You find out after taking transfer of your new house that your property comes with a “right of way” servitude in favour of your neighbours. That’s bad news not only for your enjoyment of your nice new property, but also for its value.

A recent High Court decision addressed just such a situation. A property buyer found himself saddled unexpectedly with a neighbour happily using the panhandle road across his land. We’ll share some ideas on how sellers, buyers and neighbours can all avoid the same mistakes as were made by the various role players in this case. 

With Facebook community discussion groups being such a big part of modern life, it’s important for everyone using them to understand the dangers of posting anything defamatory or insulting about other members. What are the limits of what you can say in a public debate? When are jokey cartoons just light-hearted fun and when are they actionable as insulting?

We’ll address those questions in the context of a golf estate resident who sued another for posts involving jackals, cats in spiked vests, dogs with bob hairstyles, and references to entitled Karens and keyboard muppets.

How can you protect yourself from employee dishonesty? And just how dishonest does an employee have to be to justify dismissal?

A recent Labour Court judgment confirmed as fair the dismissal of a bank teller for failing to report discrepancies in her till’s cash balance, and for then attempting to cover them up by stealing a 50c coin from her till. 

We’ll discuss the reasons for that outcome, and end by sharing four practical tips to help you comply with our law’s stringent requirements for fairness at every stage of the disciplinary process.

“Per stirpes”

You’ll come across the Latin term “per stirpes” often in wills. It’s an important concept, translating literally as “by roots” or “by stock” and telling everyone, in simple terms, that you want your estate to be divided equally between the branches of your family rather than between individuals. 

Take for example a testator who leaves their estate 50/50 to two children. If one child dies before the testator, the surviving child gets their full 50% whilst the deceased child’s 50% is divided equally between that child’s children (e.g. 25/25 if there are two of them). And so on, down the line.