Four Softdocs suites, Wills & Powers of Attorney, VIC County & Supreme Court, ACT ACAT, and NSW Conveyancing were updated since 12 May.

Wills & Powers of Attorney

The following amendments have been made:

SA POAFORM4S SA Advance Care Directive

• new version for immediate use

NSW POAFORM3N NSW Appointment of Enduring Guardian

• correction to direction references in paragraph 2(e)

VARIOUS FORMS Minor format and coding changes

VIC County & Supreme Court

The following form has been updated in accordance with the County Court (Chapters I and II Miscellaneous Amendments) Rules 2016:

CS C44A Expert Code of Conduct

ACT ACAT

ACAT have updated the following forms and they are now PDF-based forms:

ACAT ADMIN010 Application for Review of a Decision

ACAT APP010 Application for Appeal from an ACAT Decision

ACAT DISC010 Late Application for Discrimination Complaint to be Heard

ACAT GEN070 Subpoena

ACAT GEN080 Notice of Discontinuance/Withdrawal

ACAT POD010 Application for Disciplinary Action

The following new forms have been added:

ACAT GEN090 Application for Removal or Referral to the Supreme Court

ACAT GEN100 Application to be Joined as a Party

NSW Conveyancing

The following has been added:

F023 2016 Contract for the Sale and Purchase of Land (Pages 1 & 2)

The following amendments have been made:

F024 2014 Contract for the Sale and Purchase of Land (Pages 1 & 2)

F025 2005 Contract for the Sale of Land (Pages 1 & 2)

• Law Society warnings have been added

LPI 08X Caveat

LPI 00PAX Caveat Affecting a Primary Application

• change of address for service of notices to be an address within Australia rather than NSW

LPI 07DL Surrender of Lease

• correction to wording at (H) from "land" to "torrens title"

SETTLEMENT STATEMENTS Interest - option added to calculate based on 366 days rather than fixed 365 days

LAW SOCIETY WARNING

The Law Society of NSW does not recommend using the 2005 edition of the Contract for Sale of Land or the 2014 edition of the Contract for the Sale and Purchase of Land, where contracts might be exchanged on or after 1 July 2016 - unless the sale price is below $2 million.

If the contract might be exchanged on or after 1 July 2016, and the sale price may reach $2 million or more, you should use the 2016 edition of the Contract and not earlier editions, unless you have your own special condition to address the Foreign Resident Capital Gains Withholding Payments measure ("measure").

The Commonwealth's new measure commences on 1 July 2016, under new sub-division 14D, of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth). Under the measure, where the market value of the property is $2 million or more, the purchaser is obliged to comply with a foreign resident capital gains withholding payment obligation (even if the vendor is not a foreign resident), unless the vendor supplies a clearance certificate from the Australian Taxation Office. In broad terms, where the withholding payment obligation applies, the purchaser is required to withhold 10% of the price at settlement and remit this to the Australian Taxation Office.

The 2005 and 2014 editions do not address the requirements of this new measure. These editions do not make the contractual obligation to pay the balance of purchase money to the vendor on completion subject to any withholding obligation.

For further information on the measure, please see the Australian Tax Office website at http://ato.gov.au/FRCGW

If you are considering using the 2005 edition or 2014 edition, you should also consider whether any of the other updates and changes made in the 2016 edition might benefit your vendor client. For example, where a certificate of non-compliance under the Swimming Pools Act 1992 will be attached to the Contract, the revised definition of "work order" in the 2016 edition will likely be of benefit to your vendor client. Information about changes made in the 2014 and 2016 editions is available on the Property Law Committee's page of the Law Society’s website and the ECOS portal. Links to both sites are available at www.lawsociety.com.au