Australia Wide!
Australia Wide!
All legal advice is provided online via a face-to-face videoconference, at a time that is mutually convenient.
We offer early mornings, late evenings and weekends to suit your convenience and needs.
If something is genuinely urgent, then we can accommodate same-day, just make a booking and let us know it is urgent.
Ordinarily, we’ll complete the process from booking to the legal advice within 2-5 days.
A Self-Managed Super Fund, or SMSF, is a private superannuation fund that allows you to manage your own superannuation investments for your retirement.
A SMSF loan is a loan used by an SMSF Trustee to purchase an investment property. The returns on the investment are then funnelled back into the super fund for your retirement.
Self-Managed Super Funds are highly regulated, and borrowing for them is not straightforward. The main difference to traditional borrowing is the lenders ‘limited recourse‘ to the underlying asset itself.
Because of the nature of super fund loans, each SMSF Member must usually personally guarantee the borrowing for the SMSF Trustee.
As such, the SMSF Members must see a lawyer to obtain legal advice (as personal guarantors) on the effect of these SMSF mortgages and the risks involved.
Also known as a personal guarantor certificate or a legal advice certificate they provide certification that a person has obtained independent legal advice about the risks and obligations associated with being a third-party guarantor to someone else’s home loan lending.
Such a guarantee usually requires that you provide the lender with an indemnity also. Indemnifying them against any loss or damage they may sustain from lending money to the borrower.
We can accommodate most banks and lenders loan documentation in our fixed cost, read more below for more details.
When business’ obtain finance or lending a lender will often request or insist on the directors, shareholders or other person associated with the business provide a personal guarantee.
The business finance may be an overdraft facility, a loan for working capital, or a loan to help the business buy some plant and equipment. A personal guarantee acts as security for the repayment of any business loan to the lender, in the event the business fails to pay.
If the lender requires it, you may have to obtain a personal guarantor certificate or a legal advice certificate to evidence that the guarantor has obtained independent legal advice about the risks and obligations associated with entering a deed of guarantee.
Generally, it is advisable to purchase an investment property through a separate legal structure, such as a company or a trust. When companies or trusts borrow money a lender will often request or insist on the directors, shareholders or primary beneficiaries provide a personal guarantee.
A personal guarantee acts as security for the repayment of any property loan to the lender, in the event the borrower fails to pay.
If the lender requires it, you may have to obtain a personal guarantor certificate or a legal advice certificate to evidence that the guarantor has obtained independent legal advice about the risks and obligations associated with entering a deed of guarantee.
Many private lenders requires borrowers to engage a lawyer themselves to assist with the completion of the loan documentation, and ensure that you do understand the loan you are entering into.
We can review all of the lenders loan documentation, which is often issued by their lawyers, and provide you with the guidance, legal advice, and services you need to successful complete the loan and obtain that private funding.
The cost varies depending on the particular type of loan you are being a personal guarantor to.
We publish our fixed fees for each type of loan so you know upfront how much it will cost.
Just click on the service that best describes the type of loan you have to find out our current fixed fees.
We provide legal advice to each personal guarantor individually and separately.
We do not provide joint advice sessions.
This is to make sure that each person gets to listen to the legal advice properly, without distraction, and with ample opportunity to clarify the legal advice provided and ensure you do fully understand the nature of the personal guarantee.
Usually, the legal advice session will take around 30-45 minutes to complete.
However, if your loan is complex, or you have lots of questions to ask, then it may take a little longer than that.
Rest assured, questions are good and there is no time limit on our legal advice session.
We want to make sure you understand the risks and the obligations upon you as a guarantor.
We aim to work with you to complete the whole process within the timeframe that suits your own circumstances.
If you need it completed urgently then will do our best to deal with it the same day.
However, ordinarily, once you have completed your booking, most are completed within 3-4 days.
The time it takes is often due to the processing your verification of identity, and finding a suitable and convenient time to hold our meeting.
Whilst you might consider a company “yours” it is a separate legal entity.
Directors and shareholders are not responsible for the company’s debts.
So, lenders who consider the company may be at some risk of not paying back a loan, would usually insist on personal guarantees being provided by each director and shareholder.
In simple terms, agreeing to be a personal guarantor, now makes you responsible for that particular debt owing by the company to the lender.
Loans to a Self-Managed Superannuation Fund are highly regulated, and are provided directly to the SMSF Trustee.
The Superannuation Legislation protects the SMSF Trustee from enforcement by lenders in the event the loan is in default.
So, in order to protect their interests, and lessen any risk of financial loss, lenders require a personal guarantee from each SMSF member.
The personal guarantee will make you personally responsible for the SMSF debt in the event anything goes wrong.
In the current property market, getting on the property ladder is very difficult for first time buyers.
Many banks and lenders have introduced products that help by allowing the equity in the parents home to be used as security for the whole (or just a portion) of the children’s home loan.
Mum and Dad become personal guarantors of the home loan (usually limited to an amount of between 10-25%), and secure their personal guarantee with a mortgage registered against their own home.
The parents are not responsible for the loan day-to-day, but are at risk in the event that the kids home loan is in default, and the child’s home is sold, without sufficient sale proceeds to cover the whole loan due and owing (including all interest and other costs) to the bank.
We discuss the full risks and obligations to personal guarantors of home loan during our advice sessions.
Yes. Once we have completed your legal advice session, we provide you with a ‘wet’ signed independent legal advice certificate.
We will also provide you with a scanned copy of the certificate immediately after our legal advice session.
We express post the original certificate to you, the bank, the lender or the broker, as you might wish to instruct us to.
Legal Advice required by Personal Guarantors as a Special Condition of a Loan. Including:
No Problem! Some lenders require the solicitor providing the legal advice to witness a statutory declaration stating you received the legal advice.
We can witness those documents online, via an audio-visual link.
We can either sign entirely electronically, or exchange ‘wet’ signed documents via Express Post.
No Problem! Once we have completed your legal advice session, we provide you with a ‘wet’ signed independent legal advice certificate.
We will also provide you with a scanned copy of the certificate plus we express post the original certificate to you, the bank, the lender or the broker, as you might wish to instruct us to.