ELLIOT & HARVEY SOLICITORS: KEEPING ON TOP OF YOUR LEGAL MATTERS

ELLIOT & HARVEY SOLICITORS:

KEEPING ON TOP OF YOUR LEGAL MATTERS

DIRECTOR OF ELLIOTT & HARVEY LAWYERS, DOMINIQUE HARVEY IS KNOWN FOR HER ABILITY TO IDENTIFY THE CORE ISSUES AND PROVIDE PRACTICAL AND COST-EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO HER CLIENT’S LEGAL ISSUES.

In her tenth year of practising law, Dominique is committed to getting the best results for her clients.

Dominique is a general practice lawyer at the forefront of all cases at Elliott & Harvey Lawyers. Although her notable interests are in family law, estates, property, commercial, and all types of disputes, she says Estate Planning and Business are her clients greatest concerns right now.

Estate Planning

Everyone needs to be concerned about how their assets can be preserved without losing either value or being subjected to unnecessary tax assessments that are avoidable.

Planning starts from Wills, whether straightforward ‘mum and dad’ wills with the structure of everything to partner then to children then to grandchildren if any. Estate planning is the process of documenting how you would like your estate distributed, to who and by who, upon your death.

Then, for tax purposes, people set up Trusts in order to quarantine assets from heavy tax assessments or for asset protection or from previous relationships or bearing in mind blended families, from more than one marriage. Then there are really complex structures that need very careful thought and consideration which are set up, such as hybrid trusts, mostly set up to minimise tax as advised by tax experts.

Also, there is a need to consider what happens when someone does not have the capacity to manage their own affairs, or when someone goes overseas and is out of the jurisdiction where things need to be attended to, and the answer usually lies in Powers of Attorney and the aims sought to be achieved. There are Enduring Powers that go beyond the date that someone loses capacity and General Powers that have specific goals, time limits or things that the person wishes to achieve.

Business

Businesses are structured in all sorts of ways, individual names, partnerships or corporate ventures where one party is a corporate trustee and the other an individual. The reason for choosing each structure, or for NOT choosing a structure, lies mostly in tax outcomes. When we talk of planning in business, we really mean succession planning, what happens when one partner or director dies, or wants to sell his share, or tries to take clients away and how to protect against any eventuality that impacts the business and its viability.

Succession planning for business starts immediately when the business is being set up, as choices must be made as to the business structure that will be created. There are many documents that cater for business planning;

Shareholder agreements set out the share structures, how new shareholders are introduced into the business, what happens when someone dies.

Share sale agreements deal with how shares are bought and sold within the business if it’s an organisation which has shares in its capital structuring.

Partnership agreements set out the rights and obligations of partners.

Again, Trusts are a big part of the business structuring that corporate entities think about.

These are complex matters brought about by complex wishes of those who create the business and then think about how to go about the business.

Business operations can include supplier agreements, distribution agreements, licensing agreements, involvement in the purchase and sale of property.

Businesses employ staff and then need employment agreements, which set out the terms of employment and the benefits that that employee can commend in terms of holidays, bonuses, leave of various sorts, hours of work, key performance indicators and many other issues that arise The current uncertainty simply highlights that good advice and good documentation are crucial to the success or otherwise of most commercial arrangements.

The other safeguards really revolve around getting the tax outcomes right and that is a hugely difficult endeavour which we seek to explain and resolve in comprehensible language so as to smooth the path to the goal of succeeding.

This is a stressful time and people often forget to keep on top of their legal matters during times of uncertainty. Dominique can help clients to focus on what’s important in life, despite engaging in legal matters which can be daunting and stressful. Her aim is to support and empower you and guide you through what is a complex legal system and bring your legal matters, no matter how complicated or simple, to a resolution.

DOMINIQUE HARVEY

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