Author: Admin

What are the legal ramifications of online scams?

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What are some of the common online scams?

The classical online scam is called the Nigerian scam.  This is a scam where the scammer contacts you promising an enormous bounty they say they won the lottery or that they stand to receive an enormous inheritance or a divorce settlement or all that there is some sort of bank error in their favour. However the catch is that they need to be paid a small amount of money compared to the enormous bounty in order to release the funds they may say this amount is needed to pay for costs such as bank filing fees, lawyers or attorney fees, court filing fees or other comparatively small incidental costs which will allow them to access the much larger amount and then pay you a share of this amount.  If you send the money they will simply pocket the money and continue asking for more money. You will never see this money again as it is a classical behaviour that these people are based in countries like Nigeria where there are no controls or legal ramifications which can practically be enforced against people for doing this type of thing.

What protection is there under Australian law?

There are a number of organisations that assist with these types of problems. In New South Wales the office of fair trading maintains a website called scam watch which lists active scams and advises consumers on how to identify scams and keeps active list of known scams which are currently being perpetrated.   Also you can help others by reporting on scams so that they can see the scams that are in existence on the scam watch website.  In formal legal terms in the scam is committing a number of crimes such as fraud, obtaining benefit by deception, creating false instruments, misrepresentation, misleading and deceptive conduct and if they were subject to Australian jurisdiction would most likely face heavy jail terms with the full force of the law used to prosecute them.

If you think you might be the victim of a scam or a scam is in progress against you and you would like some advice please do not hesitate to contact us using the contact form to the right or you can chat with us online alternatively you can place your question in question box below.

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Wills and Estates – what does it mean when someone dies intestate?

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Most people when they die have already made out a will. This will, established and legalized with the assistance of a will planning attorney, will state what their intentions are for their respective property. However a small proportion of people also died without leaving any will. If their estate is reasonably large or even only moderately large, this can cause problems in relation to the property that different people may have a claim over as a result of the intestacy. There is specific legislation which deals with issues intestacy. Consult with lawyers from law firms like Orlowsky & Wilson, Ltd. if you have questions or inquiries about estate planning.

In almost all jurisdictions, the property of an intestate estate will be distributed through probate real estate process to close family members such as a spouse, a former spouse, a de facto, siblings, parents, children, stepbrothers, stepsisters, stepchildren, half-brothers, half sisters or half children or potentially any other person who had a close personal relationship with intestate. If the person had no living relations then there property may be distributed to the state in some cases although this is extremely rare. This is because there is almost always someone alive will be a distant relation who is a beneficiary of the intestacy.

Having said all of this the amount of uncertainty that can be created by not having a will is a large burden to place on the members of your family who remain. There is presumably no provision for funeral costs or the costs of administering an estate. Also the uncertainty that can arise in intestacy is such that you can create conflict and chew up the resources of the estate through legal fees.  For this reason the creation of a will is essential to responsible estate planning.  if you have any questions about this we would like to discuss this with a solicitor please feel free to contact us using the contact form to the right or we often have lawyers online who are available to chat using the chat bubble to the left. Finally you can place any legal question in our legal question box on the site.

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Legal aspects of Conveyancing – First home buyers grant

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The Rudd government introduced a federal economic stimilus package during the GFC to reduce the impact of the crsis on the domestic home buyers market in Australia.   In New South Wales the first home owners grant was reduced on the 1st of January 2010 to $7,000.00 becuase of the Commonwealth Stimulus being removed.   It has recently been anounced that the grant will continue beyond when it was orginally schduled to phase out on 1 July 2010 so that is good news for first home buyers and anyone selling a property which is related to this market such as investors or people who have bought their first home but are now starting a young family and are looking to move into a bigger place.

