Szabo & Associates News & Updates

It was recently reported in the Sydney Morning Herald (available here) that New York millionaire Leslie Ann Mandel left $100,000 to her 32 pet cockatiels in her Will, to ensure they’re well cared for following her passing. It may seem like a strange arrangement, to leave such a vast amount of money to pets, and admittedly this is a unique situation, but it also serves to demonstrate the usefulness of Wills that have been validly created.

It was recently reported in the Sydney Morning Herald that the family of the late cricket star Richie Benaud are embroiled in legal action over his estate (reported here). Mr Benaud's former wife, Marcia, and their adult son, Gregory, have raised a court action against his second wife, Daphne, over how the estate is to be distributed.

Legal experts have called for the Australian Government to scrap a loophole that allows the wealthy to pass superannuation to their children as a tax-free inheritance.

A team of solicitors working for the estate of the deceased billionaire Michael Wright have challenged a decision to award a $25m inheritance to his teenage daughter.

Parenting disputes are one of the particularly emotionally taxing family cases. Who is the child to live with? How to keep meaningful involvement of both parents in a child's life? What if one of the parents wants to move, whether in search of friends or family support or to start a new job?