Stay across the latest developments, emerging risks and practical challenges shaping succession law practice in Western Australia. Gain timely guidance on federal tax measures and their implications for succession planning, recent estate planning decisions, judicial advice and directions under s 92 of the Trustees Act 1962 (WA), and the complexities of self-dealing in estate administration. Strengthen your day-to-day practice with practical strategies for risk-proofing succession retainers, resolving disputes through collaborative practice and navigating the difficult ethical issues that arise when acting for vulnerable testators. Earn 7 CPD units across all four mandatory competency areas in one comprehensive day designed for succession law practitioners.
Thursday, 11 March 2027
Ethics & Professional Responsibility
4.15pm to 5.15pm The Vulnerable Testator: Ethical Duties When Capacity, Influence and Family Pressure Collide
- Identifying when family involvement shifts from assistance to improper pressure
- Meeting and communicating with a client whose capacity fluctuates
- Managing instructions conveyed through an attorney, carer or adult child
- Responding when the client’s wishes appear inconsistent or inexplicable
- Ethical boundaries when seeking medical or specialist capacity evidence
- Confidentiality where family members are paying the legal fees
- Deciding whether to continue acting, pause the retainer or withdraw
- What should be recorded on the file and what should not
Presented by Matthew Gunn, Senior Associate, Solomon Hollett Lawyers; Doyle's Guide 2026, Recommended Wills, Estates & Succession Planning Lawyers – Western Australia and Recommended Wills & Estates Litigation Lawyers – Western Australia
11.00am to 11.15am Morning Tea
9.00am to 10.00am Federal Budget Tax Measures and Succession Planning
- The current status of announced tax measures
- Intersection of such tax reforms with succession planning arrangements
- Importance of collaborative advice
- Considerations to be given to existing documents and potential suggested updates
- Where to from here?
Presented by Lee-Ann Cartoon, Principal, Succession Solutions Perth; Preeminent Wills, Estates & Succession Planning Lawyer, Doyle's Guide 2026
Description
Attend and earn 7 CPD units including:
4 units in Substantive Law
1 unit in Ethics & Professional Responsibility
1 unit in Practice Management & Business Skills
1 unit in Professional Skills
This program is based on WA legislation
Session 2: Professional Skills, Practice Management and Ethics for Personal Injury Lawyers
11.15am to 12.15pm When in Doubt, Ask the Court: The Breadth and Practical Utility of s 92 Judicial Advice and Directions
Section 92 of the Trustees Act 1962 (WA) provides a potentially powerful, but sometimes under-utilised, mechanism by which trustees, executors and administrators can obtain the Court’s direction or advice concerning the administration of trust or estate property and the exercise of their powers and discretions.
- Explore several recent Western Australian Supreme Court decisions to illustrate the breadth and practical utility of the jurisdiction
- Examine when practitioners should consider seeking judicial advice or directions, the distinction between obtaining legal advice and obtaining the Court's direction, and the matters that should be placed before the Court
- Consider the use of s 92 in relation to commencing or defending litigation, funding litigation from estate assets, compromising claims and other significant decisions affecting the administration of an estate or trust
- Consider how the jurisdiction can be used as a practical risk-management tool, including the protection available to a trustee acting pursuant to a Court direction under s 95
Presented by Michelle Bennett, Barrister, Francis Burt Chambers
4.00pm to 4.15pm Afternoon Tea
12.15pm to 1.15pm The Rule Against Self-Dealing in Estate Administration
It is a general rule that a trustee is prohibited from “self-dealing”. If a trustee sells the trust property to himself, the sale is voidable by any beneficiary ex debito justitiae, however fair the transaction.
- The “self-dealing rule” and the “fair-dealing rule"
- How these arise in estate administration
- The circumstances under which a personal representative may purchase an estate asset, and the legal requirements for such a transaction
- Appropriation of assets under the Trustees Act 1962 (WA)
- Legal costs for applications brought by the personal representative
Presented by Alexandra Turner, Barrister, Francis Burt Chambers
10.00am to 11.00am Estate Planning Case Update: What Recent Decisions Mean for Your Advice, Drafting and Precedents
An interactive update focusing on will drafting, construction issues and practical consequences.
Presented by Beverley Sorrell, Director and Lawyer, Croftbridge; Doyle’s Guide 2026 Preeminent Wills, Estates & Succession Planning Lawyer and Leading Wills & Estates Litigation Lawyer and Rebecca Thomas, Lawyer, Croftbridge; Doyle’s Guide 2026, Recommended Wills & Estates Litigation Lawyer
Professional Skills
3.00pm to 4.00pm A Collaborative Approach to Resolving Succession Disputes
Explore how Interdisciplinary Collaborative Practice can provide another pathway for resolving sensitive and complex succession disputes. Learn how lawyers and other professionals can work collaboratively to address legal, financial and family dynamics, facilitate constructive negotiations and help parties work towards resolution without litigation
Presented by Natale Ricciardi, Principal, Tactical Legal Solutions and Candice Jonker, Senior Associate, Lynn & Brown Lawyers
Practice Management & Business Skills
2.00pm to 3.00pm The Succession File That Comes Back to Haunt You: Risk-Proofing the Retainer
- Cost re-recovery and consequential losses
- The practical effect of the solicitor’s lien and priority of liens
- Bankruptcy and leave to precede as secured creditor
- Third-party authorities and their efficacy
- Controlled and power money investments
- Contractual indemnity and will-banks
Presented by Craig Gregson, Principal Solicitor, Gregson and Associates
Session 1: Budget Tax Implications, Case Update and Estate Administration Challenges
Presenters
Matthew Gunn, Senior Associate, Solomon Hollett LawyersAdmitted to the Supreme Court of WA in 2016, Matt is a dedicated succession lawyer, deeply experienced in all aspects of estate planning, the administration of deceased estates and managing estate litigation. Matt specialises in working with high-net-worth families and enjoys collaborating with his clients’ advisors to develop tailored plans for personal and business succession matters. Matt also has significant experience in obtaining grants of probate and administration from the Supreme Court, with a focus on obtaining grants informal and improperly executed or drafted Wills. Matt also manages complex and high-net-worth estates. Matt has a strong passion for helping to avoid estate disputes by early negotiation and insightful advice. Matt has helped clients achieve positive outcomes across the full range of estate litigation including family provision claims, proving the validity of wills and successfully negotiating resolutions in disputes between executors and beneficiaries. Matt is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners of WA (STEP) and currently serves on the STEP WA policy sub-committee. Matt was also named in the 2023 and 2022 Doyle’s Guide listings as one of Western Australia’s Wills & Estates Law Rising Stars.
