https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insights.html Practical, plain-language articles on Wills & Estates, Family Law and Commercial Law in Victoria, from Spencer Alexander Lawyers, Melbourne. en-au Sun, 23 Aug 2026 23:00:00 +0000 https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-fraudulent-calumny-victoria.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-fraudulent-calumny-victoria.html Sun, 23 Aug 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Wills & Estates Fraudulent calumny is emerging as a ground to challenge a will in Victoria, where deliberate lies shaped what the will maker decided. What it means and how to respond. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-directors-duties-victoria.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-directors-duties-victoria.html Sun, 16 Aug 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Commercial Law The legal duties every company director must meet in Victoria: care and diligence, good faith, avoiding conflicts of interest, and preventing insolvent trading. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-spousal-maintenance-victoria.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-spousal-maintenance-victoria.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Family Law Who can claim spousal maintenance in Victoria, the needs and capacity test, time limits after divorce or separation, and how it differs from property settlement. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-advance-care-directives-victoria.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-advance-care-directives-victoria.html Sun, 09 Aug 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Wills & Estates How advance care directives work in Victoria: instructional and values directives, appointing a medical treatment decision maker, and who decides if you have not. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-buying-a-business-victoria.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-buying-a-business-victoria.html Wed, 05 Aug 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Commercial Law The legal checklist for buying a business in Victoria: due diligence, section 52 statements, the contract of sale, lease transfers, staff entitlements and GST. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-child-support-australia.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-child-support-australia.html Sun, 02 Aug 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Family Law How Services Australia calculates child support: the formula, care percentages, changing an unfair assessment, objections, agreements and the 2026 reforms. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-guardianship-administration-orders.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-guardianship-administration-orders.html Sun, 26 Jul 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Wills & Estates When someone loses capacity without an enduring power of attorney, VCAT can appoint a guardian or administrator. Here is how the process works in Victoria. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-contracts-for-business.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-contracts-for-business.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Commercial Law The written agreements that prevent commercial disputes: terms of trade, employment contracts, shareholder agreements, leases, supplier terms, privacy policies and personal guarantees. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-property-after-separation.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-property-after-separation.html Sun, 12 Jul 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Family Law How Australian courts divide property after separation: the four-step framework, contributions and future needs, superannuation splitting, time limits, and consent orders that bind. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-dying-without-a-will.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-dying-without-a-will.html Sun, 05 Jul 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Wills & Estates Victoria's intestacy rules decide everything if you die without a will: what a partner receives, children from other relationships, letters of administration, and who inherits when. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-intervention-orders.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-intervention-orders.html Sun, 28 Jun 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Family Law How family violence intervention orders work in Victoria: police and private applications, interim orders, conditions, breaches, responding to an order, and links to family law. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-debt-recovery-victoria.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-debt-recovery-victoria.html Sun, 21 Jun 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Commercial Law A practical guide to debt recovery in Victoria: letters of demand, which court to sue in, default judgment, enforcement warrants and garnishees, statutory demands and bankruptcy notices. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-contesting-a-will.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-contesting-a-will.html Sun, 14 Jun 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Wills & Estates Left out of a will or treated unfairly? Who can bring a Part IV family provision claim in Victoria, what the court weighs, the strict six-month deadline, costs, and defending an estate. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-superannuation-death-benefits.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-superannuation-death-benefits.html Sun, 07 Jun 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Wills & Estates Who receives your superannuation when you die: binding death benefit nominations, SIS dependants, tax on adult children, SMSF risks, and how to align super with your estate plan. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-retail-leases-victoria.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-retail-leases-victoria.html Sun, 31 May 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Commercial Law Victoria's Retail Leases Act gives tenants real protections: disclosure statements, the five-year minimum, land tax bans, outgoings rules, options, make-good and VSBC dispute resolution. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-testamentary-trusts.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-testamentary-trusts.html Sun, 24 May 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Wills & Estates How testamentary trusts work in wills: asset protection from bankruptcy and relationship breakdown, tax-effective income for children, blended families, and when the cost is worth it. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-de-facto-separation.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-de-facto-separation.html Sun, 17 May 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Family Law De facto couples in Victoria have near-identical rights to married couples: the two-year threshold, registered relationships, the two-year time limit, super splitting and parenting. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-shareholder-agreements.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-shareholder-agreements.html Sun, 10 May 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Commercial Law What a shareholder agreement covers and why co-owned companies need one: decisions, deadlock, exits and valuation, drag and tag rights, restraints, and the cost of not having one. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-executor-duties.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-executor-duties.html Sun, 03 May 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Wills & Estates What an executor must actually do in Victoria: securing assets, probate, debts and tax, the six-month rule, estate accounts, personal liability, and when to renounce or get help. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-binding-financial-agreements.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-binding-financial-agreements.html Sun, 26 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Family Law How binding financial agreements work: before, during or after a relationship, the independent legal advice rules, when courts set them aside, and how BFAs compare with consent orders. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-enduring-powers-of-attorney.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-enduring-powers-of-attorney.html Sun, 19 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Wills & Estates How enduring powers of attorney work in Victoria: financial and personal matters, choosing an attorney, witnessing rules, medical treatment decision makers, and VCAT safeguards. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-parenting-arrangements.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-parenting-arrangements.html Sun, 12 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Family Law How parenting works after separation under Australia's updated framework: the best-interests factors, parenting plans versus consent orders, mediation requirements, and urgent cases. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-business-structures.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-business-structures.html Sun, 05 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Commercial Law How to choose between sole trader, partnership, company and trust in Victoria: liability, tax, asset protection, investors and sale — and how to restructure as the business grows. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-probate-victoria.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-probate-victoria.html Sun, 29 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Wills & Estates What probate is, when a grant is required in Victoria, the steps from advertising to distribution, how long it takes, the costs, and what executors are personally responsible for. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-divorce-in-victoria.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-divorce-in-victoria.html Sun, 22 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Family Law How divorce works for Victorians: the 12-month separation rule, separation under one roof, sole and joint applications, costs, children requirements, and the property deadline after divorce. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-making-a-valid-will.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-making-a-valid-will.html Sun, 15 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Wills & Estates What makes a will legally valid in Victoria: the signing and witnessing rules, who can make one, what a will can and cannot control, and the mistakes that cause disputes. https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-property-reforms-2025.html https://www.spenceralexander.com.au/insight-property-reforms-2025.html Sun, 08 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0000 Family Law The Family Law Amendment Act 2024 changed property settlements from June 2025: a codified four-step framework, family violence recognised economically, pets, wastage and disclosure duties.