M. Duncan & Associates in Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia | Lawyer & law firm

M. Duncan & Associates

Locality: Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia

Phone: +61 2 9699 9877

Address: 61-89 Buckingham St Unit 39 2010 Surry Hills, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.lawyersnotaries.com.au

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25.01.2022 FUTURE PROOFING: In these extraordinary times we perhaps can reflect on the need for future planning for the unknown or unexpected scenarios in our lives. A trio of documents can be considered as part of your reasonable planning or future proofing - These do not just relate to end of life or following death but allow for unknown circumstances when you might need help. Most people would be advantaged by having appointed (1) an enduring Power of Attorney... [financial & property matters] (2) an Enduring Guardian [health and personal lifestyle matters]. Separately these documents often form part of a trio of documents including your Will which is operative only after your death. Another document some people like to consider is whether to make an Advanced Care Directive setting out their preferences about how their future health needs might be managed. The failure to appoint people you trust to assist you if the need arises might mean that at a future date an application has to be made for a Court or Tribunal to intervene and make decisions about your financial affairs or your health and lifestyle or the distribution of your estate. It is always better to remain in control of your own decision making if you can. You are able to review or update these planing documents but you should take the precaution of having same prepared just in case. See more

22.01.2022 Hi letting you know that we are still working. We are all affected one way or another by the current health issue. It is potentially scary stuff that our civil rights previously taken for granted such as freedom of movement etc could be so quickly restricted and the country’s economy so badly affected. Also, notable is how quickly so many government entities swung into action to accommodate urgent changes. From a lawyers perspective much work can continue electronical...ly or by phone. Currently all state and federal court operations are affected with various telephone or video resources being used to manage some of the usual workload. Nonetheless court cases have been delayed or deferred frustrating to many people. There is specific new legislation in NSW about ‘emergency measures’ for State courts. But at both State and Federal level each court has issued various new practice and procedure arrangements during the crisis period. See more

19.01.2022 If you are wondering can you still sell your home, yes you can only the ways of selling and buying have changed at least in the short term. https://www.therealestatevoice.com.au//can-i-still-sell-/

17.01.2022 Here is a link to the latest NSW government Covid rules. These might change but for the time being will operate from Friday 15 May 2020. https://www.nsw.gov.au//what-you-can-and-cant-do-under-rul

12.01.2022 CRIMINALISING COVID-19 EXPOSURE The Sydney Institute of Criminology has summarised the following Additional Public Health Orders To address the spread of COVID-19, additional orders have been made by the NSW Minister for Health under s.7 of the Public Health Act 2010 (NSW). Breach of any Public Health Order is an offence, carrying a maximum penalty of imprisonment for six months and/or a fine in the case of an individual and significant fines for corporations: s.10....Continue reading

11.01.2022 In addition to the electronic signing laws made by NSW State Government now the Morrison Government has endorsed the electronic signing of company documents under section 127(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). For an initial period of six months, from 6 May 2020 to 5 November 2020, companies will be able to electronically validate documents that were previously required to be physically signed, using e-signatures.

10.01.2022 Sometimes it seems an opposing lawyer can really irritate a party to proceedings. In Iowa USA, a party to a family law dispute got so incensed by what he called the other lawyer's absurdity that he asked to settle the dispute by trial by combat- using Japanese swords inviting either his ex wife to fight him or to use her lawyer as her fighter! https://www.desmoinesregister.com//iowa-courts-/4456079002 In this day and age we are encouraged to resolve legal differences by negotiation or mediation when possible and the lawyers acting for clients hopefully should avoid acting to inflame the dispute.

05.01.2022 Are you eligible for a City of Sydney Council grant? The application has to be lodged online by 5 pm Monday next 27 April. You can fill form via online application but do need some supporting documents to prove some information . https://cityofsydney.smartygrants.com.au/crgsbg... https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au//business-grants/small

04.01.2022 People are wondering can they still market their home for Sale. Yes but see article explaining new ways of conducting a sale or buying a property!https://www.therealestatevoice.com.au//can-i-still-sell-/

02.01.2022 There’s been some confusion over obligations to pay rent during COVID-19. The NSW state government, has agreed to a six-month moratorium on evicting tenants suffering financial distress due to COVID-19 ending in September 2020. This does not mean tenants do not have to pay rent but a tenant may apply to delay or reduce payments without penalty where they’ve been financially impacted by the Coronavirus, subject to the following conditions : (1) a tenant must have lost 2...5% or more of their income due to COVID-19. (2) The rent will accrue during the moratorium and [3] the tenant will eventually have to pay back the rental arrears. It is not an easy solution for a tenant to accrue debt to be repaid later but it may help with housing needs in the short term. Landlords and tenants should try to be reasonable in their discussions around the rental arrangements both during the crisis and with respect to how to settle arrears after September 2020 if any rental arrears have accrued. https://www.service.nsw.gov.au//c/general-business-support https://www.tenants.org.au//renting-and-covid-19-informati See more

02.01.2022 To assist in re-opening businesses infection control training will be delivered through the state and territory governments and will be available by 1 July 2020. For further information visit: https://www.dese.gov.au//subsidised-infection-control-trai

02.01.2022 Some positive news that for various transactions we can now witness remotely by video watching our client and then looking at the signed document so we can check the content is what we all understand is being agreed. This was allowed 22 April by the Electronic Transactions Amendment (COVID-19 Witnessing of Documents) Regulation 2020 . This temporary rule continuing until end of September should be helpful for people who cannot attend our office but need to undertake important arrangements including contracts, wills, etc

01.01.2022 An interesting piece of travel insurance 'exclusion' information has been thrown into the light by the current corona virus scare 'covid 19' -- If you take out a travel insurance policy 'after' the date of a 'known event' then under the average 'standard' policy your insurer does not need to pay out if you suffer illness or injury through the relevant 'known event'. Similarly if your holiday flights, bookings, trips etc are cancelled on the basis of the 'known... event' - then you may not be covered for loss even if you took out the policy presuming it would apply, there are various standard exclusions in standard insurance travel policies! When is a 'known event' documented or dated? Ask your insurer before you finalise your policy. If travelling and you need insurance be careful to check what might be excluded under the policy. You might need to pay more to get the protection you could well need. The sorts of things that can be excluded might be a surprise if you do not check first what cover is included. For instance unless you arrange for a policy to cover your proposed travel by ship or cruise of any kind many standard insurance travel policies will exclude incidents arising through such travel. See more