Legal Articles
Lawyers Adelaide
August 10th, 2017 by | Business Sale & Purchase, Commercial Transactions, Conveyancing, Court Disputes, Debt Collection, Deceased Estates & Inheritance Claims, Property & Leases, Wills & Estate Planning
Lawyers Adelaide Beger & Co Lawyers Adelaide provide legal services in a wide number of areas. These range through personal and business legal matters for our clients. Some of our more commonly requested legal services include: Wills and Estate Lawyers Adelaide A large part of our legal practice’s activity is acting as wills and estate… Read more »
Acquiring Land By Time
August 8th, 2017 by | Property & Leases
In South Australia, we follow the Torrens title system as devised by the great Sir Robert Torrens. In essence, this means a person with an interest and estate in land acquires it by registration. Thus the Torrens title system is referred to as ‘title by registration’ rather than ‘registration of title.’ A person with a… Read more »
Plain (and Clear) English Legal Documents
July 26th, 2017 by | Commercial Transactions
When a lawyer draws a Deed describing an agreement between parties and how that agreement is to be carried out, the Deed will often follow a traditional format. First, the Deed will contain “Recitals” (sometimes styled as “Background” or “Objectives”) which set out the narrative or background to the agreement contained in the Deed. The… Read more »
Minutes of Company Meeting
July 25th, 2017 by | Commercial Transactions
It is one thing to have a productive company board or committee meeting but the value is in the record that results from the meeting. The record is noted by way of “Minutes” and needs to conform to the statutory obligations as set out in section 251A of the Corporations Act 2001. Minutes are fundamentally… Read more »
Statutory Demand: The 21 Day Guillotine
July 18th, 2017 by | Court Disputes, Debt Collection
In a previous article (How to Deal With a Statutory Demand), we assured you that the 21 day window to apply (by filing the application and serving it on the applying creditor) to set aside a Statutory Demand could not be extended. The scheme set up by the Corporations Act is strict and inflexible on… Read more »
Lease Term Extended by SA Court Order
May 29th, 2017 by | Commercial Transactions, Court Disputes, Property & Leases
Recently, Beger & Co Lawyers acted for commercial tenants who were being evicted by their landlord because their lease arrangements were coming to an end. Despite vigorous opposition by the landlord, our clients won a Court Order to extend their lease term so that they can stay in their shop for at least 5 years…. Read more »
Justice of the Peace or Notary Public?
May 24th, 2017 by | Commercial Transactions
A Notary and Justice of the Peace (JP) are not the same. A fundamental difference between a JP and Notary is that a JP is only recognised in a particular State or Territory of Australia while a Notary is recognised both nationally and internationally. Each Australian State and Territory has its own legislation to regulate JP’s appointment,… Read more »
Prince Dies Intestate: Singer’s Siblings to Inherit
May 22nd, 2017 by | Deceased Estates & Inheritance Claims
A recent article in The Guardian looks at the outcome of Prince having died intestate. The article states: “A Minnesota judge has ruled that Prince’s six siblings are the heirs to his estate, more than a year after the pop superstar died of a drug overdose.” Of the many celebrity deaths over the last 12 months or… Read more »
Old Lease, Extended Lease, New Lease
May 9th, 2017 by | Property & Leases
Can you keep extending a commercial lease? Of course a landlord and tenant can, either by the tenant duly exercising a right of renewal in the tenancy agreement itself, or, when that runs out, by agreement between landlord and tenant for a formal extension. The same terms can be retained, subject to agreed variations on matters… Read more »
Defaming Public Figures
May 3rd, 2017 by | Court Disputes, Peter Jakobsen
In defamation law, there is a defence of Qualified Privilege. A defamatory statement will not make the defendant liable if there was a legal, social or moral interest or duty to say it, and the person spoken-to had a corresponding duty or interest to hear it. And the statement must be reasonably necessary to the… Read more »
Service of Court Process From Overseas
March 29th, 2017 by | Court Disputes, Peter Jakobsen
The world is a smaller place and more and more of us do business overseas, in the United States among other countries, despite the disdain of the US President for certain free trade agreements. But business can, unfortunately, sometimes lead to litigation (which has been described as business by other means). What to do if… Read more »
Is an Executor Obligated to Act Within Time Limit?
March 22nd, 2017 by | Deceased Estates & Inheritance Claims
One of the most common questions I am asked when dealing with Probate matters is: Is there a time limit for the Executor to obtain Probate of a Will? Most people are surprised to hear that the answer is “no”. But that is not the end of the story. Being an Executor is not always… Read more »
Stamp Duty on SA Business Transfers Abolished
March 21st, 2017 by | Business Sale & Purchase, Commercial Transactions, Lorenzo Mazzocchetti
Stamp Duty was abolished from all SA business transfers from 18 June 2015 but this is still (good) news for lots of people. In fact, SA stamp duty was abolished for transfers of all non-quoted marketable securities (shares in private companies), units in unit trusts and all non-real property (non-land) transfers which includes licences such… Read more »
Incorrect Death Certificate Problematic for SA Probate
March 17th, 2017 by | Deceased Estates & Inheritance Claims
From 1 July 2015, all applications for Probate (or Letters of Administration) must be accompanied by an original Death Certificate, or a copy certified by a solicitor. The Probate Registrar has indicated that he will not accept errors on the Death Certificate. This stems from the admirable conviction that the historical records of our State… Read more »
Expert Evidence
November 22nd, 2016 by | Court Disputes
Generally, the Courts aren’t interested in anyone’s opinion except their own. That is, the Courts are there to hear facts and then deliver their opinion (which is called a Judgment). One major exception to this principle arises in the case of an expert witness. Experts are allowed to give an opinion and have that opinion… Read more »
