The new year is more than just a date on the calendar, it’s a global tradition of renewal, setting goals, and getting your life in order. As you plan your fitness regime or financial budget for the year ahead, there is one critical area that often gets overlooked: your legal health.
At Bennett Carroll Solicitors, we believe that starting the year with a comprehensive legal review across your personal and business life is the smartest resolution you can make. It’s about being proactive, safeguarding your assets, and securing peace of mind.
Here is why the New Year is the ideal time to partner with our expert Queensland-based team and review your legal standing across key areas:
Property and Conveyancing: Setting the Foundation
Whether you’re planning to buy, sell, or invest, the start of the year is perfect for reviewing your property goals and the legal structures around them.
- Future Planning: Did you intend to upgrade, downsize, or enter the investment market last year but never got around to it? The quiet post-holiday period is the best time to engage a solicitor to understand the current market and prepare your legal documents so you’re ready to act fast when the right opportunity arises.
- Reviewing Existing Titles/Mortgages: Life changes can affect your property ownership. Are your property titles held in the most tax-effective and protective manner? A quick check ensures your most significant asset is aligned with your long-term estate and financial plans.
- First Home Buyers: If a new home is your resolution, let us prepare you for the entire process, from contract review to settlement. Starting now means you avoid last-minute, stressful legal hurdles.
Whether you are eyeing a new investment or simply want to ensure your current home is legally secure for the year ahead, getting the foundation right is essential. Explore our Property & Conveyancing Services here or see how your property stacks up in our Free 5-Minute Legal Health Check.
Business and Commercial: Fortify Your Enterprise
The New Year is synonymous with business planning. A legal health check for your commercial entity is an investment, not an expense.
- Contract Review: Are your standard client, supplier, and employment contracts up-to-date and compliant with the latest Australian Consumer Law or employment legislation? Outdated terms can expose your business to significant risk and costly litigation.
- Business Structure Check: Have you outgrown your current structure? As your business grows, its legal structure may need to be updated to better manage tax liabilities, asset protection, and succession planning.
- Shareholder/Partnership Agreements: Review or implement these vital documents. They dictate what happens in case of a dispute, incapacity, or death of a principal, ensuring business continuity and avoiding lengthy court battles.
Don’t let outdated contracts or an old business structure become a liability in 2026. Protect your enterprise and your hard-earned assets by Reviewing our Commercial Law solutions here or running a quick Business Legal Health Check now.
Litigation and Dispute Resolution: Proactive Risk Mitigation
While no one plans for a dispute, reviewing potential risks now can save you significant time and money later.
- Identifying Weak Points: A legal review can flag areas where litigation risk is high, such as unresolved customer complaints, ambiguous contracts, or workplace issues. Addressing these early can prevent them from escalating into formal legal claims.
- Limitation Periods: Many legal claims have strict time limits. Starting the year with a professional consultation can help identify and take action on any potential claims before the limitation period expires.
The best way to handle a dispute is to prevent it before it starts. If you’re concerned about a potential conflict or a looming deadline, Connect with our Dispute Resolution team now or use our Online Diagnostic Tool to identify your risk areas.
Family Law: Smooth Transition into the New School Year
The New Year often marks a transition, especially for families. The return to the school term can be a natural point to reassess arrangements.
- Parenting Arrangements: With new school years, activities, and routines beginning, it is an excellent time to formally review and, if necessary, update your Parenting Plan or Consent Orders. This ensures arrangements for pick-ups, drop-offs, and holiday time are clear and legally binding, minimising conflict.
- Separation and Divorce Planning: If separation is on the horizon, the break allows for reflection. Consult with our empathetic family law team to understand your rights regarding property settlement and parenting arrangements before the daily grind of the year takes over.
New school years bring new routines, ensure your parenting and property arrangements are keeping pace. Speak with our Empathetic Family Law team for a confidential chat, or take the first step privately with our Free Legal Health Check.
Estate Planning and Wills: The Ultimate Peace of Mind
This is perhaps the single most important legal check-up you can complete this year. Life changes, marriage, new children, buying a house, or a business venture—can all make your current Will or Estate Plan dangerously outdated or even invalid.
- Will Review: Does your Will still reflect your true wishes? Have your executors or beneficiaries changed? Marriage typically revokes a prior Will entirely, and divorce affects executor appointments. A simple review ensures your loved ones are protected.
- Enduring Power of Attorney (EPOA): A Will only takes effect after you pass away. An EPOA allows a trusted person to manage your finances and health matters while you are still alive but unable to make decisions. Without one, your family may face a difficult, expensive, and time-consuming application to the Guardianship Tribunal.
- Superannuation and Business Assets: Reviewing your Binding Death Benefit Nomination and your business succession plan is vital to ensure these major assets go to the people you intend.
Peace of mind is knowing your family is protected no matter what the future holds. Ensure your Will and EPOA are 2026-ready by Visiting our Estate Planning page or getting an instant priority report through our Legal Health Check.
Your Next Best Step: The Free Legal Health Check
Don’t let the momentum of the New Year distract you from securing your legal future. At Bennett Carroll Solicitors, we have made the first step easy, quick, and completely risk-free.
We want to help you protect your legal interests before problems arise. That’s why we offer a Free Legal Health Check, a tailored review of your current and potential legal issues, whether personal, business, or both.
This simple, secure, and confidential online tool helps you:
- Diagnose your current and future legal risks.
- Understand and prioritise your solutions.
- Protect valuable assets and avoid disputes or liabilities.
- Receive a comprehensive, bespoke report written in clear, understandable language.
The Benefits are Clear:
| Tailored to everyone — business and/or personal | Identify and diagnose current and future legal problems | Prioritise solutions for your unique situation |
| Protect your valuable assets | Avoid potential liabilities and disputes | Quick, easy, and free |
How It Works
- Click the link to start your free, secure online check.
- Complete the 5-minute questionnaire, no documents required.
- Receive your personalised report prepared by our experienced lawyers (usually within a couple of days).
- Discuss next steps if needed, handled remotely or in-person at your convenience.
Everything you share with us is protected under legal professional privilege, the highest duty of confidentiality in Australia. This service is completely free and obligation-free.
Start your Free Legal Health Check today and safeguard your legal interests: Click here.
We are your Queensland legal problem solvers across Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Ipswich and Queensland wide.
