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David Grant died in December 2015. In January 2014 he made his last will. In June 2015 he proposed marriage to Katerina, which she accepted. They had shared a relationship since 2006 and married in September 2015. Grant’s 2014 will was revoked by the 2015 marriage unless made in contemplation … read more

The brochure for the 2018 Blue Mountains Law Society succession conference is now available (see below). It has a stellar group of speakers and a broad range of topics relating to succession issues. This year, an addition to the program is a workshop on the issues that arise where there … read more

Launch of Richard McCullagh’s book Darryl Browne recently launched a legal textbook – Australian Elder Law.  He made these remarks: There are 2 things that can be said about elder law without fear of contradiction: First, it is a vast and complex subject. Second, it is not well understood, not least because it … read more

Click Here  to watch Darryl Browne discusses how lawyers can be active in preventing financial elder abuse by assisting clients when drawing up enduring documents.

Darryl Browne examines the liability of a wife as her husband’s attorney, her children as knowing third-party recipients, and solicitors as negligent advisors – To download this STEP article in PDF format, please click the following link  –  STEP Article When Blood Is Not Thicker Than Water April 2018

Please click on link Newspaper-article.pdf

To download Darryl’s article, please click the following link  An attorney’s guide to safeguards against elder abuse

A fiduciary has a thankless task. Usually unpaid, the fiduciary has risk that its actions will attract personal liability. So, for instance, a legal personal representative [1] (LPR) is at risk of loosing the indemnity that their costs be paid from the estate (or trust) if, viewed objectively [2] , the LPR … read more

  In my article Safeguards to reduce Elder Abuse (Setting up the meeting) [1] I referred to the recommendation of the Australian Law Reform Commission that safeguards could reduce the risk of elder abuse facilitated through the misuse of powers of attorneys. I observed that proper safeguards could reduce elder abuse … read more

Please click on following link –  Blog Procedures To Assist With Proof 4

In my articles Safeguards to reduce Elder Abuse (Setting up the meeting) [1] and More safeguards to reduce Elder Abuse (Conducting a meeting) [2] I referred to the recommendation of the Australian Law Reform Commission that safeguards could reduce the risk of elder abuse facilitated through the misuse of powers of attorneys. … read more

On 14 June 2017 the Australian Law Reform Commission’s report, Elder Abuse – A National Response [1] was tabled in the Australian Parliament. The report stated that there was evidence that in a significant minority of cases financial elder abuse was facilitated through misuse of a power of attorney. The report … read more

When I read ‘severance’ and ‘severing’, I think of the villain turned hero from the Potter books, Severus Snape. For those who think similarly, remove that pensieve from your mind! For those who don’t know what I’m writing about, you’ve effectively missed a second childhood. But you wouldn’t be distracted … read more

On 14 June 2017 the Australian Law Reform Commission published its report Elder Abuse—A National Legal Response [1] . Among a host of recommendations and suggestions, the Commission observed that “community education is clearly an important strategy of” the suggested National plan to combat elder abuse. There are resources in the … read more

Whilst most were enjoying a Christmas vacation, a judge of the Supreme Court was grappling with legislation “full of conundrums” on “an elusive concept of Indigenous “customary law” and identification of an Indigenous “community or group”” [1] . All of this to find the rightful beneficiaries of the indigenous person’s intestate … read more

An advance care directive (or any other expression of a person’s consent or refusal) doesn’t have to be in writing or even expressed. Both are highly desirable, but it follows from the absence of these constraints that the common law did not require a particular form that an advance direction … read more

The last five months have seen major decisions concerning challenges to the validity of wills due to lack of a testator’s testamentary capacity and/or lack of knowledge and approval. The decisions include: Hobhouse –v- Macarthur-Onslow [2016] NSWSC 1831 (16 December 2016) Roche –v- Roche [2017] SASC 8 (8 February 2017) … read more

I had the pleasure of being Master of Ceremonies at the Opening of Law Term dinner on 1 February 2017. It’s an important event in the legal calendar. I therefore want to share with you some of the comments I made on that occasion. A brief introduction The opening of … read more

Laurie Levy sought declarations from the High Court that legislation under which he was charged was invalid as contrary to the constitutionally implied freedom of communication on government and political matters [1] . The State of Victoria, the authority that charged Levy, defended the action. In doing so, it sought leave … read more