Property Lawyers Forest Lake
If you are looking for Property Lawyers in Forest Lake our team at SavvyLaw Conveyancing can help you right now. We can assist you with all your legals in buying and selling real estate in Queensland. Yes, you can call us 7 days per week! Call (07) 3733 1541 today. Whether you are buying or selling a home, unit, vacant block, strata title, commercial real estate, investment properties or rural property, including:-
- Legal advice in regard to real estate contract law
- Drafting and reviewing your contract
- Guarantor advice and legal certificates
- Auction Contracts and purchases off-the-plan
- Advice upon transfer duty, and disbursements such as search and registration fees
- Tax considerations and asset protection including capital gains tax, and sales or purchases by companies, self managed superannuation funds, family and discretionary trusts and deceased estates
- Property tenancy including joint tenants and tenants in common
- Vendor’s Statement, general conditions, and special conditions
- The cooling off period and deposits
- Commercial property including leases
- Retirement Village purchases, leases and service contracts
- Dispute resolution and litigation
- Building contracts, owner builder issues and the Queensland Building Services Authority Act 1991
- Liaison with financial institutions in regard to deposit bonds, loans, mortgages and discharges of mortgages
- Execution of contracts and settlement
- Adjustments to the purchase price in regard to rates and allowances
- Advice for first home buyers including the First Home Owner Grant
- Preparing and registering Powers of Attorney
- Advice in regard to easements and covenants on title searches
Contact us for more information or to arrange a consultation on (07) 3733 1541 today!
What is Conveyancing?
Conveyancing is the legal work associated with buying or selling real estate, including homes, investment properties, units, rural land, commercial properties or vacant land. With nearly 20 years knowledge of the Forest Lake region, Harrigan Lawyers & SavvyLaw Conveyancing can advise upon the right property searches that you will need, saving you money on unnecessary searches yet providing certainty that the relevant checks are made. We’ll see you through the whole matter, even dispute resolution and litigation if things go wrong. We can also advise you on updating your estate planning and wills which is always a good idea after a major property transaction. That’s the advantage of having a full service legal practice to do your conveyancing for you. To find out more about our specific conveyancing services see our conveyancing page.
Conveyancing FAQ
What Name or Entity Should We Buy a Property In?
Buying your principal place of residence It is very important that you establish exactly who the owners of the property are going to be before you sign the Contract. Most people buying their principal place of residence will usually buy the property in their joint names. You may need to reconsider this if one of you is involved in a business or occupation that carries a risk of litigation (e.g. doctor, accountant or other professional) or one of you is the sole director of a company which operates a business. Sometimes it is better for asset protection purposes that the spouse or partner who is not engaged in any trade or profession that could put them at risk of being sued is the preferred owner of the property. Buying an investment property If you are buying an investment property, most people buy this in their personal names in order to obtain the negative gearing tax deduction benefit. Once again, if you are in a high risk profession or run your own business, you are potentially putting your personal asset at risk in the event that you are successfully sued or you are made bankrupt. An alternative strategy may be to purchase the investment property in the name of your spouse or partner, or to create an investment trust. You should also be careful not to purchase any property in the name of your trading company or your trading trust as this could expose those assets in the event of the business being sued or being put into liquidation. Consequences of putting the wrong parties on the Contract You cannot just add parties to a Contract after it has been signed or enter into a new Contract if you get the parties to the Contract wrong. There are transfer duty consequences of entering into the Contract and it could be that you are up for double transfer duty in the event that the issue is not handled correctly. For example, the amount of transfer duty payable on a $500,000 purchase for an investment property is $15,925.00 in QLD. If you entered into a Contract with incorrect details shown as the purchaser, you may have to pay that amount twice along with any penalties or fines imposed by the Office of State Revenue (OSR).
Things to do before you sign a Contract
- Check with your accountant that you have the correct entity as the Purchaser in the Contract;
- Check with your lawyer that the proposed entity or person is consistent with your estate planning (e.g. your Will and Powers of Attorney etc.);
- Always have a lawyer check the contract before you sign.
What is the Difference between Joint Tenants and Tenants in Common?
Joint Tenancy: Most couples own their principal place of residence as joint tenants. This means that if one person dies, their notional half share of the property passes automatically to the surviving joint tenant without reference to their Will. All that is required to transfer the property into the name of the surviving partner or spouse is to lodge a Notice of Death and the Death Certificate with the Land Titles Office. The same applies to joint bank accounts, jointly owned shares and most other jointly owned assets.
Tenants In Common In Equal Shares: If you own your home as tenants in common in equal shares, this allows you to deal with your half share of the property in accordance with your Will or transfer your half share of the property to whoever you wish (this would be subject to the consent of your bank if you have a mortgage and may not be completely practical with your joint co-owner). You can use your Will to leave your half share of the property to whoever you wish. Once again, leaving your half share to someone who does not get on with your existing co-owner may be completely impractical. A more common method is to leave your spouse or partner a life interest or life tenancy in the home until they pass away. This means that you can create a life interest in your half share of the property and leave this to your spouse or partner for their use during their life time. Upon their death that use will then pass to your children or whoever you wish to nominate as the designated beneficiary. Not only is this a good way to ensure that the asset passes on to who you want it to go to, it also protects your surviving spouse or partner from predators and creditors who may come out of the woodwork after you have died. Get advice on your Wills and Estate Planning before you decide on which tenancy to use. You can save yourself a lot of time, effort and money by getting some advice before you nominate the type of tenancy that you wish to apply to the property that you own. A good example is a couple buying a house who both have children from previous marriages. Quite often they will wish their half share of the property to eventually go to their own children but they would also like their new spouse or partner to be looked after during their lifetime. This would be a perfect case where they should own the property as tenants in common in equal shares and deal with their half share of their property in their Will. Another good example is younger couples who are concerned that their surviving spouse or partner may re-marry or enter into another relationship if they die. Once again, holding the property as tenants in common in equal shares enables them to safeguard their half share of their home so that this can be kept in trust for their children and not be put at risk by someone’s future spouse or partner.
At SavvyLaw Conveyancing we unfortunately see from time to time the consequences of improper planning at the time of initial purchase of assets. To avoid this, please call us today on (07) 3733 1541.