Debt Recovery Done Right: Why Legal Help Matters

You’ve decided to buy a business. Sell a property. Or finally restructure the family group the way your accountant has been suggesting for years. You’ve done the hard part. You’ve made the decision and you’re sitting in your solicitor’s office ready to get moving. Instead, you’re asked for your driver’s licence. Then your passport. Then a few questions about who actually owns the company doing the buying, where the deposit money is coming from, and whether anyone else stands to benefit from the deal. If part of you starts wondering whether you’ve done something wrong, you haven’t. What’s changed isn’t you. It’s the law. The short version From 1 July 2026, law firms providing certain legal services became part of Australia’s anti-money laundering regime, the same set of rules banks have operated under for years. Accountants, conveyancers and real estate professionals were brought in at the same time. You might hear it called "Tranche 2", and it’s the biggest expansion of these laws in a generation. In plain terms, your lawyer is now legally required to understand who they’re acting for, who’s really behind a transaction, and where the money involved is coming from. Not because anyone suspects you of anything. Because the law now requires it. The reasoning is fairly simple. Criminals have long used professional services such as lawyers, accountants and agents to move illicit funds through otherwise legitimate-looking transactions. The reforms are designed to make that much harder. So why all the identification? The starting point is knowing who you are. That means sighting identity documents for the people involved in a matter, and for the businesses involved too. It’s the same principle as opening a bank account, just applied to buying a business, transferring property, or establishing and operating through a company or trust. For most clients it’s a five-minute exercise at the start of a matter. Have your identification ready and it barely registers. “But it’s my company. Why do you need to know who owns it?” This is the part that catches people off guard. When you deal through a company or trust, the law requires us to look beyond the entity and identify the real people behind it, the people who ultimately own or control it. It’s called beneficial ownership. If your structure is straightforward, this is usually quick. If it’s a company owned by a trust, controlled by another entity, with a corporate trustee sitting over the top, it can take a little longer to map out. That’s exactly the type of structure the rules are designed to understand. None of this means anything is wrong. It simply means we need to be able to clearly identify who is involved. Where did the money come from? You may also be asked about the source of funds being used in a transaction, and sometimes about the source of your wealth more broadly. For most people the explanation is entirely ordinary: proceeds from another property sale, a business sale, an inheritance, years of savings, or a loan from the bank. Usually it’s a short conversation. Occasionally we may ask for documents to support the explanation. In larger transactions, or where funds have moved through multiple accounts or entities, we may need a little more information to satisfy our legal obligations. Either way, it’s always better to have the conversation early than to have questions arise shortly before settlement. Why it might take a little longer to get started The practical reality is that more work now happens at the very beginning of a matter, before we can properly commence certain services or receive money into trust. It can feel like an extra step between you and getting on with things. The good news is that it’s largely front-loaded. Once it’s completed, the rest of the matter generally progresses the way it always has. How to make it painless Bring current identification for everyone involved. If you’re using a company or trust, make sure you understand the structure or bring the relevant documents with you. If there’s anything unusual about where funds are coming from, mention it early. Speak to us sooner rather than later. The earlier we commence, the easier it is to deal with any compliance requirements in the background. The bottom line We would much rather explain these requirements at the beginning than have you frustrated on settlement day. In reality, a firm that asks these questions properly is a firm doing its job. These processes don’t just protect the financial system. They also help protect clients, businesses and transactions from unnecessary risk. If you’re planning to buy, sell or restructure this financial year, the best thing you can do is speak with us before the transaction gathers momentum. We’ll get the groundwork sorted while things are still quiet, so compliance doesn’t become the reason your transaction stalls. Thinking about a purchase, sale or restructure this year? Have a chat with our commercial team early and we’ll make sure the paperwork is ready to go when you are. Contact CJM Lawyers on 1300 245 299 or commercial@cjmlaw.com.au .

