James is a paralegal within our Family Law team.

Principal Areas of Practice

• Estate Planning
• Providing peace of mind to clients by:
  • Making sure wealth is transferred to the next generation so that:-
    • It is protected from possible relationship breakdown
    • It is protected if a beneficiary becomes bankrupt
    • It is kept in the family bloodline if a beneficiary dies unexpectedly
    • Any tax losses are kept to a minimum with the opportunity to save tax in the future
  • Addressing the needs of family members who have disabilities
  • Structuring clients affairs so that there in minimal risk of someone brining a claim against the estate
  • Ensuring beneficiaries who may suffer from an affliction on life, drug addiction, gambling addiction or are just not good with money are looked after
• Business Succession
• Facilitating the transfer of a business to the next generation making sure:
  • All parties concerns are addressed
  • Tax and stamp duty costs are kept to a minimum
  • The assets are protected from possible relationship breakdowns or financial failure

Professional Experience

• Structuring an estate plan for a wealthy business owner so that the inheritance received by his daughter was protected from a matrimonial property settlement
• Establishing a testamentary trust so that the grandchildren of the deceased were able to be educated in private schools from tax saved
• Ensuring that an inheritance was able to be used to provide supplement income and other benefits to a beneficiary who was bankrupt
• Making arrangements so that a substantial inheritance was used to provide accommodation and income for a beneficiary who would have otherwise wasted it
• Facilitating a family succession plan so that the parents children who were involved in the business and the children who were not were all comfortable with the result
• Structuring a client’s affairs so that many thousands of dollars were saved in tax

Industry and Community Involvement

• Board Member – Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise

Education and Qualifications

• Bachelor of Law, University of Queensland
• Graduate Diploma Legal Practice, Queensland University of Technology

Awards and Recognition

Doyles Guide to the Australian Legal Profession

• Recognised as a Leading Wills, Estates & Succession Lawyer for Queensland & Australia 2018

About Murdoch Lawyers

Murdoch Lawyers has looked to set itself apart from a typical general practice law firm. Our view is that by specialising and
adopting a commercial and practical approach to client’s issues we are able to deliver the best legal advice to our clients,
quicker than our competitors.

As part of this we also see that properly understanding our client’s issues and needs is critical to delivering good value in our legal offering. Our primary obligation is then to find out what your concerns are and looking to achieve a cost-effective result

The Murdoch Experts Advantage

Our clients are serviced by talented senior lawyers who, free from the constraints of the conventional law firm structure, are able to provide exceptional, personalised service at the value level our clients require and expect. For us, it’s about offering long-term solutions and professional guidance in a seamless legal offering tailored to the needs of our clients.