The Succession Act 1981 (Qld) does not recognise all relationships when dealing with distribution in Intestate situations. This leads to unfair outcomes for those involved.
This research inquiry will outline and explain the current law related to Intestacy in QLD. It will investigate conflicting interests on the issue, when dealing with distribution in intestate situations in QLD, through analysis and discussion of the impact of the present law on stakeholders. It will evaluate the application of the law in resolving the social issue associated with the distribution of estate by drawing conclusions based on research evidence.
In Queensland, if you die without having a valid will it is considered that you have died intestate. Intestacy is outlined in Part 2 of the Succession Act 1981 (Qld) and primarily governs the distribution of the estate of the deceased person to the next of kin e.g. spouse, de facto, children, grandchildren. The rules do not classify in-laws or step parents as next of kin.
According to the Act, an intestate means a person who dies and either does not leave a will, or leaves a will but does not dispose effectively of the whole or part of his or her property (section 5). The rules in this Act apply to the estate of any person who was living in Queensland at the time of their death and did not leave a will. These rules will also apply to any property that was not covered by a will. Different rules may apply in relation to property that is located outside Queensland or to property in Queensland that belonged to a person who lived elsewhere at the time of his or her death (Koodrin, 2012). It is also important to consider that if a deceased person has property outside of Queensland it may be dealt with different...
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The milestone judicial decision in Cole v Whitfield pronounced a pivotal moment in Australian jurisprudence in relation to the interpretation of s92 of the Australian constitution. This essay will critically analyse the constitutional interpretation approach utilised in Cole v Whitfield. This method will be compared with the interpretational methods exemplified in Commonwealth v Australian Capital Territory. Although within these two cases there appears to be a preference towards a particular interpretational method, each mode has both strengths and weaknesses. Accordingly, the merit of each should be employed in conjunction with one another, where the court deems fit, complementing each other. This may provide a holistic approach to interpreting the constitution.
To conclude, it is clear that this process is one that deals with significant controversy. Society’s views on Queensland’s current surrogacy laws vary, however a majority believe that the legislation is fair and just, without violating the rights of any individuals. We live in a society that is changing rapidly, and although we may be moving away from traditional family values, we are moving into a new time where it will eventually have to be made acceptable, with this rising change in what is seen as a traditional family.
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Bloy, Marjie. “Victorian Legislation: a timeline.” 13 August 2002. The Victorian Web. 14 Mar 2005. http://www.victorianweb.org/history/legistl.html
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In conclusion, the doctrine of precedent is valuable for society but shouldn’t always be followed blindly, as, “somewhere between the world of slavish obedience to past precedent and antagonism towards its rules, lies the real world of Australian law as it is practised in the courts” (M Kirby, 2006).
“DIGEST OF LAW REFORM COMMISSION REFERENCES.” 90. Surveillance. 21.2 (2002). Surveillance: an interim report, 6 December 2001. http://www.agd.nsw.gov.au/lrc.nsf/pages/r98chp03/
Family law conflicts are seldom resolved by the most senior court in Australia, and if they reach that level of judicial consideration they will most likely involve difficult and complex constitutional concerns (Forrester & Griffiths, 2009). Similar to the scenario, Marion's case came before the Full Court of the Family Court of Australia in June 1990 raising the difficult issues surrounding the confusing area of parents and their children's rights (Harrison, 2009). The case brought to life the challenging issue of who may lawfully allow the sterilisation of an intellectually disabled teenage girl, and therefore brought the serious debate concerning family auto...
Legislation and case law has been evolving throughout history surrounding testamentary promises. The attitudes of the courts have ebbed and flowed towards claims testing the validity of a will. New Zealand was the first country in the commonwealth jurisdiction to enact a family protection act, the Testators Family Maintenance Act 1900. Although legislation has changed considerably since the incorporation of the first act, the central concept has remained essentially unchanged. There are three main statutes in New Zealand governing family protection and testamentary promises, Property (relationships) Act 1976, Law Reform (Testamentary Promises) Act 1949 and the Family Protection Act 1955. This essay will explore these statutes and the cases in which reflect the courts attitude towards these. The writer will critically analyse the “attack against testamentary freedom” from all sides.
The main features that are seen today are a direct repercussion of the events in the development of the Commonwealth Administrative Review Committee (Kerr Committee) 1971. This including the Ombudsman investigations and ARC oversight. Although there are slight variations of the state administration, they did however have the same starting point. The recommendations of The Kerr Committee produced the framework for judicial review, the Admin Appeals Tribunal, the Ombudsman, and the Admin Review Council. The KC marked the first comprehensive review of Commonwealth Administrative Law. It is the KC’s philosophy that administrative decision would be revisable by more than one body, with that, there is high emphasis place on the protection of citizens against the improper or corrupt use of the decision-making power. The suggestions that have been recommended have not yet been implemented, however, the principles of the KC form its basis. Coherency and cohesiveness should play a key role in administrative law. With that, external independent agencies should undertake reviews, although this is not always the case. A uniform national approach should take action and this does occur in some areas such as immigration, but this is not the case for the majority of cases. The KC did however, assist in the formation of the basic principles of Australian administrative law today correcting defective decisions, ensuring uphold rule of law. This adhering to the concept of accountability in administrative
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...002, ‘Preserving Culture in Federal Court Proceedings: Gender Restrictions and Anthropological Experts’ in Land, Rights, Law, Issues of Native Title, Volume 2, Issues Paper No. 15, May 2002. AIATSIS Native Title Research Unit, Canberra.
Chapter 6 focused on a recent development of “income management,” a measure which aims at controlling over recipients of certain family and welfare payments by quarantining those payments and restricting their usage only for the “priority needs” including foods, clothing, housing, and education. Through this measure, Aboriginal parents in specific Indigenous communities and other non-indigenous “bad parents” have been partly excluded from the category of “deserving.”
Irving, H 2014, A window onto our constitutional history, National Archives of Australia, Australia, viewed 19 April 2014,