Category Archives: Weekly Columns
Liens
Generally speaking, a lien allows a person to retain possession of another person’s property until the costs or monies have been paid for it. There can be a statutory lien which gives a person the right to hold the goods … Continue reading
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Filed under Weekly Columns
Planning for Stamp Duty Changes
When GST was introduced in 2000, part of the then agreement between the Commonwealth and the States for the sharing of GST revenues proposed the abolition of various state taxes relevant to business. As might have been anticipated, most State … Continue reading
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Filed under Business Law, Weekly Columns
Inheritance: a financial contribution to the relationship or not?
Property proceedings before the Family Court are often complex and can go beyond simple tangible property and financial assets. One such area of complexity relates to receiving, or potentially receiving, an inheritance during the course of a marriage or de-facto … Continue reading
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Filed under Family Law, Weekly Columns
National Buildplan (in Administration) … Who is Responsible?
National Buildplan was a construction company involved in arranging construction of many large building contracts throughout Australia. A large number of those projects are Government funded infrastructure jobs, many of which are in the north west of New South Wales. … Continue reading
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Filed under Business Law, Weekly Columns
Good Faith Clauses in Commercial Contracts
Good faith clauses are finding their way into more and more commercial contracts. Traditionalists amongst lawyers will tell you that they are meaningless and that the only provisions which belong in a contract are precise statements of what each party … Continue reading
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Filed under Business Law, Weekly Columns
Public holidays and Employment
Under the National Employment Standards (NES), employees have an entitlement to a paid day off on a public holiday unless it is reasonable to ask an employee to work. Many businesses remain open over public holidays and need employees to … Continue reading
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Filed under Employment Law, Weekly Columns
When Final Means Final
Sometimes when parties separate and they have children, one or both of the parents may be required to spend supervised time with their children. This may be for a variety of reasons, primarily it is to ensure that children are … Continue reading
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Filed under Family Law, Weekly Columns
The Statutory Demand – Sudden Death for Companies
In business deals, sometimes one party just won’t pay up. As a creditor (person who is owed money) one option that is available is to pursue the debtor (person who owes the money) through the court system for payment. Unfortunately … Continue reading
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Filed under Weekly Columns
Casual or Permanent
Most casuals know from week to week whether they will be offered more work. That however does not mean that only those employees that do not know, would be treated as casual. It is the informality, uncertainty and irregularity that … Continue reading
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Filed under Employment Law, Weekly Columns
Does a Written Contract Make You a Contractor?
Independent contractors are usually self-employed and accordingly are their own boss – providing their own tools, deciding which jobs to take on, being paid to achieve a result and bearing the risk of non-payment. Employees on the other hand are … Continue reading
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Filed under Business Law, Employment Law, Weekly Columns