This year marks 150 years since Banks v Goodfellow [1870 LR 5 QB 549 (Eng.)] was determined. In all this time, it has been the classic statement of law on the question of testamentary capacity. It seems almost trite to recite the ratio: “It is essential to the exercise of such a power that a testator shall understand the nature of […]

When it comes to litigating deceased estates, it seems we’re a close second to New South Wales,1 with “1 estate contested per 104,953 persons” annually in Queensland.2 Sadly, adult children of the deceased make up the largest cohort of estate litigants,3 with “enmities and allegiances”4 fuelling disputes. Litigation of any kind is costly; however, in estate matters, litigation can be a particularly self-defeating […]

I knew I was in for a difficult read when his Honour Justice Applegarth embarked on his analysis of Talbot v Boyd Legal (A Firm) & Ors [2020] QSC 185 with the observation that “[t]his complex case bristles with issues”.1 Given the numerous complexities explored across 30 pages of judgment, the subject of this column is confined to one of the issues […]

Blackened pages on the broadsheet were a feature of our print news late last year. The press protest was sparked after the Australian Federal Police raid on the ABC’s Sydney office and the home of a Canberra journalist.1 Much debate ensued and continues around laws prohibiting publication of certain material. The Right to Know coalition called for “the decriminalisation of public […]

Home detention gives us much to contemplate about COVID-19, nothing more so than our mortality in the face of a life­ threatening pandemic. With that, it seems there has been a rush by the general community to make wills.2 However, the combination of section 10(3) Succession Act 1981, the uncertainty around what constitutes presence, 3 COVID-19 social distancing laws,4 and […]

Consideration needed on the question of ‘presence’ It seems that no matter how fast I type, I can’t match the speed with which things are changing as aresult of COVID-19. At the time of writing, succession lawyers are grappling with how we might address the issues thrown up where there is a legislative requirement for witnessing and for it to occur ‘in the presence of’, particularly with […]

Recently I was in Washington DC listening to a discussion on longevity. The debate was about how we view ageing and the probability that with advances in technology we could comfortably live beyond 100, with some suggesting that living up to 200 years was readily achievable. To those commentators it was simply a matter of treating ageing as an illness, not an inevitability. That discussion had […]

Powers of attorney and elder abuse Staunchly, I defend Queensland solicitors, and proudly I celebrate the good we achieve in our community. Sadly, this article is not about one of those occasions.  In the past few years, our profession has done much to support our community as it suffers the insidious increase of elder abuse. Our community looks to us, the legal profession, to support and protect our vulnerable […]

Love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage…1 It seems for many Australians the crooner’s chorus is not a melody which resonates, because, as of 2016, some 1,751,424 Australians had chosen to be in a de facto relationship. Nationally, that equates to just over 10% of our population, but in Queensland it is as high as 12%.2 Perhaps it was for that reason the Queensland State […]