r/AusLegalAdvice

For context - this isn’t really about the money.

My mother died in February last year after a short but aggressive fight with cancer, she went down the path of voluntary assisted dying so was able to process a lot of her affairs before she died.

The main beneficiaries of her will were myself , my older brother , my mums partner and my aunty - I have not seen a copy of the will nor when I have request a copy have I been able to get one. But from what I have been told and what was actions this is what happened;

Her super was to have 10k taken and given to my aunty - and the remaining balance was to be divided and two and half to my brother and half to me - roughy 250k each,

The house was signed over to my mums partner before she died ( in a rather hasty move I believe ) so he was to get 100% ownership of the house

Her life insurance of around $2 million was to be used to pay of the mortgage for the above house cover her funeral costs and legal fee’s and financial planner who helped finalise her estate before she died and the remaining balance was to to left to her partner.

We were always told right up until about a month before she died that we were getting half the life insurance and house and her previous will stated this as well,
When this was explained to us - her partner was to put a provision in his will that when he dies my brother and I would get a quarter each of what ever residence he has at the time of his death

This is where it gets juicy- the week after mum died before I flew back to NSW from Queensland my brother mums partner and I visited her bank to distribute her super as it was paid out before she died under the provision that she had a terminal illness.

When at the teller mums partner stated that my brother and i were both getting $10k less than what was originally allocated to cover the legal and financial fee’s - I was totally against this but was given no choice than to allow it to happen. My brother wasn’t as upset but understood my point. To save the fight at the bank we did not fight this out.

For weeks after returning home my mums partner and I would argue about the fact he did not discuss this with us before making the transfer. He was claiming that he was poor and had no money so needed the 20k to live off till the life insurance came through

Fast forward to now - he is dating another woman , living in the house and just purchased a 200k car among other things.

While denying both mums family and my brother and I the opportunity to go and collect some of mums things.

My question is , is there anything we can do now being over 12 months since mum pasted to make a claim on the house and or live insurance , as I do not believe that these were truly mums wishes ?

Her cancer was quite advanced and she had multiple metastatic lesions on her brain at the time of her death.

I am quite comfortable financially as have sold my business, so it really isn’t about the money it’s more about the principle.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Enforcement Matter
Hi everyone. I’m dealing with a Maintenance Enforcement matter in Alberta and I’m having difficulty finding affordable legal assistance. I’ve contacted several resources already but haven’t been able to get the help I need.
I’m not looking for recommendations or referrals to specific lawyers. I’m hoping someone can share general information about affordable legal options, government resources, legal clinics, or other non-profit services that may be available for someone dealing with a Maintenance Enforcement matter.
If anyone has experience navigating this process and can share general advice about where to start or what options may be available, I would really appreciate it.
Thank you for any guidance. 🙏

Posting for a friend; thank you for reading.

Hi everyone,

I’m a single mum on the Gold Coast involved in complex parenting proceedings in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. I’m looking for any practical insights from people who’ve been through something similar.

Background (condensed):

There are existing final parenting consent orders that I say I did not freely or voluntarily agree to.

On the day the orders were made I repeatedly told my barrister I did not agree and wanted to go to trial. I was kept in a small room for roughly four hours with only short toilet/water breaks. When I tried to leave or speak to my mother or a social worker I was ushered back in. My barrister made a series of statements that I experienced as pressure (including about Legal Aid obligations, the risk of losing my son if I didn’t agree to relocate closer to the father, breakdown of our professional relationship, and the practical difficulty of finding another barrister or self-representing with thousands of pages of material). I kept saying I was too emotional to consent properly and needed more time to understand what I was signing. Those requests were ignored.

I have a written contemporaneous account plus supporting notes, emails and text messages showing I felt pressured and coerced.

The orders that are causing the biggest problems right now:

- I must live (and continue living) within 30 minutes of the father indefinitely. (The father is taking me to court for being 3 minutes outside that radius)

- My son is restricted from attending Silkwood School.

- A provision to set aside all previous orders (I have a DVO that is important for safety and I’m concerned the way the consent orders were drafted has maybe nullified those protections).

Current situation:

I applied for around 100 rental properties within the required radius (including many in Beenleigh) and couldn’t secure suitable, sustainable accommodation. I’ve now been approved for and moved into a rental in Ormeau (approx 33–45 minutes depending on traffic). My son has had to move 4 times since we left the father due to disputes in where I can live. Child safety and lawyers have given conflicting advice.

The father’s solicitors have written formally saying that being even a few minutes outside the radius is a breach and they will take me to court if I don’t move closer by January.

