John was admitted as a solicitor in 1976 and has spent almost his entire professional career specialising in Wills and Estates.
He joined our firm at the beginning of 2006 after 20 years with a leading national firm in Sydney.
John’s practice is predominantly in estate planning including:
- Testamentary Trusts (which are tailored to match client’s objectives eg having staggered vesting of entitlements) and life estates
- Family discretionary trusts (ie established by a trust deed, rather than by a Will)
- Business succession
- Aligning existing family trusts (including Appointor and long term control issues) with clients’ estate planning objectives
- Blended family issues
- Beneficiaries’ relationship breakdown scenarios
- Considerations relevant to family loans (typically loans to children to enable a home purchase)
- Clients with assets in multiple jurisdictions (including advising, where appropriate, re multiple Wills)
- Considerations in relation to “special assets” (eg beach houses and weekenders) where clients often have very specific long-term wishes
John maintains a special interest in family estate planning situations where there are complicated investment/business structures which need to dovetail with estate planning objectives.
He also handles estate administration including advising and protecting executors in estates which are large or involved in (or anticipating) family provision claims or where there are stamp duty issues in the context of an estate’s administration.
As well as private client work for individuals, John is regularly instructed by other law firms (local and international), corporations and companies governed by the Trustee Companies Act.
John also has a strong background in property law, wide litigation experience (especially family provision claims and capacity suits) and is actively involved in notarial practice. He was an inaugural member of the Wills and Estates advisory committee of the Law Society’s Specialist Accreditation Board.
John is named in the Doyle’s Guide 2023 as a Recommended, Estates Planning & Succession Lawyer – New South Wales.
