Elder Law

Have you retired, or are thinking about retiring? Or are you downsizing and moving to a retirement village?

Before you sign off on any important life decisions, it’s crucial to seek specialist legal and financial advice in advance in order to protect your interests. This becomes even more important as you grow older.

Avoid stress and worry in later life by consulting the elder law specialists at MV Law. With an in-depth understanding of the legal issues facing older Australians, we can provide advice and guidance on a range of issues including moving into a retirement village or aged care facility and decisions affecting your financial affairs.

Our expert team can advise you on protecting yourself – or someone you know – from elder abuse. Elder abuse is defined by the World Health Organisation as ‘a single, or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person’. It’s a phenomenon that does not discriminate, yet, similar to acts of domestic and family violence, a higher proportion of victims are female.

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The MV difference

Helping you navigate the complexities of retirement villages and aged care facilities

Retirement village and aged care facility contracts can be complex and confusing and it’s important to receive the right advice and guidance to understand the legal consequences before you enter into an agreement.

Understanding financial elder abuse

Financial elder abuse can be a complicated area. To help protect you, our experienced elder law specialists can advise and assist with:

enduring powers of attorney and general powers of attorney in ACT and NSW and the rights of the principal.
responsibilities and obligations of attorneys and guardians.
applications to ACAT or NCAT to have an attorney and/or guardian appointed.
applications to ACAT or NCAT to have an attorney and/or guardian removed if they are in breach of their obligations and responsibilities.
recovery of money or assets.
contractual disputes.

Supporting you to support others

If you know someone who might be a victim of elder abuse, we can give you advice and assistance about getting that person the help they need, which might include applications to ACAT or NCAT to have new orders made or have old orders reviewed or revoked.

If the victim has died and you believe the attorney illegally benefited from that person, we can help you undertake investigations for recovery from that person. We can also help you make an application to the relevant Tribunal to have a guardian and/or attorney removed if they are in breach of their obligations and responsibilities under the law.