By Lisa Ruggero-Salerno, Accredited Family Law Specialist and Partner at VRT Lawyers I have been in practice for 35 years and I have been a Family Law Specialist since 1993. I have seen it all and, as I say to my clients, I have seen Mother Theresa turn into the devil. This is not an insult to Mother Theresa but just an indication of how people can change going through litigation. Family Law is especially difficult because of the emotions involved. When you have a commercial

By Lisa Salerno-Ruggero You need to talk to dying relatives about their Will. When someone is dying, it is very, very hard to talk about dying let alone talk to them about their Will. It is important to have this conversation because there is a lot that can be done in relation to their Estate before someone passes away as opposed to afterwards. What should happen is that if there is one child who has been left more than the other, then that parent needs to explain the reasons

A property at Coogee where a wife and mother was murdered in 2012 has played host to a bitter Estate battle over the asset. The property located at 2 Denning Street, South Coogee has made headlines after the murdered women’s husband and son went toe to toe in a bidding frenzy. Eventually the property was knocked down to the father for $6 million, $2 million over reserve. The battle continues over the $40 million Estate which will be played out in the Supreme Court of New Sout

By Joe Vizzone No one is immortal. Death, taxes and the Rabbitohs winning the comp are the only certainties in life. A will is a document which sets out where you want your assets to go after you die. Although there are procedures to upset wills, in most cases your will will operate to distribute your assets. In preparing a will, you will need to appoint an Executor. That is the person who collects your assets, sells them if necessary and distributes those assets in accordanc

By Lisa Ruggero-Salerno Your Will determines what happens to your Estate when you pass away. At Vizzone Ruggero Twigg Lawyers we have been doing Wills for a long time. It is important for you to update your Will.  Sometimes people don’t want to approach their parents as to what is in their Will but it is important that you do so.  If you don’t feel that you want to approach your parents or your loved ones, Vizzone Ruggero Twigg Lawyers is happy to speak to family members and

By Lisa Ruggero-Salerno OH MY GOD my mother has left me out of her Will CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!!  This is something we hear all the time. Or we have situations where one child is favoured over the others. Sometimes for no reason whatsoever. Sometimes what happens is that one sibling will be in the position of power with their parent and take that parent to a solicitor for the purposes of redoing their Will so that they receive more or all of the Estate. WHAT CAN BE DONE? Luckil

By Charmaine Lee and Lisa Ruggero-Salerno This a question that a lot of people ask. Under the Succession Act 2006, you are entitled to a copy of the Will if you fall within the following categories: (a) any person named or referred to in the Will, whether as a beneficiary or not; (b) any person named or referred to in an earlier Will as a beneficiary of the deceased person; (c) the surviving spouse, de facto partner (whether of the same or the opposite sex) or issue (eg child