Information about Conveyancing and the First Home Owner Government Grant (FHOG)
Find out about Conveyancing and the First Home Owner Government Grant (FHOG)

In some ways, it doesn’t really matter that much either way if the grant is given or not because the first home buyers grant tends to inflate all of the properties in this section of the market by the amount of the grant.  So you will competing on price  with everyone else for the properties at the same level.  If the grant is removed, the properties will have this price pressure removed which will probably mean that they will drop by the amount of the grant if it is removed.    If you are thinking of buying a property, another consideration which is substantial is the exemption of stamp duty.  This applies to properties under $500,000.00 and there are dicounts on stamp duty up to $600,000.00 properties but none beyond this.  For this reason it is necessary to adjust your assumptions about what you can afford based on the grant.

If you need assistance with any of this information, please do nto hesistate to contact using the contact form of the chat bar or by posting your question below.  We would love to hear from you.

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Divorce lawyers – financial aspects of family law

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Divorce is at endemic levels in Australian Society and the Australian Bureau of Statistics that there are approximately 47,000 divorces granted each year in Australia, not including the break down of defacto relationships. The divorce process itself is actually very cheap and many people work with divorce mediation professionals to get this done. The unfortunate aspect of negotiating a property settlement is that if consent cannot be reached or achieved, sometimes the legal fees can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. Consenting can save this amount from the total pool of property in a divorce and mean that it is done much more quickly. Although the rate of divorce is beginning to fall in this year for the first time in years, with data showing that 47,209 divorces were granted in 2008, compared with 47,963 in 2007, there is still a trend that between 30 and 50% of all marriages end in divorce.

You will need a solicitor to arrange a property settlement
Divorce Lawyers can arrange a property settlement

There are also some interesting trends in relation to divorce ages. The average age of a divorce is getting higher, like the average age of marriage. It currently sits at about 41 for women and 44 for men. This means that most people are just at a key stage in the accumulation process of getting income and assets and even starting to think about their retirement. A nest egg is beginning to accumulate, and there may be substantial equity in a home and super accumulated. Under the family law rules, all of these things are included as property of the marriage and are fair game in any settlement. Also, because the rules are very discretionary, there is much uncertainty in the outcomes of divorce proceedings and a court may adjust a settlement in any way that it determines is just and equitable.

If you need advice or assistance on a divorce property settlement, do not hesitate to call an expert such as a divorce lawyer or a family law attorney to guide you.

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Criminal Defence, Corporate Law and doing business in China

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In Shanghai today, An Australian mining executive who had been charged with corporate espionage in China pleaded his honesty. His lawyer claimed that essential Stern Hu’s actions had been subject to misinterpretation and that he was essentially an honest man who had made some serious mistakes. The matter is sensitive because he was an Australian Citizen employed by one of the biggest mining companies operating in Australia with substantial Australian Ownership interests. According to a criminal defense lawyer, he has been accused of very serious crimes relating to the corruption and bribery.

Although in China corruption and bribery are not considered anything abnormal, getting caught is another issue. The case may also be interpreted as a turning point for the levels of hostility experienced by Western and in particular Australian companies when doing business in China. One of the prosecutors recommended a lenient sentence for Hu, but he is accused of taking over $900,000.00 in bribes. There was no pleading in relation to the stealing of trade secrets.

The Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd commented that the outcome would reflect the status of the rule of law in China. The business community internationally is no doubt watching the case to identify if it will indicate a greater set of challenges related to doing business in the world’s third-largest economy. Hu’s experience in the field of iron ore trading gained as the head of Rio Tinton’s China Office is reflected in some of his comments about the market:

“Chinese steel companies can be divided into three categories that make up the chaotic iron ore market,” he said. At the top are huge state firms such as Baosteel and Shougang, who buy massive volumes from Rio, and in the middle are smaller state steelmakers. Then come the miserable private ones, which have few opportunities. They wanted to build up relations with Rio,” the lawyer said.

When the crisis hit in September 2008, demand for iron ore plummeted, and “the smaller and medium-sized companies thought they finally had an opportunity to squeeze into the club and join the buyers,” Jin said.

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