At an earlier interim hearing the Judge found it was not in my son’s best interests to relocate from the Gold Coast and stayed an earlier interim relocation order after I showed the difficulty obtaining accommodation in Brisbane. She also indicated I should be able to remain in my home city on the Gold Coast and that my son should be able to attend Silkwood. I have the transcript of her reasons. She was meant to be my judge for final hearing but a new judge was assigned and I was told my my legal representation that he is the type of Judge to take my son from me if I did not agree to live within the 30 minute radius.

There are family-violence / DVO considerations that need to sit alongside any residence or relocation arrangements. The orders also don’t deal with what happens if the father moves (I believe he may now be living with a girlfriend in the Logan area). I still have to live 30 mins from Cannon Hill despite where the father stays. A clear mistake in the orders.

I’m currently on a 6-month lease in Ormeau and the property may be demolished, so I need clarity before January.

What I’m trying to work out:

Is the strongest pathway:

1. An application to set aside the consent orders because of the circumstances in which they were obtained? or part of them?

2. A stay of the relocation / residence restriction so I can remain in the Ormeau / Upper Coomera area?

3. A variation of the parenting orders to allow residence in the Ormeau / Gold Coast region and attendance at Silkwood (I’m flexible on father–son time arrangements)?

4. Some combination of the above?

I’m more concerned about choosing the correct procedural pathway that actually gets an immediate practical result than about running the most dramatic argument.

What I’d like a professional to assess:

- Whether the circumstances around the consent orders warrant further investigation as a potential challenge

- The strongest immediate legal pathway

- Whether an urgent stay / interim application is realistic

- How the current housing, schooling, distance, change-of-circumstances and family-violence factors interact with the existing orders

- What evidence they would need

Questions for Reddit:

- Has anyone been in a similar situation (pressured into consent orders + later needing to vary a strict relocation radius or school restriction)? What pathway actually worked?

- Red flags or things to watch for when choosing a lawyer for this type of matter?

- Any practical tips on getting an urgent stay or interim variation while living slightly outside a radius that was set by consent?

I’m trying to identify the smartest procedural route before the January deadline.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Hey folks,

I was injured at work last year, im receiving workers compensation. Will not be able to return to previous job, currently working 15hrs a week admin role for same company.

I have developed two secondary injuries as a result of my first injury. Clear links. Insurer has obviously declined.

My question is, how long should it take for lawyers to get everything organised to dispute this at PIC?

I signed with them in janurary after insurer knocked secondary dary injuries back.

I already had all the medical evidence organised, they asked for insurer internal review which was also knocked back.

Hi guys! I’m 20 years old and my dad is wanting me to “sign off” on his new will as an executor? My parents got divorced in 2022 and my dad has been dating his girlfriend for around four years. They have recently written a will together, as she is now on the mortgage of his house. I obviously don’t understand much about legal things but want to know whether I should be concerned about this.

He says that if one of them passes, their children (my dad has me and my sister and she has an older son from a previous marriage) will get a payout/portion of the life insurance straight away and will get the rest when the other one passes away. I am confused about what is stopping my dad‘s girlfriend from writing me and my sister out of the will and leaving everything to her son if my dad was to die first. I’ve asked him if this was possible and he said that it would be a long process but technically isn’t impossible. He essentially made it sound like the only thing stopping that from happening is that they trust each other.

While it is awful to talk about, I don’t know if I should be worried about this / what questions to ask to ensure this doesn’t happen later. I would like to believe that it would all be okay but I have heard horror stories and know people act differently when money is involved

Hi everyone, I’m looking for anything to help my friend get away from his abusive family.

The general tldr:

He’s 16 (ethnic) living with abusive parents that beat him often
Examples: punched, slapped, kicked. Objects thrown at him (plates, knives, forks etc), recently he was hit in the head with a stick which cut his head and left him with a mild concussion.

He’s tried calling the police multiple times, but it gets put down to simple punishment for something he did bad. Like being home late because his brother left him in a Town a 2 hour walk away.

He’s also tried the court system and was waved off because his parents had people lie in court for them.

I’m unable to help directly since I live Victoria, I just want him to get the help and support he needs, he doesn’t need to be attacked everyday by the people who are ment to care for him.

Please im begging for help for him. Anything that will help him

Hi guys,

Here's some background. My daughter was born mid last year with some medical issues and my wife has been taking extended maternity leave.

She has arranged for this extended maternity leave and everything seems to be fine. She recently went to speak to HR about a return to work, wanting to do 3 full days instead of full time (5 days).

She just got a polite email from HR inviting her to resign, and "contact us when you're ready, without the pressure of a return date".

I'm worried by resigning she will lose some rights to the job considering she has been here since before covid.

Would appreciate any advice.

Ok i want to preface this with, I know better NOW how i should have handled the interaction with the officer which would have squashed this in the first place, but alas, i was inexperienced at the time and here we are.

