Brooke Vitnell - Solicitor & Conveyancing

13/10/2026

Recently separated or divorced? 💔

You should consider updating your Will and estate planning documents. 📝

Often people leave their former spouse or partner as the beneficiary in their Will.

This is not ideal if you've just spent a lot of time, energy and money on separating your joint assets!

Divorce revokes a lot of estate planning arrangements, but your really need a new estate plan in place once you've separated.

Contact my friendly team to discuss your Estate planning!

📧 [email protected]
📞 (02) 4981 8333
📍Medowie
📍Nelson Bay

From failing to update your will when you separate or intentionally leaving someone out of an inheritance, these are the pitfalls to avoid when putting together your last wishes.

01/10/2026

Cute visitor to the office today at Nelson Bay! 🐾

08/09/2026

A lot of people view being appointed as an executor of a Will as an honour, it can also come with significant risks and is not straightforward - a podcast worth listening to ABC Radio National 🎧

If a relative asks you to be the executor of their will, should you accept?

What can go wrong?

When disputes arise, executors are the ones left to clean up the mess, often navigating difficult family dynamics.

On top of this, saying yes to being an executor can make you personally liable for someone else's debts.

An executor's job isn't always straightforward, and things can go wrong.

"The deceased's wishes … can be very vague, and we do see that a lot of wills don't contain much of the deceased's wishes," says Donal Griffin, the director of Sydney law firm Legacy Law.

Mr Griffin explains that the deceased's wishes are generally open to interpretation and can result in tense conversations that don't always go smoothly.

"We see families break up, essentially. Limbs of the family don't talk to other limbs of the family because there's a perception that somebody's done the wrong thing," Mr Griffin explains.

To find out more, listen to Over My Dead Body, a special series on wills and succession by The Law Report.

Hear the full series on ABC listen or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please note, this conversation does not represent or replace legal advice.

26/08/2026

Some gorgeous gifts from clients. We love taking care of your legal needs. THANK YOU for letting us know you appreciate the teams hard work. These are stunning 🪷🪴

14/08/2026

Thank you to our wonderful local builder Tyrone Building Solutions and his local partners who created our dream second office 🙏🏻

05/08/2026

The girls ✨the friendly faces behind the names on emails and over the phone.
Rochelle, Brooke, Maya & Susie ✨

03/08/2026

🚀 We’re expanding 🚀 SECOND OFFICE LOCATION

We are thrilled to unveil our SECOND office now open in the heart of Nelson Bay C*D @ 1/55 Donald St, Nelson Bay.

We have many valued clients on the Tomaree peninsula that have travelled back and forth to our Medowie office. We saw the need to provide them with a second and local option.

The newly fitted out office is now open by appointment only.

THANK YOU to Port Stephens, Medowie and the Hunter region for your continued support. In turn, it is our greatest honour and privilege to serve you for all your legal needs during the joyful and difficult seasons of life at TWO convenient locations.

We are on such a high about our second office and hope our clients LOVE it as much as we do!

The Medowie office is remaining open and going NOWHERE 📍

Further EXCITING staff announcements to come! 😍

Zeal Film Co. GJ Morgan Kitchens

29/07/2026

⁉️Aged pensioners who receive an inheritance often want to give their kids and grandkids some of their inherited money - but did you know they risk penalties or even losing their aged pension if they do so?

Centrelink’s gifting rules permit a gift of $10,000 a year to a maximum of $30,000 over a five year period to be gifted by either single pensioners or couples on a pension with anything above that counting towards their means testing for five years.

Depending on how much money is received by the pensioner for their inheritance - if it is over the threshold a pensioner could lose their entitlement to a pension altogether.

Thanks to The Australian

28/07/2026

A most important community event for Port Stephens. Please consider buying tickets at the link below 👇🏻

UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENT: A vital educational session focusing on child protection and safety is scheduled for early August in Salamander Bay. Organised by local early childhood educators Rosan Organ and Madison Davidson, "The Perfect Victims" features nationally recognised child protection advocate and former detective Kristi McVee.

The two-hour practical workshop is designed to equip parents, carers, teachers, and community members with actionable insights on child safety and building safe environments.

Date: Saturday, 8th August 2026 | 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM AEST
Venue: St Philip's Christian College Auditorium, Salamander Bay
Tickets: $25 (All proceeds donated to local family support charities)
Reserve your seat online via Humanitix or find ticket details in our first comment below! 👇

🛡️💗

28/07/2026

Interesting statistics from SBS on Australian divorce rates.

Fewer Australians tied the knot last year than the year before, while more marriages came to an end, according to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

In 2025, the divorce rate rose for the first time in several years, but has still decreased significantly since 2005, when the divorce rate was 3.3 per 1,000 people, compared with 2.2 last year.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/4xa5z1Z