Avanti Lawyers

15/09/2024

SAFE FINANCIAL TRANSFERS

Tips and Tricks Comments:

1. The most common reason for transferring funds to another party is to purchase goods and services.

2. Try to transfer only using a PayPal account. There are other platforms but PayPal is often used. You have the benefit of protection against loss by fraud or unfit items.

3. If you must transfer funds without a secure platform try not to give out your credit card details. An electronic transfer is safer in terms of privacy.

4. Double check all numbers you use to transfer funds. As we all get older numbers are harder to read and sometimes are in fine print at the bottom for traders. If your customer base is seniors , heads up please use large font for financial payments. Indeed use suppliers that make payments easy and safe. Again PayPal ??

5. First payment use a tester of say $1000 ( or less) and wait for verification. Save the payment recipient details and then further payments are simple.

6. A new type of fraud is to receive a false invoice or email giving a fake account number. It is good practice to ring the recipient to verify account details.

7. Paper transactions using cheques are being phased out and we are all going electronic.

8. If anyone rings stating that he or she is from a bank financial institution or credit card company don’t provide details and ask to ring them back. That party may already have your credit card details but just need your one time code to make a payment.

9. If you have a credit card stored on your phone it can be hacked and used. However there are extra security steps including one time codes ( see point 8 )

It is important that you become familiar with electronic transfers. Get someone to take you through the steps or get a family member to help you for first time transactions or larger amounts.

Recently in Sydney someone lost his life savings by being tricked into transferring a house deposit to a bogus account posing as his law firm. A fake email with his law firm details was received by him with a fake account number.

Keep financially safe
Avantilaw

29/09/2022

DISPUTE RESOLUTION - COMMERCIAL

Over my many years of practising law including appearing in court as a Barrister, I have been saddened by the consequences of litigation which should have been avoided

I now observe a trend against neutral legal advice. My modus operandi has been to provide an advice on evidence, prospects and strategy at an early stage of the conflict.

This is neutral in that it is an objective assessment of the possible court decisions. Notions such as fairness or inequality or abuse are only context and in many cases cannot influence an evidence based court decision. It cannot do more than the system allows.

The trend is to become too close to your case and loose the objectivity you need to make a calm and measured decision

In family law matters so much evidence is personal recollection at the end of a bitter relationship. The legal process becomes the relief valve.

So I constantly call for early dispute resolution

The essence of dispute resolution is to objectively frame your own case with its evidence.

Then you consider the likely process of the litigation and discover the waterfall of possibilities. The outcome you seek must be achievable not simply hope without foundation.

There is no winner in litigation. The process itself grinds down the parties and drains all financial emotional and health resources. So your victory even if achieved comes at too high a price

I know that some cases cannot be fairly resolved but even then don’t stay in a fight you cannot win. Your outcome will be worse than your current position

Avanti Lawyers has many years experience in assessing a case with a neutral bias.

You can side step the adversarial process.

A mediation cannot frame your case and provide a full assessment.

Only when all relevant evidence is weighed and “facts” determined and the range of outcomes laid out, that willing parties can start to settle.

So the offer is being made to set you up for mediation by reviewing the evidence prospects and strategies of both parties with the aim of winnowing out the key issues and the range of outcomes that both parties can accept

My background has been commercial litigation and whilst I have too often been involved in family law matters that area is already well covered. That being said I would be happy to bring a commercial point of view

The essence of a commercial point of view is to consider the resources applied as being an investment to achieve an outcome. Then opportunity cost is included. An example of opportunity cost is the choice to set up an education fund using the monies about to be lost fighting over parent child bonding issues. The cost is the missed opportunity

Please let us know if we can help

[email protected]

01/08/2022

BUILDING PROBLEMS

We are experiencing some shocks in the building supply chain

The uncertainty is not helped by the QBCC politics

In the usual course of the building boom and bust cycle the construction companies operating on the fringe of their finances are first to go. They do not have the cash reserves to handle the financial shocks of supply chain disruptions or cost increases

So many clients are becoming owner builders which is a demanding and highly technical task. The building code and approved drawings are critical as is the essential form 16 for each licenced trade

The sunnies at the bottom of the chain rusk not being paid and not even for materials. The toolbox swapped for the law books

If you feel that things are going wrong or you are losing control of your project or your trust in your client or principal consider legal advice aimed at tightening up the contract management and fair pay for fair work. You may need better risk adverse strategies to ride out this cycle

Depth of knowledge with fine legal judgement Proudly serving the community for over 25 years Avanti Lawyers – International Lawyers – Maritime Lawyers – Commercial Lawyers Helping you to navigate the shoals of complex legal matters and reach your safe harbour of optimum outcome with our cost e...

23/06/2022

HOME EQUITY ACCESS SCHEME (HEAS)

No equity no pension

The HEAS is a form of a reverse mortgage which is secured against the equity in your property and provides lump sum and cashflow to top up your pension

However the legal structure of senior accomodation may not qualify as “home equity “in the sense of adequate security for the loan

Many types of retirement villages and nursing homes have a legal structure being a personal right to occupy rather than real estate.

