As lawyers and Justices of the Peace, we are often asked to witness signatures on important documents such as Statutory Declarations.  As authorised witnesses, we must ensure that we comply with the witnessing requirements as set out in the Oaths Act for a number of reasons, otherwise we risk being ...

Proper procedure should be followed when changing by-laws within a strata scheme – this includes adding, modifying or repealing a by-law. But in some circumstances a resolution in relation to a by-law may still be effective even if the proper procedure was not followed.

The validity of a by-law was...

Picture this – you advertised your property for sale, endured countless open houses and inspections, and finally, someone offered you a price which you accepted, contracts exchanged, and now the packing begins before you move out on settlement.

You could be forgiven for thinking that there is no lo...

Commercial and retail leases typically contain a provision allowing the tenant to transfer (assign) the lease to another tenant. The need or desire to transfer the lease can arise in a number of different circumstances – most usually where the incoming tenant is purchasing from the outgoing tenant t...

If you have purchased a property with someone else, it is likely that you’ve at least had an initial chat about sharing the costs of owning the property – but have you discussed what happens if one of the co-owners wants to sell their interest in the property?  Or worse still, if one of the co-owner...

Property purchasers and especially real estate agents should take note of a Supreme Court decision handed down last week in relation to representations made regarding a property’s right of way (aka “easement for carriageway”), and whether the property owners had the right to park on the right of way...

What are outgoings?

Outgoings are expenses incurred by the landlord arising out of its ownership of the premises.

Typical outgoings include:

• Taxes fees and charges – e.g. Council rates, water rates, land tax
• Day to day costs – e.g. cleaning, garbage collection
• Maintenance and repair services
...

PEXA ("Property Exchange Australia") is the new electronic property settlement portal, making life easier for solicitors and conveyancers, but what are the benefits to you as a client?

To name just a few:

• Less room for error - There is less chance of issues arising at settlement causing delays,
...

The New South Wales Government introduced legislation last year bringing into effect surcharges on stamp duty and land tax, to be payable on residential property purchased or owned by anyone falling within the definition of a “foreign person”.

Who is a Foreign Person?

Section 4 of the Foreign Acqu...

Commercial leases typically are for a fixed initial term of, say, 3 or 5 years, with an “option to renew” period of a further 3 or 5 years.  The lease document will note the specific dates within which you must exercise your option to renew the lease.  Usually the date range falls within 3 months an...

As you may be aware, owners of certain types of property are required to pay capital gains tax when the property is sold.  This is normally accounted for when the vendor does their next tax return.  However, in the case of foreign residents, compliance has been poor and it has proven difficult for t...

Shire Legal acted for a client purchasing a property at Burraneer through a local real estate agent.  The client had first seen the property 12 months prior when he was not seriously in the market to purchase.  It was not until 12 months later that he was ready to buy, and at that stage, the vendor ...