Succession law explained
Brent Donald Mack, 27, murdered his mother Ah Bee Mack (also known as Pauline), sometime in late December 2008. Ah Bee was last seen alive at a family function in September 2008. Her brother and sister-in-law had grown concerned when they had not heard from her for over a year and started receiving odd messages …
Continue reading "Matricide, Forfeiture & Sibling Intestacy"
The Rule against perpetuities at common law provides that an interest in real or personal property is void if it vests later than 21 years after the death of everyone who was alive (including unborn children) at the time the gift was created. All State and Territory jurisdictions in Australia except South Australia have retained the …
Continue reading "The Descendants; Living Wills, Family Trusts, and the Rule Against Perpetuities"
The Rule against perpetuities at common law provides that an interest in real or personal property is void if it vests later than 21 years after the death of everyone who was alive (including unborn children) at the time the gift was created. All State and Territory jurisdictions in Australia except South Australia have retained the …
Continue reading "The Descendants; Living Wills, Family Trusts, and the Rule Against Perpetuities"
As I have previously posted Courts have held that a video recording was a valid codicil. Similarly an unsent text message with the words “My will”, a document created and stored on a computer and similarly a document created on an iPhone were considered to be an informal Will. To be valid, a will must …
Continue reading "You update your phone regularly why not your Will"
Explores the relationship among death, authorship, and control over artistic legacy, with implications for literary executorship and the governance of creative estates. The Paradise Papers, a set of 13.4 million confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investment, were leaked to the public on 5 November 2017. The documents might provide evidence of tax minimisation by more than 120,000 …
Continue reading "Et in Arcadia Ego’: Death, Authorship, and Posthumous Control of Creative Works"
This week the Attorney General of New south Wales came to a decision regarding a gift in the Will of Euphemia (“Mia”) Polykarpou, which I discussed late last year. Those of you who follow my posts will understand that I agree with the Attorney General who stated that in order that your estate is …
Continue reading "CY PRÈS & Oprah Winfrey’s Angel Network – (slight return)"
Albert Namatjira is one of Australia’s most well-known and celebrated Indigenous artists, and the major proponent of the Hermannsburg School. However the administration of his estate by the Northern Territory Public Trustee limited his family’s ability to control and benefit financially from the copyright in his artworks after his death. Albert took to painting in …
Continue reading "Administration of the Estate of Albert Namatjira: Copyrights & Wrongs"
I have previously posted about Informal Wills. In essence most jurisdictions have passed legislation that provides Courts with the power to deduce the testamentary intention of the deceased by taking extrinsic evidence into account. However it goes without saying that it is much easier, and less expensive to make a formal Will. Mark Nichol, took …
Peter Thellusson was a was a Swiss businessman and banker who was a director of the Bank of England, part owner of several sugar refineries, and an importer of tobacco and sugar from the West Indies. After his death his substantial estate was embroiled in the Thellusson Will Case, as he had written an unusual Will leaving …
Wellington R. Burt was a wealthy United States lumber baron. For a time in the early 1900s, Burt ranked as one of the eight wealthiest men in the United States. Best known for his lumber mills and timber holdings, he also had interest in iron mining, railroads, salt mines and finances. By most accounts Burt was …