If your business is dealing with late-paying debtors, there’s a legal mechanism that can prompt action fast — and most people don’t realise they can use it. ⚡

In this short video, Joe explains a simple step that can give debtors just 21 days to respond… and why it’s so effective. ⏳

If you’re struggling with getting debtors to pay or know somebody else in this situation please get in touch or share this with them. 📩

When your lease is ending, timing is everything. ⚖️

Miss the six-month window, and your tenant might legally stay longer than you planned. 

In this video I reveal the Section 64 rule that catches many landlords out — and how to avoid it.

⚡ Watch the video here ⚡

Know another landlord or property manager who’d find this useful? 📩

Share this video with them — it could save them from a major lease headache. 

If you’ve ever lent money to your own company — to help with cash flow or get things off the ground — you’ll want to watch this.

There’s a simple step many directors miss that could leave their money completely unprotected if things go wrong.

In this video I explain what you should be doing to make sure your loan is safe.

🎥 Watch the short video here:

Do you have companies sitting idle, costing you $400+ a year in ASIC fees and unnecessary accounting fees?

There’s a simple, fast way to deregister them — no liquidator, no fuss.

Watch Ross explain how in 2 minutes.

We’re excited to introduce Joe Sweeney, the newest member of the Millens Lawyers team.

In this short video, you’ll get to know Joe Sweeney a little better — including:
💡 The surprising skill that most clients don’t expect
💬 What he might have been if not a lawyer
🤝 Why understanding people is at the heart of how he works

Joe brings a thoughtful, people-first approach to helping clients — and we are looking forward to introducing him in person.

Imagine thinking you have the right to buy a property—only to discover later you actually don’t. It’s a common misunderstanding we see all the time.

In this short video, Ross Millen explains the crucial difference between an “Option to Purchase” and a “Right of First Refusal”—and why getting it wrong could cost you dearly.

If you’re negotiating property, shares, or any kind of asset deal, you’ll want to be clear on this distinction. The good news is, we can draft and review your agreements to make sure your rights are properly protected.
 
Know a family member, friend or colleague who may find this video useful? Please share.

Need advice, contact Ross Millen 

In the last few weeks, we’ve seen a worrying trend: buyers relying on verbal promises from agents or vendors — only to discover those promises don’t count when it matters most.

The truth is, if it’s not written into your contract, it doesn’t exist. And that can cost you dearly.

Watch this short video to understand why verbal assurances aren’t enough, and the critical step you should always take before signing any contract.

Most people think a will is all they need for estate planning. The truth? A will only works when you’re gone.
What about if you have a stroke or lose capacity? Who makes your financial, personal, or medical decisions? What about your superannuation, trusts, or company shares?
Estate planning is more than just a will—it’s a complete strategy to protect you and your loved ones.
 Watch this short video to discover the critical documents most people forget… and why leaving them out could cost your family dearly.

When your tenant is behind on rent, every day counts.
But here’s the catch: one wrong move when accepting a partial payment can wipe out your legal advantage and force you to start the eviction process all over again.
We’ve seen it happen — and it’s expensive.
In this short video, we explain:

• The hidden risk of taking part payments after issuing a 14-day notice

• How to protect your rights while still securing funds

• The simple step that keeps your legal position airtight

Hi. Last time I was talking about some of the things to think about when you're buying a business. And of course one situation is where you don't actually buy the business as such, but you buy the company that operates the business. Now, a highly technical term here, when you buy a company, you get it warts and all. So that means that you get all the good stuff you wanted, but you might get some bad stuff as well. So it's very important, two things here. You've got to have really strong agreement with strong warranties where the vendor of all the shares in the company warrants that there aren't any undisclosed liabilities that are going to come out in the next couple of years or down the track that are going to affect you and create additional liabilities you weren't expecting. Now, those warranties can be very extensive, but what happens if there is a breach of the warranty and suddenly you're trying to recover money from the, or maybe a couple of years later.

So you can't really rely on those warranties as a catch all. What you've got to do is you've got to do very good due diligence. We've got a great due diligence checklist, but you've really got to check everything. Things could come up, such as insurance claims. Employees might say they haven't been properly paid. There could be injuries for people who bring their claims up to six years later. So you've got to make sure, yes, you've got great warranties, but you must have a very good due diligence. Now we can help you with that. Remember, if you're thinking of buying a new business by buying the shares in a company that owns the business, contact me, Ross Millen of Millen's. I'll be there to help you.

Hi. As we've now entered the new financial year, maybe you are thinking about what's your next step in your business development, and sometimes this can be buying another business or whether you're buying a business or buying a company. And what I wanted to talk to you about today is some of the things to look out for when buying a business. Now, obviously when you're buying a business, you have like a sale and purchase of business agreement, and some of the important things in that is to make sure you've identified all of the assets that you're going to buy. Now, basically the main thing is to make sure that all the assets of the business are transferred across, whether it's land leases, licenses, plant and equipment, employees, transferring employees to make sure all of these things come across to you, which you can own in your own existing or perhaps a new entity that you've set up.

