remove executors
  • seeking directions from the court on behalf of executors
  • applications for the constructions of a will
  • informal will applications
  • statutory will applications
  • pursuing estate funds which have been misappropriated by an attorney
  • power of attorney disputes
  • applications to the guardianship and administration tribunal
  • capacity of a testator when making a will
  • capacity of a person effecting a transaction
  • solemn form probate applications (disputing a person being granted probate)
  • trust litigation and administration (for example where someone disputes a trustee's decision. 

Estate administration and loss of capacity

Our lawyers provide expert and concise advice to assist with the administration of estates, and also offer assistance where a family member has lost capacity.

Our lawyers can provide compassionate assistance on the following:

  • probate or letters of administration (where a person dies without a Will)
  • crisis management when a person has died unexpectedly, including urgent advice on immediate steps to be taken
  • making urgent applications to the court for limited grants of probate where access to bank accounts is required or grant required for business to continue to operate
  • assistance in business continuity and succession issues on unexpected loss or incapacity of key person, including advice on directorship appointments
  • advice to executors
  • application to the court to make a wills for someone who has lost capacity
  • elder abuse issues where monies are missing or enduring power of attorney has been misused
  • superannuation advice including payments of death benefits
  • collection and distribution of assets
  • working with existing advisors to ensure consistent outcomes are achieved
  • dealing with difficult family members and working with them to ensure risk of dispute is minimised
  • dealing with nursing homes and refund of any bond
  • superannuation claims, including both retail and self-managed super
  • winding up of business assets
  • transfer of assets pursuant to deeds of family arrangement
  • dealing with jointly owned assets
  • interrogating misuse of enduring power of attorney
  • creditors and professional indemnity issues
  • winding up medical practices on death of practitioner. 

Self managed superannuation

Holding Redlich can provide the full range of legal services required by a self managed superannuation fund (SMSF).

Our team includes an SMSF specialist advisor and works collaboratively with other Holding Redlich teams in tax and revenue, property and corporate and commercial to deliver practical outcomes for our clients in the following areas:

  • compliance advice
  • strategic and structuring advice
  • documentation
  • dealing with Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

Some of the issues and documentation we can advise on include:

  • establishing or updating and winding up an SMSF
  • incorporating special purpose trustee companies and changing trustees of SMSFs
  • compliance advice, including necessary dealings with the ATO, on all aspects of the Superannuation (Industry) Supervision Act 1993 and regulations
  • preparing pension documents
  • binding death benefit nominations
  • setting up limited recourse borrowing arrangements, including reviewing loan documentation
  • advice regarding SMSFs participating in property development
  • advice and establishment of investment structures including pre-99 unit trusts, unrelated unit trusts, ungeared unit trusts and private companies.

Intergenerational family business

One of our areas of specialty is in intergenerational family business transitions and structuring.  As family business enterprises face some unique challenges, we work closely with businesses of all sizes to assist with long term business and succession planning, including resolving disputes between family members that arise during the transition process.

Our private client team also works closely with our Agribusiness team to assist primary producers with the process of passing family farms from on generation to the next.

Tax

See more about our taxation expertise and services here

Personal injury

See more about our personal injury expertise and services here

Immigration

See more about our immigration expertise and services here


Estate planning resources

Please click on the download button below and complete your details to receive: Testamentary trust fact sheet, estate planning information sheet for wills and estate planning information sheet for enduring powers of attorney

Download


Discretionary trust and corporate resources

Please click on the download button below and complete your details to receive: Discretionary trust with corporate trustee order form

Download

Recent Posts

14 February 2023 - Knowledge

Presumption of advancement – lessons from a recent NSW Court of Appeal decision

#Dispute Resolution & Litigation, #Private Client Practice

The NSW Court of Appeal recently considered a beneficial interest claim in a case concerning a property purchased in the name of a daughter using funds provided by her dad.

25 October 2022 - Knowledge

ACCC makes a move on Dairy Code compliance

#Private Client Practice, #Agribusiness

A case reminds all dairy processors that breaching the Dairy Industry Code of Conduct may result in ACCC enforcement action, including court proceedings.

08 December 2021 - Knowledge

Who is responsible for defamatory comments on their social media pages?

#Dispute Resolution & Litigation, #Private Client Practice, #Technology, Media & Telecommunications

A recent High Court decision has put an increased burden on businesses operating public Facebook pages to monitor posts and comments by third-party users.

19 October 2020 - Knowledge

Changes to enduring powers of attorney and advance health directives in Queensland

#Private Client Practice

From 30 November 2020, new forms will need to be used for making an enduring power of attorney and advance health directive in Queensland.

18 May 2020 - Knowledge

Where there’s a will, there’s now a way (part 2)

#Corporate & Commercial Law, #Private Client Practice

Following changes to NSW and Victoria’s e-signing and witnessing rules, Queensland has now passed regulations allowing wills, enduring powers of attorney and advance health directives to be witnessed through video conferencing.

24 April 2020 - Knowledge

Where there’s a will, there’s now a way

#Private Client Practice, #COVID-19

Many of you, like us, will have been grappling with continuing to meet the formal witnessing requirements of many documents, whilst observing the social distancing and essential travel only restrictions.