Legal Matters Archive

Andrew Bell explains who is legally responsible when an AI agent breaks the rules on its own, without anyone asking it to. Andrew Bell and Colin Balewski put aside a scheduled family law episode this week because two Australian technology stories broke into the news at once. An AI agent asked to book a gym class instead found and exploited a security gap to cancel a stranger’s booking, and Kmart sold out nationwide of $89 camera-equipped sunglasses. Both raise legal questions Australian law has not yet settled. A caller also asked Andrew to clarify the difference between joint tenants and tenants in common, a distinction with real consequences when a co-owner dies.

Parenting disputes turn on what is best for the child, not what is fair to the parents, and that test is applied in a structured way. Andrew Bell joins Colin Balewski on 4CRB’s Legal Matters to explain the children’s best interests test. Key Topics The paramount principle, in any parenting dispute, the child’s best interests override either parent’s personal sense of what they deserve. The end of the 50/50 presumption, the federal Labor government removed the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility, and the associated assumption of equal time, in 2024. Parental responsibility versus time spent, major decision-making power is legally separate from the number of nights a child spends with each parent. Independent children’s lawyers and parenting reports, how courts bring in independent voices, including child psychologists, when parents cannot agree. Census compliance, penalties for non-completion and for knowingly providing false information. Will review and storage, no legal expiry date, but a recommended three-year review cycle and the importance of the original document for probate. Switching lawyers and overseas class actions, practical consumer questions on legal representation and cross-border litigation. Advance health directives, why a copy is not enough, and where the original needs to sit. Framing Your Position Around Entitlement Usually Fails Parents who argue from what they feel they deserve consistently do worse in parenting disputes than parents who can clearly explain why their proposal serves the child. If you are heading into a parenting dispute, contact our family law team today on (07) 5532 8777 before you file anything. Listener FAQ Highlighted In This Episode What is the best interests of the child test? It is the paramount factor courts must apply in every parenting decision, covering safety, the child’s own views, and their developmental and emotional needs. Read our full FAQ on the best interests test .

Control of a family trust and a history of family violence can both change the outcome of a property settlement, and the rules changed for proceedings started on or after 10 June 2025. Andrew Bell joins Colin Balewski on 4CRB’s Legal Matters to explain how trusts and the new family violence provisions affect settlement. Key Topics Family violence now directly affects property settlements: Economic and financial abuse, coercive control, dowry abuse and deprivation of liberty are all expressly recognised. See How Is Economic Abuse Considered in a Family Law Property Settlement? Discretionary trusts in property settlements: The two-stage characterisation test, effective control plus capacity to benefit. See How Does the Power of Appointment Affect Whether a Trust Is Treated as Property? Replacing an executor: Must be done by redrafting the will or adding a codicil. See Can a Spouse Challenge a Will That Leaves the Family Home to the Other Party? Stamp duty on spousal property transfers: Queensland provides a full exemption for transfers between spouses of an interest in the family home. Tenants in common vs joint tenancy: Joint tenancy means automatic survivorship; tenants in common means each share passes through the estate. Body corporate emergency repairs: The body corporate can act without owner consent in an emergency; cost liability depends on whose pipes caused the problem. Property pool basics: Everything the couple owns, valued at trial not separation, see What Is a Property Pool and How Do Add-Backs Work? The property settlement process: The four-step framework courts apply, see How Does the Family Law Property Settlement Process Work? Coercive control as a crime: Now a criminal offence in Queensland, and also falls within the family violence definition in the Family Law Act. Related long-form guides Gold Coast Property Settlement Timeline and Process Mediation vs Court in Queensland Family Law Family violence, including financial control, now directly affects how courts divide property. If you have experienced economic abuse, coercive control or any form of family violence in your relationship, document what you can and seek legal advice early. Contact Bell Senior Lawyers on (07) 5532 8777 or make an enquiry online . Listener FAQ Highlighted in This Episode How do I change my executor? You must update your will, either a new will or a codicil. If you are also a trustee or appointor of a trust, check the trust deed for the process to change that role separately. Is there stamp duty when I transfer my house into joint names with my spouse? No, the Queensland Revenue Office provides a stamp duty exemption for spousal transfers of the family home. Land tax and vehicle registration duty also carry spousal exemptions. Can a body corporate call a plumber without asking me first? In an emergency, yes. Whether you pay depends on whose pipes caused the problem, pipes within your own unit’s walls are your responsibility. Does family violence affect my percentage of the property settlement? Yes. If you can prove on the balance of probabilities that a course of violent or controlling conduct had a discernible adverse impact on your contributions, the court must now weigh that when calculating the percentage split. See How Does Kennon v Kennon Apply to Family Violence and Property Settlements? What if only my spouse’s name is on the house title? Legal title is not determinative. The court looks at beneficial ownership, contributions and equitable interests. See If the Family Home Is Only in My Spouse’s Name, Do I Still Have a Claim? What happens to my self-managed super fund when I die? The assets pass according to your binding death benefit nomination, not your will, so keeping that nomination current is critical. Listen to the full discussion above.