So it's our job as your lawyers to make sure we identify all the assets and we go through the process of making sure they're all transferred across. So sometimes you have to watch out for extra duty payable if you're transferring land and plant and equipment together as one transaction. Sometimes you might want the land in one company and then lease it to your operational business. So these are some of the structuring things we can advise you about as well. And with employees, remember any transferring employees, you'll be taking on their accrued liability. So there's got to be an adjustment for that. And sometimes you might want all the employees, so you'll have to have a discussion with the seller about who's responsible for paying any redundancies and things like that. So if it all seems a bit daunting, don't worry. We've got a great checklist. We can help you. If you're thinking of buying a business in this new financial year, remember to contact me, Ross Millen at Millen's. I'm here to help.

With 30 June fast approaching, there’s one crucial document you can’t afford to ignore — your trust deed.

In this short video, I explain how even small oversights — like assuming your spouse is a beneficiary or failing to separate trustee and beneficiary roles — can lead to big headaches.

👉 [Watch now] — and find out how to avoid common traps before you lock in your trust distributions.

If you're unsure what your deed actually says (or what it means), send it our way. We're happy to help review it and keep you compliant and protected.

Don’t leave it to chance. EOFY waits for no one.

As we hit mid-June and the Melbourne chill sets in, it’s time to get warm on one hot topic: EOFY tax planning.

In our latest 2-minute video, we break down:
✅ The one thing you must do with your family trust before June 30
✅ How to manage unpaid invoices and reduce your tax
✅ A smart move to defer (or accelerate) capital gains

Watch the video here

Got questions or need help making smart decisions before June 30? We're here for you — reach out to me or the Millens team today.

What happens when your tenant exercises their option to renew — but you want to tweak the lease terms?

And what if your tenant wants to transfer their lease to someone new — are you stuck with the deal, or do you have options?

In this short video, Ross Millen walks you through two real-world leasing scenarios every landlord and property manager should understand.

You’ll learn:
✅ When you can’t change lease terms — even if it seems reasonable
✅ When you can renegotiate — and what protections to ask for
✅ How to make smart, risk-aware decisions for your commercial property

If you’ve got leasing questions, we’ve got answers. Retail or commercial — we’re here to help.

Recent changes to the Retail Leases Act mean both tenants and landlords could be caught out by outdated Section 28 notices.
If you're a tenant, you could delay locking in a new lease — or end up paying more than expected.
If you're a landlord, you could lose control over your rental income.

Watch my latest video to learn more.

At Millens, we make sure your leasing documents are fully compliant and your interests protected.
Got a question about exercising an option or issuing a notice? Contact us — we’re here to help.

You may have seen the recent announcement in the Federal Budget about banning restraint of trade clauses for employees earning under $175,000.

While this change won’t come into effect until at least 2027—and we’re yet to see the fine print—it raises important questions about how you protect your business interests.

In this short video, I break down what we know so far, what the courts typically enforce (and don’t), and how to ensure your agreements still stack up.

If you’ve got any questions about your current employee or business sale agreements, feel free to get in touch with me or anyone at Millens.

I wanted to talk to you today about a situation that some of our landlord clients have been placed in recently where their tenants have defaulted under their leases. Now, we then can prepare a notice of default. Normally, you must give the tenant 14 days to rectify their default. But what happens if they don't? Well, then you're entitled to re-enter and terminate the lease. Now, re-entry, you need to be not using any violence or force, but go at a time, take a locksmith, change the locks. Maybe you need a security guard or your managing agent to go along. In certain circumstances, we then put a notice of termination or notice of re-entry on the premises.

                                    But what then happens when there's a whole lot of items of chattels and equipment, maybe stock left behind? What happens with that? Well, you can't seize all that material and sell it. You need to give the tenant an opportunity to come and take it away. And if they don't, well then it's abandoned, and depending upon what your lease says, you can dispose of it or sell it. But there's a few little tricks there. For instance, we probably need to do a company search to make sure that the tenant hasn't gone into liquidation, so then you need to be dealing with a liquidator or an administrator instead. And you need to do a PPSR search because maybe they've got a financing company behind them that has an interest in some of those chattels and the stock, and you need to be dealing with that company instead of the tenant.

                                    So there's a number of complications, a number of things that could go wrong, and a number of ways you could end up with a liability you didn't intend. So if you've got any problems with your tenants, got any problems with them abandoning the premises or leaving things behind, contact us, we can look at the lease, we can give you advice to make sure you're not going to waste your money or have a liability you didn't expect. I'm Ross Millen from Millens and I look forward to helping you.

Hi. Last video I was talking about trusts, and I want to point out some of the other problems that can arise with trusts, particularly old trust deeds.