Circumstances:

• Officer has fined me with a speed based on what HE was doing as he claims to be "trying to catch up to me"...
• I did not deny speeding but did not say what my speed was. I was also scared and intimidated by the interaction as its the first time
• the speed I have been fined with is >40 over limit and I cannot accept a loss of licence as my personal circumstances are much too complicated. I dont know if i would qualify for a hardship licence as I work from home
• my friend had taken off from the lights very quickly and then i lost them amongst a few lanes of cars, i did speed up slightly to try and find them. when i couldnt find them in those first 2kms, i slowed down, thinking perhaps they could have been in an accident. I was constantly looking around for this behind and in front (it was night time)
• I only knew the officer was behind me after i had been at a complete stop at a set of red lights for ~20seconds and he then turned lights and sirens on. I pulled over asap to a safe spot.
• the location this has occurred in is a hot spot for speeding and i have reason to believe the magistrate will not look favourably on my case
• without disclosing too much, i also have reason to believe that the prosecution wont want to negotiate or offer a lesser fine as they have reason to save face.

What would you do? how would you approach this?

I’m looking for any advice. I am located in Michigan taking a trip to Melbourne AUS next month for 3weeks. I’m in constant chronic pain, I only use marijuana for this. On the AUS GOV website it states allowance of 2 cannabis vape pens with proper documentation under the travelers exemption. Everyone I know is strongly advising me not to bring anything with me. I do have my medical card but from what I understand AUS does not recognize out of country patients with a medical card. It’s my only form of medication. I don’t want to get into any trouble or risk my trip. Hoping to reach someone that has already went through the motions and has previously traveled from USA to AUS with a cannabis vape and knows the proper way to go about this. Michigan law, the doctors are not allowed to suggest or prescribe any specific THC product. Extremely confusing, any help is highly appreciated.

A friend was due for a promotion before taking parental leave. She had been told she would receive the promotion after meeting the relevant expectations before going on leave.

The promotion wasn’t progressed at that time, and she has now been told that she will need to return to work and demonstrate that she is back up to speed before being considered for the promotion.

This means the promotion could effectively be significantly delayed, despite her having met the relevant expectations before taking leave.

Trying to understand whether this could potentially raise issues under Australian discrimination or general protections laws, and whether it’s worth getting an employment lawyer to review the circumstances.

What would be the relevant area of law, and what evidence would be useful to have before speaking to a lawyer?

Hello everyone,

Unsure if this has been asked before but I can't find clear guidance on what's officially defined as a payment a co-parent can request outside of formal child support particularly where there's no legal agreement covering additional payments between parents.

I've searched online and spoken with Child Support directly and there doesn't seem to be a published list defining what counts as an "external" payment. I've kept up with all formal child support payments since separating. On top of that, I've been solely covering the ongoing cost of an asset that's used exclusively by my ex-partner, along with some extracurricular costs outside the formal arrangement. This has placed real strain on my finances.

Ultimately, I'm hoping to find a clear, published source explaining what a parent can be expected to contribute beyond formal child support, what it's intended to cover, and what falls outside it.

Thanks for your help.

I'm currently on a 12-month extended demerit period in Victoria. On 14 August I was caught doing an alleged 110 km/h in a 100 zone (112 detected), which carries 3 points. This is a case of lots of minor speeding infringements/one seatbelt one as I was pulling out of the carpark compounding.

If the points are applied, I'll breach my extended period and receive a 6-month suspension.

I'm considering requesting an internal review/official warning. It was a momentary lapse after a particularly stressful day working as a high school teacher. I live in Anglesea and work in Colac, driving around 200 km per workday, so losing my licence will have a significant impact on getting to work.

I'm wondering:

1. Is an internal review/warning worth trying for 10 km/h over?
2. If it's rejected, can I still elect to go to court?
3. Are the demerit points held off while an internal review is being considered?
4. If I elect court, are the points only applied once the matter is determined?
5. Has anyone successfully received a warning in similar circumstances?

I'm not disputing that I was speeding, I'm trying to understand my options before paying the fine.

Thanks!

Hi all,

I got my first speeding fine, under 10km/h over the limit. Never had a fine or warning before this in my 1.5+ years with an Aussie licence.

I read that Victoria Police can turn this into an official warning instead of a fine if you have a clean record and the speed was low. But on the Fines Victoria review form, there are only 5 grounds to choose from:

• Exceptional circumstances
• Contrary to law
• Special circumstances
• Mistaken identity
• Person unaware of fine

None of these really match my situation. I was not confused about the fine, no medical emergency, no wrong person, nothing like that. I just have a clean record and made a small mistake.

Has anyone actually gotten a warning through this form? Which box did you tick? Or is this handled some other way, like calling Fines Victoria directly instead of using the online form?

Just trying to understand the right process before I submit anything. Thanks in advance.

