After building our family business up over 50 years my children and sons in law asked to work with me.

This meant that I needed a clear family business plan that would give and me and my family knowledge of what was agreed, peace of mind and direction for the future for the current generation and any future generations that may want to join and further build the business.

What we needed was an agreement which would not only summarise our business and its aims but also how it would be run, its philosophy and who has the control and what would happen in the event of any disputes.

Donal suggested that a family agreement would be the best document to achieve this and I must say that having done that it has worked out for us even better than I imagined.

After several years working together it became apparent that each family member has different skills and ambitions and because the management agreement was so clearly documented there can be no arguments and no verbalising. It is what it is in “black and white’ and needs no further discussion.

It is always a compromise working with family but well worth it providing the ‘rules’ are clear so the clarity of Donal’s agreement meant that the rules were all set out and agreed to by everyone so we can just get on with the business.

I have been and continue to be impressed by Donal’s professionalism and caring and thoughtful approach. He really listened and advised for our particular circumstances. This made it a painless and rewarding experience which I would recommend to any family business.

It has given us peace of mind and lets us concentrate on running the business without distractions.

I recommend the whole process and think it should be as vital to any family business as a valid will and I would not hesitate for a moment to highly recommend Donal to look after this process for any family.

P, property developer (satisfied client, name withheld but reference can be sought)

Legacy Law gently coerced my wife and I to document our wishes in relation to our family and our businesses so that in the event that something happened to either of us there was the right legal structure but also the right information readily to hand for people we trust to manage in our absence. There were no surprises on fees and I am very pleased that we went through this process. I see the value in Legacy Law’s work and recommend them to people with young families and business interests.

I have recommended Donal to many of my clients that includes Partners at Deloitte and all of the experiences have been extremely well received by my clients. Donal has explained complex structures and options in a way that clients and their spouses understand. There have never been any surprises on fees or delivery expectations.

Donal helped my wife and I put in place wills to protect our assets and consider what is best for our children. He helped us realise that the ‘do nothing’ option was not particularly palatable. Donal’s great strengths are his ability to make the issues and solutions simple to understand and in tactfully helping us discuss topics that are not normally dinner table conversation! My wife and I got great comfort knowing that we have put protections in place for our family. The project ran smoothly and to our agreed timeframes.

Donal is by far the most professional Estate Planning Lawyer in Sydney. Not only has a wonderful manner with clients but he also values service which is not the norm in his industry. I can highly recommend him.

As a Company Secretary and mother I understand the importance of a clearly defined Estate plan to help protect my family but despite its importance, I continually put it off. Donal Griffin took the time to understand my family circumstances and quickly demystified and simplified the process of Estate planning. A one hour meeting with Donal and my husband resulted in a clear and concise strategy designed specifically to protect our family. I now have in place a strategy designed by Donal with my family’s interests protected.