Law Report

An elderly man goes into respite care and meets a nurse he's never known before. Within days she's bought him a will kit and had a document drawn up that leaves everything to her. He dies weeks later. Was that his clear settled wish, or something else entirely? Proving the difference is where it gets hard. And messy. When it comes to wills, how big an issue are fraud and undue influence? And what sorts of questions arise over how a will is made? Melbourne lawyer and elder financial abuse specialist James Dimond takes us inside these disputes, from a will signed by pressured witnesses to a father who cut out his son after his daughter convinced him her brother was a dangerous criminal, and the legal idea courts call "poisoning of the mind". The Law Report's special series Over My Dead Body explores what happens when wills go wrong. A reminder, this conversation does not represent or replace legal advice.

A frozen fish packet. An unsent text. A tractor fender. Courts have accepted all of these as valid wills. You want to write a will and make sure that your assets go to those who you think deserve your generosity. So, how can you make sure the will is binding? Does it need to be a formal document, printed out and signed with a pen? Or can a valid will be a word document, an email or text message? Can it be written on a frozen fish packet or the wall in your home? Wills expert Professor Pru Vines of UNSW walks through the strangest cases courts have accepted, including a British man who left his entire estate to charity on fish and mince pie packaging, a dying Canadian farmer who scratched his wishes into a tractor after it rolled on him, an unsent phone text upheld in Queensland, and a woman who recorded her will on a smartphone while chastising her children. The Law Report's special series Over My Dead Body looks at how courts decide whether an unconventional or irregular will is or isn't valid. A warning, this conversation makes multiple references to suicide, so take care when listening. It also does not represent or replace legal advice.

You work the family farm your whole life, then it's left to someone else. When drafting a will, the law says you don't have to be fair or equal in deciding who will receive your estate. So, after you pass away, can disgruntled family members or friends challenge your will in the courts? Conflicts over inheritance arise in many families but are particularly fraught and complex in farming families. Andrew Lawson of the Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law at the University of New England explains why the farm behaves almost like a third party in the family, and how the courts weigh need over fairness. He unpacks a $20 million farm fight where two siblings sued the estate and only one won, and the High Court case of a share farmer who toiled for decades on the promise the land would be his, only to see it left to someone else. The Law Report's special series Over My Dead Body looks at farming family fallouts over inheritance and the unique challenges they create around succession. This conversation does not represent or replace legal advice.

If a relative asks you to be the executor of their will, should you accept? What can go wrong and what do you need to know before you agree to take on the role? When disputes arise, executors are the ones left to clean up the mess, often navigating difficult family dynamics. And saying yes to being an executor can make you personally liable for someone else's debts. Sydney lawyer Donal Griffin explains what the job involves, from settling the deceased's tax and debts to the risk of being held personally liable if you distribute too soon and a claim lands months later. He also covers the conflicts that arise when the executor is also a beneficiary, and the odd habit of people naming politicians and public figures they've never met to run their affairs. The Law Report's special series Over My Dead Body explores the challenges faced by executors when finalising and distributing an estate. This conversation does not represent or replace legal advice.

The criminal trial of former radio broadcaster Alan Jones has begun in the Local Court in Sydney.

The Victorian parliament has published a groundbreaking inquiry into the recruitment methods and impacts of cults and organised fringe groups. Among the inquiry's recommendations are world-first laws to criminalise coercive control behaviours by groups.

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