You are thus left out of this scheme.

In some cases there is 30% of value debt created in favour of the operator of the residential complex

So be aware in future planning that you may be best off on terra firma owning your home and reaping the benefit of the increasing value plus access to a 3.5% loan from the Commonwealth Government

This area of seniors law and the complexity of the documents are a challenge for those seniors who may need extra funds for the vintage golden years

Michael Goodman
Principal Avanti Lawyers
avantilaw.com.au

02/06/2022

INTERNATIONAL LAW

After a downturn in activity we are experiencing an increased demand for legal services dealing with international matters either personal or commercial

Please take the time to get expert professional advice before deciding on strategy or tactics for your international dealings

The world is becoming more uniform as common problems reach similar solutions with international data sharing

There are two fundamentals driving this process of uniformity namely to encourage foreign investment and also to improve the image for human rights. These are connected, as a fair and unbiased legal system with similar rights of international extradition eases concerns over a too heavy handed legal system. It may reduce the sovereign risks in the context of process assessment. In the usual travails of life “s..t happens” and you may be in an interview room at the local police. Your employer may not be the squeeky clean enterprise you assumed. Investor funds could experience handling losses and you are the “fall guy”. The new age crook is very sophisticated and operates at the high end in a very polished manner.

Beware of tax issues. As a common problem where the personal and commercial overlap, here is an example.

In some cases staff are relocated to a host country and personal legal matters can arise.

One common situation is where you travel to start work, complete your project and receive your pay and allowances. However a unilateral decision is made by your employer that you will be treated as an independent contractor. You face the issue of having carried on business in an overseas jurisdiction without being registered as a business and without filing a tax return. You must work through the issues and are exposed to a withholding tax which may take a large chunk out of your earnings. Your employer is now your adversary and you are in a foreign country with few resources. Lawyers can be very expensive for foreigners. A pro country attitude may be taken against a rich foreigner. This could extend to your own bank.

Good luck and good trading or working overseas but as a famous person once said “ trust but verify”.

Michael Goodman
International Legal Counsel
Principal
Avanti Lawyers
avantilaw.com.au

10/08/2021

YOUR CHOICE

One of the many rights we enjoy in Australia as a free and democratic society is the right to choose your own lawyer or indeed choose not to have a lawyer

The cheapest way to manage your legal affairs is not to have any legal disputes

The go to strategy of taking court action over every little bump in the road post relationship over parenting is exhausting and ultimately fruitless

So many just want to tell their story with their bias They want to be heard Rarely is the story complete or 100% accurate That is not how memory works It reconstructs to rationalise what happened

So your story often just adds to the confusion not to the conclusion

If you need the catharsis of a compassionate listener the worst possible strategy is to tell your story to strangers when you may be attacked on every point

Family Law is more psychology than law

The money driven motivation to avoid child support or get a bigger slice is neither psychology or law it is just "entitlement " dressed up as the best interest of the children The possibility of the child support funding the lifestyle of the recipient is always present To shape your life career and finances to be within the low qualification for child support or legal aid and thus stunting your growth as a successful member of society is just irrational You will always be far far better off reaching your full potential The dependency trap ( relying on government handouts) is alluring but dangerous.

So I ask that you first sort out the mixed and muddy emotions that drive you to a court It is not so much a better alternative but you being the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time It is like going into a chainsaw shop to buy kitchen equipment Yes a chainsaw could probably cut up bread but n o t the best use perhaps.

Try the services of FAMILY HOPES before draining your emotions and your bank account

It is your choice how you deal with the stressors and motivators

26/06/2021

LOVE OF MONEY IS NOT THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL

This is a bible quotation restated. Even the comment limited it to some

But we all live in a harsh and unforgiving socio economic environment. We need the basics to survive

Then if we bring a child into the world we have a moral and legal obligation to do our best to provide the necessaries of life.

But before that, we must survive. The ideal is to reach our highest and best. That is the assumption society uses as does our institutions. Every act and motivation is first considered against a benchmark of highest and best intentions in the circumstances

The last years in secondary school are designed to set yourself up for life and to contribute to society and to your own self improvement and your enjoyment of life. The Italians call this dolce vita ( sweet life)

If your relationship is under stress you must look first to the underlying issues. Are you investing in yourself and putting in the effort to contribute. If you provide a valuable service to society you should be financially rewarded. Everyone deserves the opportunity to earn sufficient to obtain the necessaries of life. We live in a society of equal opportunity not equal entitlement.

If your relationship deteriorates to breakdown and breakup then the inevitable outcome for most is a focus away from your personal growth but instead your life becomes a forum for an endless cycle of dispute

The worst of human nature seems to come from money or rather the lack of money and an irrational strategy.

Thus instead of filling out affidavits what about filling out a job application or a course application.

The essential framework of your existence is self awareness and self assessment of what is your highest and best and what steps you must take to reach that plateau

Whatever situation you find yourself in this process is essential. In many cases your reputation and credibility is the tipping point of the outcome. That means that the genuine long term commitment which you have or have not made to yourself and to society is self evident. That may be the only evidence available to others to judge you and your cause.