- CPD Points: 1 [PS] [SL]
- Price: $89.00
- Area: Elder and Succession Law; Estate Planning; Litigation; Succession Planning
- Delivered: September 2025
Digital Content
- Recording
- PDF of paper
To purchase login below
Description
This session was delivered into the 2025 Estate and Succession Law Conference by Richard McCullagh, Public Service Solicitor; Lecturer, Elder Law, Macquarie University.
Session Outline
- Granny flat arrangements or assets for care agreements are an excellent accommodation for older persons if set up with a sound legal exit strategy for that person, and can be a disaster if this is not done.
- The huge expense and family trauma of litigation in the Equity Division of the Supreme Court is where such disputes usually end up.
- They are not specifically regulated, so it is a matter of fashioning traditional legal tools in a way that suits the particular circumstances and wishes of the older person.
Key Takeaways
- Favour using chattels (like demountable dwellings) over building fixtures (adding rooms to the adult child's house).
- Failing that, minimise the intergenerational pooling of capital (like parent transferring their house to their child for nil or submarket consideration).
- Failing that, use property law in preference to contract law (registered co-ownership supplemented by a deed of agreement).
- Failing that, protect the older person's tenure with a (registered) lease and the return of money or the value of other assets provided by a loan secured by a mortgage.
- Failing that, lodge a caveat to give some protection to the older person by way of public notice.
- CPD Points: 1 [PS] [SL]
- Price: $89.00
- Area: Elder and Succession Law; Estate Planning; Litigation; Succession Planning
- Delivered: September 2025
Digital Content
- Recording
- PDF of paper
To purchase login below
Description
This session was delivered into the 2025 Estate and Succession Law Conference by Richard McCullagh, Public Service Solicitor; Lecturer, Elder Law, Macquarie University.
Session Outline
- Granny flat arrangements or assets for care agreements are an excellent accommodation for older persons if set up with a sound legal exit strategy for that person, and can be a disaster if this is not done.
- The huge expense and family trauma of litigation in the Equity Division of the Supreme Court is where such disputes usually end up.
- They are not specifically regulated, so it is a matter of fashioning traditional legal tools in a way that suits the particular circumstances and wishes of the older person.
Key Takeaways
- Favour using chattels (like demountable dwellings) over building fixtures (adding rooms to the adult child's house).
- Failing that, minimise the intergenerational pooling of capital (like parent transferring their house to their child for nil or submarket consideration).
- Failing that, use property law in preference to contract law (registered co-ownership supplemented by a deed of agreement).
- Failing that, protect the older person's tenure with a (registered) lease and the return of money or the value of other assets provided by a loan secured by a mortgage.
- Failing that, lodge a caveat to give some protection to the older person by way of public notice.
Richard McCullagh, Lecturer, Elder Law, Macquarie University and Public Service Solicitor
About the Presenter:
Mr Richard McCullagh has practised law since 1985, mostly on the Central Coast of NSW. He has specialised in elder law since 2012. He taught elder law at the College of Law from 2013 to 2019 and has done so at the University of Western Sydney since 2020. He has taught property law and succession at Macquarie University. His textbook, Australian Elder Law, was published by Thomson Reuters in 2018. He is a past member of the Law Society of New South Wales Elder Law, Capacity and Succession Committee and publishes articles from time to time in the Law Society Journal, amongst others. Richard is currently a government solicitor specialising in elder abuse.
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About the Presenter:
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About the Presenter:
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About the Presenter: