About Sean
Sean leads our Dispute Resolution and Litigation Team.
He has considerable experience in various courts and tribunals in Queensland and New South Wales, including the Federal Court, state Supreme Courts, District Courts, Magistrates/Local Courts and administrative tribunals.
Succession Law
Sean specialises in estate disputes, with a particular emphasis on contested wills. In line with his Succession Law focus, he has completed a Master of Laws, with a specialisation in Wills and Estates. Sean is a full member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), which means he is internationally recognised as an expert in his field, with proven qualifications and experience.
Sean has acted in a wide range of contested succession law matters including but not limited to:
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family provision applications (disappointed beneficiary claims)
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challenges to the validity of wills (testamentary capacity; undue influence; knowledge and approval; fraud; forgery)
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informal wills (handwritten wills; suicide note wills; unsigned and unwitnessed wills)
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superannuation and life insurance disputes
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appointment and removal of executors and trustees
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trust disputes, including testamentary trusts
He is a regular presenter at seminars run for other legal professionals in the area of Wills and Estates.
Having practised extensively in Queensland and New South Wales, Sean is one of the few Queensland solicitors with substantial cross-jurisdictional succession law experience. As a result, he is highly sought after in estate matters involving people and/or assets on different sides of the border.
General litigation
Sean regularly represents clients in disputes involving trusts, corporations, powers of attorney, equitable claims, contracts and real estate.
Prior to focusing on contentious matters, Sean practised for a number of years in commercial law, corporations law, property law and estate planning, both in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast. As a result, he has been personally involved in many large and small-scale conveyances, leases, business sales and acquisitions, trust and company establishments, and other business-related transactions.
Sean is able to draw on his considerable practical experience when advising clients with respect to disputes flowing from these transactions and arrangements.
Outside of the law
Sean has a keen interest in business. He is on the Board of Directors of the Bendigo Community Bank at Tugun and a member of the Bank’s Finance, Risk and Audit Committee.
He is also a keen surfer and regular golfer.
Practice Areas
- Inheritance Law
- Contested Wills & Estates
- Court Work and Litigation
- Power of attorney disputes
- Trust disputes
- Superannuation and life insurance disputes
- Informal wills
- Granny-flat interest agreements and disputes
- Estate Administration
- Probate and letters of administration
- Elder Law
- Funeral Disputes
- Trusts
- Powers of Attorney
- Deceased Estates
- Will and Estate Disputes
- Estate and Asset Planning
- Wills
Qualifications
- Master of Laws (Applied Law) majoring in Wills and Estates – College of Law
- Graduate Diploma Legal Practice (Distinction) – Australian National University
- Bachelor of Laws (Honours) – Queensland University of Technology
- Bachelor of Business – Queensland University of Technology
Professional Licences and Appointments
- Admitted to the High Court of Australia
- Admitted to the Supreme Court of Queensland
- Principal Practicing Certificate – Queensland Law Society.
Professional Memberships
- Gold Coast District Law Association
- Queensland Law Society
- New South Wales Law Society
- Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP)
Board Appointments
- 2020 to current – Bendigo Community Bank at Tugun