Separation and de facto relationships raise some of the most emotionally charged questions in Australian Family Law, especially once property pools, contribution assessments and recent add-back decisions come into play for everyday Gold Coast families. Andrew Bell returns to Legal Matters to finish the current Family Law series by explaining how courts now handle separation for married and de facto couples, what goes into the property pool, and how recent case law has changed the way money spent before trial is treated. He then takes calls on enduring powers of attorney, health directives, wills, inheritances and boundary encroachments, showing how family law and succession law intersect in practice.

It is the single most common question our firm receives, whether by phone, email, or through the front door: how do people avoid the stress and delay of probate, and how can they prevent someone they do not want to inherit from making a claim on their estate? Andrew Bell joins Colin Balewski on 4CRB to address exactly that, working through what probate actually involves, why wills get challenged, and the range of estate planning tools people ask about, before taking two live calls.

Should a two-year relationship really carry the same legal weight as a marriage certificate when a couple splits up? This episode unpacks why the answer is yes under Australian law, walks through what makes a binding financial agreement (a ‘prenup’) actually hold up in court, and explains the court’s four-step process for dividing property. Live callers raise a sudden club membership fee hike, how to cheaply protect a song’s copyright, tough new AUSTRAC identity-check rules for property auctions (effective 1 July 2026), a family provision dispute between a 95-year-old father and his late daughter’s de facto partner, an unfair marketing-loan clause blocking a property owner from renting out an unsold home, and how to apply for QCAT guardianship for a family member who lacks capacity.

In Episode 20, Andrew Bell and Colin Balewski continue the Legal Matters family law series, explaining how separation is legally defined, what belongs in the property pool, how it is valued, and the three categories of contribution courts weigh in a settlement. Callers raise a sibling’s standing to challenge a will, a stolen trailer ownership dispute, a life insurance policy caught up in a son’s separation, and a stepchild’s family provision claim.

Queensland’s incoming e-bike speed limits, random breath testing, and new licensing rules come into force on 1 July and 31 August 2026. This episode breaks down the new penalties and explores the fundamentals of Australian Family Law, including when a de facto relationship triggers property settlement rights.

Andrew Bell concludes the Legal Matters AI law series with the landmark United States v Heppner ruling every Australian ChatGPT user must understand, a plain English guide to AI and copyright under Australian law, and a frank discussion about automated government decision making and incoming Privacy Act reforms. Caller James raises a practical dispute about a door to door battery sale.

In Episode 17 of Legal Matters on 4CRB, Andrew Bell and Colin Balewski unpack the reality of artificial intelligence: what LLMs actually are, why they confidently fabricate legal cases that do not exist, and what privacy protections apply when a medical practitioner uses AI note-taking software in a consultation. Live caller questions cover retaining wall responsibility under Queensland law and whether gifts made during a person’s lifetime can be contested after death.