Cast your mind back to when you started your business. Somewhere in those early months you signed a stack of documents: an agreement with your business partner, a few employment contracts, maybe a set of terms and conditions that came from a template or a mate who'd done it before. You signed them, filed them, and got on with the actual work of running the place. When did you last read any of them? For most established businesses, the honest answer is "not since we set up". That's where problems can start. Your business has grown and changed enormously since then. The documents haven't moved an inch. That gap between what your paperwork says and how your business actually runs is exactly where trouble likes to hide. It usually surfaces at the worst possible moment: when a relationship sours, someone falls ill, or a deal falls through. Here are five documents worth reviewing this financial year. 1. Your shareholders' agreement, partnership agreement, constitution or trust deed This is the paperwork that answers the awkward questions nobody wants to ask while everyone's getting along. What happens if a co-owner wants out? If one of you dies? If someone wants to sell their share to an outsider you'd never choose to be in business with? If your business structure has changed over the years, do the documents still reflect reality? If you don't have an agreement at all, and plenty of successful businesses don't, those decisions may ultimately be determined by legislation and default legal rules that were never designed around the way your business operates. If you do have one, but it was drawn up years ago when the business looked completely different, it may no longer reflect who's involved, what the business is worth, or how you'd want things handled today. 2. Your buy/sell agreement (sometimes called business succession agreement / buyout deed) Closely related, and just as easy to forget. A buy/sell agreement sets out what happens to an owner's share if they die or can no longer work, and it's often funded by life or disability insurance taken out years ago. The mechanism only works if the money behind it still stacks up. Business values drift upward. Insurance cover doesn't automatically follow. We regularly see arrangements where the agreement promises one thing and the funding delivers something far short of it. It's worth checking the numbers still line up. 3. Your employment and contractor agreements Workplace laws don't stand still, and neither should your contracts. Recent changes have placed greater focus on the reality of a working relationship rather than simply what the contract says. That means an arrangement that made sense a few years ago may deserve another look today. An out-of-date contract, or a handshake arrangement that was never properly documented, can leave you exposed to disputes about pay, leave, superannuation and other entitlements long after the relationship has ended. It's worth reviewing your casual arrangements too, along with any employment or contractor templates you've been reusing without much thought. What was fine five years ago may not be fine now. 4. Your terms and conditions, and your privacy policy If your business sells, quotes, or collects customer information, particularly online, these documents do more heavy lifting than most owners realise. Good terms and conditions help you get paid, set out what you're responsible for (and what you're not), and give you something solid to stand on when a customer disputes an invoice. Your privacy policy matters more than it used to as well; even where the Privacy Act doesn't strictly apply, customers increasingly expect it. Businesses are facing increasing scrutiny around how they collect, store and use personal information. A privacy policy copied from another website years ago is unlikely to reflect what you're actually doing today. Following the rise in cyber incidents and data breaches, customers and regulators alike expect businesses to understand what information they hold, how it's protected and who has access to it. If your privacy policy doesn't accurately reflect your practices, it's probably time for a review. 5. Your succession plan and powers of attorney Here's a question most owners avoid: what happens to the business if you can't be there to run it, for a fortnight, or for good? Who signs off on EFT payments & wages? Who deals with the bank? Who makes decisions? Who keeps the lights on? For many businesses, key client relationships, banking authorities and operational knowledge sit with one or two people. If that person suddenly becomes unavailable, the disruption can be immediate. For companies, this usually needs to work alongside your constitution as an attorney can't simply step into a director's shoes, which is why the documents need to be designed together. A properly prepared enduring power of attorney, together with a clear succession plan, can help ensure someone has authority to manage key business affairs if you're unable to do so. It's not a pleasant thing to think about, which is exactly why so few people have it sorted. Before moving on, it is worth asking yourself a few simple questions: Do your ownership documents still reflect your current business structure? Have your employment and contractor agreements been reviewed in the last few years? Have your terms and conditions kept pace with the way your business now operates Does your privacy policy accurately reflect how you collect and use personal information? Would someone know how to keep the business running if you were suddenly unavailable? If you answered "no", or even "I'm not sure", to any of those questions, it may be time for a review. Don't try to fix everything at once. If that list feels like a lot, don't worry. You don't need a full legal audit, and you certainly don't need to do everything at once. Pick one document this quarter and have it reviewed. For most established businesses, ownership documents are often the best place to start because they help protect the thing you've spent years building. Many business owners are surprised by how much has changed since those documents were first signed. A short review now is usually far easier, and far less expensive, than dealing with a problem after it arises. The businesses that handle these issues well are not necessarily the ones with the thickest folders. They are the ones that occasionally stop and make sure their paperwork still reflects the reality of how the business operates today. Not sure whether your key business documents still hold up? Pick one and let our commercial team take a look this quarter. A short review now can save a great deal of trouble later. Contact CJM Lawyers on 1300 245 299 or commercial@cjmlaw.com.au .