Update on Statutory Duty of Care for Defective Construction Work
Following some well publicised cases of major defects in fairly new high-rise residential apartment buildings in Sydney, the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (NSW) came into effect. It provided that any person who carries out "construction work" (including...
A Legal Victory for the Keeping of Pets in Retirement Villages
Last year I was approached by a resident of a local retirement village about the management's refusal of his request to allow him to keep two budgerigars in a cage in his unit for some company. This was on the basis that a Village Rule prohibited the keeping of pets....
Substantial New Penalties and Reforms to Unfair Contract Terms Laws
For some time now under the Australian Consumer Law, where a term of a standard form consumer contract (i.e. one where an individual is acquiring a financial product or service under the contract wholly or predominantly for personal, domestic or household use or...
New Optional Property Tax to Replace Stamp Duty
If you are a first home buyer then you should be made aware of a recent announcement by the NSW State Goverment which will apply to properties purchased up to $1.5m from 16 January 2023. As from that date, qualifying purchasers will be able to opt into a scheme to pay...
Solicitors Must Ensure Elderly Will-Makers have Mental Capacity
In the NSW Supreme Court case of Lim v Lim [2022] NSWSC 454 the Court held that a 89 year old woman's last will was invalid because she lacked testamentary capacity i.e. the mental ability to make a will and, therefore, did not know or approve the contents of her...