Archive for June 2017
FAMILY LAW: WHY DO I HAVE TO DISCLOSE INFORMATION TO MY EX?
A woman claimed that she had consented to Family Court orders that weren’t fair because her husband had failed to make full and frank disclosure of his financial situation. The Court then had to work out what to do about the issue. Unfortunately, this scenario can arise in family law cases. It highlights how important…
Read MoreWORKERS COMPENSATION: ARE SUBSEQUENT INJURIES COMPENSABLE?
When a man suffered a heart attack three weeks after his employment was terminated, he claimed that it was the result of depression that was caused by his employment. It raised a question about whether he could claim workers compensation for the heart attack. It also leads to a broader question: if a workplace injury…
Read MoreFAMILY LAW: WHAT HAPPENS IF THERE’S RECONCILIATION AFTER DIVORCE?
Sometimes, couples can separate or divorce and agree on a final property settlement, only to reconcile at a later date. If they then happen to separate again, this can cause much confusion over how their property pool is to be divided. The Family Court recently considered the question of how a prior property settlement can…
Read MoreSUPERANNUATION AND SEVERE FINANCIAL HARDSHIP
Sometimes, when life gives you lemons, it’s difficult to see how you can make lemonade. For example, if you are experiencing severe financial hardship, you can be so flat out trying to put food on the table that you have no idea how you’ll pay the next bill. And if you’ve been retrenched, you may…
Read MoreAVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS – WHAT IS A FAIR AVERAGE?
When it comes to calculating weekly Workers Compensation payments sometimes the ‘average’ just isn’t right, as the Workers Compensation Tribunal decided in a recent case. A person who is incapacitated as a result of a work injury is entitled to weekly payments of income maintenance calculated in accordance with the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.…
Read MoreAGGRAVATED DRIVING WITHOUT DUE CARE: DOES IT MEAN IMPRISONMENT?
A woman was charged with an aggravated driving offence and received a 3 month prison sentence. Why? Because she mistook her car accelerator for the brake, causing her to plough through a shop window and injure pedestrians. The woman was in all other respects a model citizen. She appealed her sentence, saying that it was…
Read MoreSLIP AND FALL: DON’T GET TAKEN TO THE CLEANERS
When a woman was injured after a slip and fall accident at a major shopping centre, she missed out on potential damages of more than $300,000. Why? Because even though the Court found that a cleaning company’s negligence had caused the accident, the woman had sued the shopping centre rather than the cleaning company. This…
Read MorePRE-NUPTIAL AGREEMENTS: HIGH COURT HEARS LANDMARK CASE
When a 67-year-old multimillionaire wanted to marry the 36 year-old foreign woman he’d met online, it wasn’t surprising that a pre-nuptial agreement was prepared. Her lawyer told her that the agreement was “no good” but she signed it anyway. After they separated, the woman challenged the agreement, claiming that she had signed it under duress.…
Read MoreIF I’M PLEADING GUILTY, WHY DO I NEED A LAWYER?
A man’s four year prison term was set aside after he pleaded guilty to assault charges without first getting legal advice. This case is a powerful illustration of how important it is to critically evaluate all the information before the Court: just because it’s a guilty plea doesn’t mean that the accused person has to…
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