Law Report

The Victorian government has pledged to implement a raft of reforms around domestic and family violence if it is re-elected in November.
One promise is to introduce a new manslaughter offence in cases where a person is found to have taken their own life due to family violence.
So, is it currently possible to convict a person of murder or manslaughter if they goad or encourage their partner to die by suicide?
This has happened in Britain and the United States.
And right now, Adelaide woman Jacinta Ann Drust is facing charges of murder and unlawful killing over the death of her boyfriend Antonio Cavaiuolo.
Ms Drust has pleaded not guilty to the charges. She denies the allegations and is entitled to the presumption of innocence.

A Sydney computing academic made headlines when he won a landmark case at the Fair Work Commission by relying entirely on artificial intelligence.
The Law Report explores concerns over the rapid rise in the use of AI by self-represented litigants in employment law disputes.

An elderly man goes into respite care and meets a nurse he's never known before. 
Within days she's bought him a will kit and had a document drawn up that leaves everything to her. 
He dies weeks later. Was that his clear settled wish, or something else entirely? Proving the difference is where it gets hard. And messy.
When it comes to wills, how big an issue are fraud and undue influence? And what sorts of questions arise over how a will is made?
Melbourne lawyer and elder financial abuse specialist James Dimond takes us inside these disputes, from a will signed by pressured witnesses to a father who cut out his son after his daughter convinced him her brother was a dangerous criminal, and the legal idea courts call "poisoning of the mind".
The Law Report's special series Over My Dead Body explores what happens when wills go wrong.
A reminder, this conversation does not represent or replace legal advice.

A frozen fish packet. An unsent text. A tractor fender. Courts have accepted all of these as valid wills.
You want to write a will and make sure that your assets go to those who you think deserve your generosity.
So, how can you make sure the will is binding? Does it need to be a formal document, printed out and signed with a pen? Or can a valid will be a word document, an email or text message? Can it be written on a frozen fish packet or the wall in your home?
Wills expert Professor Pru Vines of UNSW walks through the strangest cases courts have accepted, including a British man who left his entire estate to charity on fish and mince pie packaging, a dying Canadian farmer who scratched his wishes into a tractor after it rolled on him, an unsent phone text upheld in Queensland, and a woman who recorded her will on a smartphone while chastising her children.
The Law Report's special series Over My Dead Body looks at how courts decide whether an unconventional or irregular will is or isn't valid.
A warning, this conversation makes multiple references to suicide, so take care when listening.
It also does not represent or replace legal advice.

You work the family farm your whole life, then it's left to someone else.
When drafting a will, the law says you don't have to be fair or equal in deciding who will receive your estate.
So, after you pass away, can disgruntled family members or friends challenge your will in the courts? Conflicts over inheritance arise in many families but are particularly fraught and complex in farming families.
Andrew Lawson of the Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law at the University of New England explains why the farm behaves almost like a third party in the family, and how the courts weigh need over fairness. 
He unpacks a $20 million farm fight where two siblings sued the estate and only one won, and the High Court case of a share farmer who toiled for decades on the promise the land would be his, only to see it left to someone else.
The Law Report's special series Over My Dead Body looks at farming family fallouts over inheritance and the unique challenges they create around succession.
This conversation does not represent or replace legal advice.