Beverley Sorrell, Director and Lawyer, Croftbridge
Beverley practices in wills and estate planning, probate and administration of estates, inheritance claims and estate disputes. Beverley also acts on behalf of clients in guardianship and administration matters in the State Administrative Tribunal. Beverley prides herself in providing an exceptional client service and is focused on assisting clients reach a cost effective stress free resolution. Beverley has a special interest in utilising collaborative practice as a form of dispute resolution focusing on the clients’ needs to achieve better outcomes.
Lee-Ann Cartoon, Principal, Succession Solutions Perth
Lee-Ann Cartoon is an experienced tax and succession planning lawyer. She has worked throughout Australia and the UK advising clients ranging from global financial institutions and multinational energy and resource companies to high net wealth individuals. Lee-Ann's experience has given her an appreciation of the importance of approaching any matter commercially, logically and with the client's end goal front of mind. Lee-Ann has developed a particular interest in complex estate and succession planning and regularly advises and presents across these areas. Lee-Ann is a Member of the STEP WA State Committee, Chair of the STEP WA Membership and Promotion Sub-Committee and Member of the national STEP Membership and Promotion Sub-Committee. Lee-Ann has been recognised in Doyle's Guide since 2021 in the category of "Leading Wills, Estates & Succession Planning Lawyers - Western Australia".
Michelle Bennett, Barrister, Francis Burt Chambers
Michelle practices broadly in commercial and administrative law. She has a particular interest in equity, trusts and deceased estates. Michelle combines her extensive dispute resolution experience, legal skills and strategic instinct to provide pragmatic advice and assist clients to achieve their best outcomes. Michelle joined Francis Burt Chambers in 2024, having joined the Victorian Bar in 2019. Michelle practises in both Perth and Melbourne and regularly appears as counsel for, and advises, a range of public and private clients on matters including family provision claims, contentious estate proceedings and trusts, contract, property and consumer law disputes.
Craig Gregson, Principal Solicitor, Gregson and Associates
Craig was admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Western Australia in November of 2011. He holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Edith Cowan University (WA) and a Masters of Applied Law majoring in Wills and Estates Practice (LLM)(NSW) from the College of Law. Craig is a current Ph.D candidate at the University of Western Australia in Succession law reform. His thesis focuses on Avoidance of Family Provision Law in Australia and Notional Property. Craig is a part time member of Mental Health Tribunal (a jurisdiction which hears reviews of involuntary treatment orders and other applications made under the Mental Health Act 2014 (WA).
Rebecca Thomas, Lawyer, Croftbridge
Rebecca Thomas graduated from the University of Sheffield with a Bachelor of Laws and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2008. After relocating to Perth in 2013, she was admitted to the Supreme Court of Western Australia in 2017. Her practice focuses on Wills and estate planning, estate administration (including preparing applications for grants of probate and administration), and contentious trust and estate matters, including bringing and defending family provision claims. In recognition of her expertise, Rebecca was named a Wills, Estates and Succession Planning Law Rising Star in Western Australia by Doyles Guide in 2022, 2023, and 2024. She is currently enrolled in a Master of Applied Law, specialising in estate planning and wills and estates.
Natale Ricciardi, Principal, Tactical Legal Solutions
Natale is the Founder and Principal of Tactical Legal Solutions and a Law Society of Western Australia Wills and Estates Accredited Specialist. With over twenty years of experience, Natale assists clients with estate planning , deceased estates management, disputed estates and notary public services.
Candice Jonker, Senior Associate, Lynn & Brown Lawyers
Candice Jonker is a Senior Associate and Accredited Specialist in Wills & Estates at Lynn & Brown Lawyers in the Perth area, bringing experience from previous roles at firms like Clairs Keeley Lawyers and Cornerstone Legal.
Alexandra Turner, Barrister, Francis Burt Chambers
Alexandra joined the WA Bar in March 2026. Prior to commencing at the bar, Alexandra was a senior associate at HHG Legal Group in commercial litigation, with a focus on contentious wills and probate disputes including proceedings under the Family Provision Act, trusts and elder law. She was previously a lawyer at a boutique national intellectual property firm and Associate to the Hon Justice Pritchard of the Supreme Court of Western Australia and the State Administrative Tribunal. Alexandra is a committee member of the WA branch of STEP and she chairs its CPD and events sub-committee and sits on its annual conference committee. Since joining Francis Burt Chambers, she has acted as junior counsel in matters including trusts, estates, guardianship and administration, intellectual property and commercial disputes.