I called around a few barrister lists and have been told there are barristers interested in my case but since it’s already in progress and the judge doesn’t what an adjournment, they don’t have enough time to rep.

The case got slightly delayed and closing submissions are on Thursday.

Can anyone recommend an avenue to get some assistance? I’ve been royally fucked by the paperwork side of things so far, as a person with a disability affecting executive function, to the point my own diagnosis letter from my psychiatrist was kicked out before I could even say a word about it… the respondent’s counsel keeps throwing words around like prejudice and unfairness… how is it fair to kick out my diagnosis letter that I waited months for and paid thousands for and that has allowed me to get meds that actually help?

I’m self represented and have been doing the best I can with the tools I have. The judge issued the r4.06 referral before the trial but it says on there that it applies to all future trials too, it’s very broad in scope.

Anyway, if anyone has any advice I would really appreciate it. Happy to chat in DMs too if you need more details.

If you’re a junior barrister looking to cut your teeth, this would be a challenging but interesting case (Fair Work, GP).

Fell asleep in the drivers wheel high range in his unit complex carpark. did not drive the vehicle but the police were patrolling entered the private car park woke him up breath tested him and now he has a court appearence. No interview no body warn footage. His keys were not in the ignition. Hes seeking legal advice and yes hes an idiot

Please, no judgement. Be kind. I already feel extremely guilty and horrible that I didn’t leave my details. I genuinely know I’ve done the wrong thing and will of course willingly provide my details and pay for any damage I may have caused.

Looking for some advice on what I’m realistically facing here and whether I should speak to a solicitor before talking to police.

A couple of months ago I accidentally made contact with a parked car while manoeuvring in a shopping centre car park. It was extremely low speed.

I stopped, got out and inspected the other car and took several photos. There appeared to be some minor cosmetic scuffing/scratches, although there were a number of existing-looking marks on the car and I genuinely don’t know which marks, if any, were caused by me.

I did not leave my details or report it to police.

A witness saw what happened and reported it. Importantly, the witness apparently also told police that I stopped, got out and checked the other vehicle.
Police have since contacted me and an officer wants to meet with me in person for an interview.

I haven’t been charged or issued with an infringement. The officer has indicated that the matter isn’t urgent.

I’ve asked the officer to confirm what offence she is investigating before I agree to an interview.

My main concern is losing my licence or having to go to court. Is this a possibility?

Is this usually dealt with by a fine/demerit points, warning, no action, or court?

I know I should have left my details and I’m not trying to get out of responsibility for any damage. I’m mainly trying to understand the realistic legal/licence consequences and how I should deal with the police interview.

Hello everyone,
Can someone please help I desperately need an advice. I have an invention that I made with company material and machine, will they be able to claim the rights to my invention even if it does not conflict with their business. And would someone please point me in the right direction on who to see or approach I really don’t know where to begin. Thank you in advance for any help and suggestions.

I am in Western Australia and have been receiving repeated calls from a debt collection company (Credit Corp) about people I do not know.

At the worst point, I was receiving up to three calls per day for 5 days a week. This continued for approximately two to three months, despite repeatedly explaining that they had the wrong person and asking for my number to be removed. (I validated the name they were chasing, it was not me).

The calls came from many different mobile numbers, which made them impossible for Telstra to identify or block.

I run a web design and IT company. Calls to my mobile are often urgent and can involve hacked websites, offline email systems, compromised payment accounts or other critical client issues. our commercial SLA's mean I therefore cannot simply ignore unfamiliar numbers, I must answer them.

The calls repeatedly interrupted billable work, client meetings and sleep. In some cases, I left meetings to answer. When I tried to return to clients afterward, they had sometimes gone to lunch, left the office or moved onto another call, resulting in lost time and income.

I have call records, screenshots, correspondence and evidence showing that I repeatedly asked the company to stop. I have also made a complaint through the financial complaints process (AFCA), but the company has offered only a nominal amount.

My main questions are:

1. Should I now speak to a lawyer and consider legal action?
2. Can repeated calls of up to three times per day for several months amount to harassment, particularly when I was not the debtor?
3. What debt collection regulations or guidelines would the company be required to comply with?
4. Does continuing to call after being told they have the wrong person make the conduct more serious?
5. Can I claim lost billable income where I can provide call logs, business records and evidence of my usual hourly rate?
6. Could there also be a privacy breach if my mobile number was incorrectly attached to another person’s debt account?
7. Should this be reported to a financial regulator, consumer regulator, privacy regulator or all of them?
8. Would it be better to wait for the current complaints process to finish before commencing legal action?

I am not disputing or avoiding a debt. The debt does not belong to me, and I do not know the people they were attempting to contact ( I have a name of the guy, thats all).

I am trying to determine whether this is serious enough to justify legal action rather than accepting a minimal settlement?