About us
Now open in Kingston and Hobart! Advocate Lawyers provides services to residents of the Channel, Huon, Hobart and beyond. We can assist with specialist litigation support such as family law or employment disputes, as well as more general services such as conveyancing and wills & estate planning. For rural or regional clients who can't get to our office, no problem! We can assist with virtual meetings.
Practice areas
Family
Our Family Law Philosophy
You know your relationship better than we do. Our role is to listen to you and then provide frank practical advice so that you can decide on the best way forward. We keep you focused on the big picture while helping you through the immediate issues.
Emotions are heightened at the end of a relationship and direct communication between the parties can cause discussions to escalate into a dispute. This is where lawyers come in. While some disagreements will never settle, the right type of lawyer should try to prevent issues from escalating. Even where people disagree, it does not help the situation when lawyers start writing aggressive letters with no purpose.
We pride ourselves on representing your best interests. We will not escalate matters where there is no need and we approach issues assuming they can be resolved unless proven otherwise. If there is a dispute, we conduct proceedings in a way you can be proud of, avoiding disputes about the petty issues that ultimately won’t affect the outcome but presenting your case clear and confidently. Representing you in this way ultimately saves you money by not wasting time on issues that don’t need attention. It also avoids creating disputes where there aren’t any.
If you have children, we recognise that you may have to communicate with your ex-partner about your children for many years after proceedings are resolved. Avoiding a hostile communication style, even where the parties disagree on most things, generally makes life easier in the long run.
Employment & Labor
Legal Advice For Employers
We can assist with drafting employment agreements, policies and procedures to ensure that your business experiences a smooth transition when changing staff or growing. Disputes cost money and your employment agreement can be the difference between an amicable separation or a dispute between you and your former employee.
Clear employment agreements, policies and procedures assist with protecting you from litigation for issues such as unfair dismissal or work health & safety. They can also stop ex-employees opening the same business next door through restraint of trade clauses. Confidentiality clauses can continue once an employee leaves your employ which provides extra comfort and security when staff move on.
There are also a number of employment law considerations under the Fair Work Act when dealing with staff entitlements, underperformance, misconduct or inappropriate behaviour. We can walk you through how to make your processes fair and avoid successful challenges by staff following staff disciplinary action or termination.
If you receive notice of an application for unfair or unlawful dismissal by an employee after termination then you should contact us as soon as possible to ensure that you meet all time limits for a reply.
If you are drafting employment agreements or considering taking any action that involves employees, we are here to help protect your business.
Elder Law
ESTATE ADMINISTRATION
You have enough to deal with following the death of a loved one and we know that you need time and space to grieve. Advocate Lawyers can take care of the paperwork so that we are ready to deal with your loved one’s estate on your timeline.
Where you have a copy of the Will, the process to obtain a grant of probate enabling the executors to deal with any assets and liabilities of the deceased is usually straight forward when you have expert help.
If you know that your loved one signed a Will but can’t locate a copy of it, we may be able to assist. Many original Wills are held safely by the lawyers that drafted them and we may be able to locate it for you. If the executor named in the Will is no longer with us or cannot act as executor then we can assist you with obtaining a grant of probate in favour of another eligible person.
If you are an executor but don’t want to instruct the lawyer who is currently holding the Will, we can organise for the original to come to us so that we can apply for probate on your behalf.
If a Will can’t be located, we can assist you with an application to the Supreme Court applying for the right to deal with your loved ones assets through an application for “letters of administration”.
Costs of funerals and many other expenses after your loved ones have passed can often be paid from the Estate but it’s important to follow the proper process to ensure that there is no dispute later between family members or other loved ones that may be beneficiaries.
If you have questions around a Will, your rights as a beneficiary or executor, or just want someone to help guide you through the process of obtaining probate then we can help as much or as little as you need.
Give Advocate Lawyers a call for an obligation free discussion about how we can assist you.
Business
Debt Collection
As a business owner, there is nothing more frustrating than chasing fees owed to you. If you have attempted to recover a debt owed to you with no success, we can provide debt recovery assistance. We have fixed fee options for small claims debt recovery so that it won’t break the bank. We can send letters of demand and follow up with filing a claim in the Magistrate’s Court if necessary. We can also enforce any orders obtained through the Court.