Now, old trust deeds just might say you can distribute income to beneficiaries, but what is income? Well, there's income according to ordinary principles, money that's generated out of a business or rent. But sometimes you can have income for tax purposes, which is a taxable capital gain. And sometimes old trust deeds don't distinguish between taxable capital gains and other types of income.

So as you know with a taxable capital gain, people are entitled to a 50% discount. Now, do you want to keep the character? How can you do a distribution where you distribute perhaps the capital gain out to one beneficiary who's got some capital losses and you want to distribute the other normal income out to another beneficiary? Now, if your trust deed allows what's called streaming, so you can send the different incomes down different streams, great, fine. But older trust deeds sometimes don't do that.

So if you've got some problem with your trust deed and you want us to have a look, we can let you know if it permits streaming or not. And if it doesn't, then we've got an amendment that you can amend your trust deed, after reading the trust deed and making you follow the amendment rules that are set out in that, to include streaming. So this means that one type of taxable income can go to one beneficiary and another type of taxable income can go to a different beneficiary, to give you a legitimate tax planning advantage.

So remember, if you've got particularly an old trust deed, let us have a look at it. We can let you know, obligation-free, whether it has streaming or not. And if it doesn't have streaming, we can give you the amendment you need to make your trust more tax-effective. So remember to contact me, Ross Millen at Millens, if you've got any questions about your trust deeds.

I wanted to continue our little mini series on trusts. And today I wanted to focus on the person in the trust called the appointor or sometimes the guardian in old-fashioned trusts. But the appointor is the person that's got a lot and lot of power because they are the person that appoints the trustee. So if for some reason the trustee is not doing what the appointor wants, the appointor, subject to principles of equity and whatever, can remove that trustee and add a new trustee. So the appointor is a very important person.

                                    Now, there's two key things about the appointor. Let's say that in estate planning, you want to provide who's going to be the appointor following your death. Now, you might put a whole lot of provisions in your will, but you still need to read the trust deed because the trust deed might say who's automatically the appointor so that your will won't operate. So any essential estate planning requires us to also read all of your trust deeds to make sure that whoever you want to be the appointor upon your death is someone that we can appoint under the trust deed, even if it may not be necessarily done in your will.

                                    Another thing about the appointor is often we use trusts for asset protection, but in a matrimonial situation, what happens if you are the appointor, you are the trustee, you are the principal beneficiary? Well, the family court has very broad powers to look through all that and say, "Essentially, those assets in that trust belong to you." Because you are in complete control, you are the appointor, you're the trustee or the sole director of a corporate trustee, et cetera. So we're going to look through and say, "Those assets are yours, and they have to be brought into account for the purpose of doing a division of assets." So sometimes it's a good idea in those situations to have someone else as the appointor, not you. So you can say, "Hey, I'm not in control of those assets, someone else is. I can't automatically decide to make distributions or to share out the capital."

So remember, who is the appointor and how you change it is very important. If you've got any questions about your trust or setting up the appointor or changing it, remember to contact me, Ross Millen or anyone else at Millens, we'll be able to help you

I wanted to speak to you over the next couple of videos about trusts and some of the pitfalls that you can fall into with trusts. Now, sometimes it's necessary or a good idea for you to amend your trust. You want to add some new beneficiaries, or maybe you want to delete some beneficiaries, maybe there's been a matrimonial situation. For any sort of reasons. There may be you want to take beneficiaries out or add new beneficiaries in. Now, the main thing, and I must stress this, the most important thing is someone's got to very, very closely read the trust deed because the power to amend beneficiaries must be found inside the trust deed.

Now, why is that? Well, the courts have decided in taxation situations that as long as you're performing something that the original trust deed intended, where there might be a power to add or remove beneficiaries, that's fine. Where there's no such power in the trust deed, question if you can do it. And even if you do, then maybe that's going to be what they call a resettlement, where the assets of the trust are deemed to be transferred into a new type of trust with all sorts of capital gains tax or maybe stamp duty problems, and that's something to definitely be avoided.

So the trust deed has got to be read very clearly. Then you've got to make sure that you follow whatever the process is in the trust deed. Maybe you need the appointor's approval. Maybe you've got a guardian or someone else who's got to give approval, or you've got to give a certain number of days' notice. So you've got to make sure that when you're amending your trust deed to add or remove beneficiaries, you follow exactly what the trust deed says. Then, of course, you've also got to make sure that the power to amend the trust deed, you follow what's in the trust deed in that respect. So there can be really very bad consequences if you don't clearly follow what you want to do.

Now, if you've got any problems with your trust deed, you want us to review it, you need any amendments, remember to contact me, Ross Millen, or anyone else at Millens. We'll be able to help you amend your trust deed so that you avoid all of these pitfalls and achieve what you set out to start to do. Thanks for listening.