Areas we serve / Mornington Peninsula
Lawyers and solicitors for the Mornington Peninsula
Property, estate planning and probate, business, leases and building disputes for clients from Mount Eliza to Portsea, from our office in Frankston at the top of the Peninsula. In English or Polish.
How our Peninsula lawyers help
Choose what you need help with. Each one opens the detail further down this page.
Property, estate planning and business lawyers for the Peninsula
Our office is at 435 Nepean Highway, Frankston, at the northern edge of the Mornington Peninsula. We act for Peninsula residents, holiday home owners and local businesses, and for people interstate or overseas who own property here. We also have pages for Mount Eliza, Mornington, Mount Martha, Dromana, Rosebud, Rye and Sorrento, Hastings and Somerville.
Radek Dajer, our principal solicitor, acts personally on each matter, in English or in Polish. Much of the work can be done by phone, video and email, and we meet in Frankston when a meeting or a signature in person is needed. Before any work starts, we tell you in writing how we will charge and give you an estimate.
Local note
Rural land on the Peninsula is generally in the Green Wedge Zone, which encourages farming and discourages other development.
Across the Peninsula
Towns we serve
Clients come to our Frankston office from right across the Peninsula, from Mount Eliza to Portsea and around to Crib Point. We have local pages for Mount Eliza, Mornington, Mount Martha, Dromana, Rosebud, Rye and Sorrento, Hastings and Somerville.
Tap or point to the gold markers on the map.
Property, estate planning, business and building disputes
Choose a topic to see what it involves and how we help.
Property lawyers for buying and selling homes, holiday houses and land on the Peninsula, including the planning controls, septic systems and taxes that apply to second homes.
- Zones and overlays: rural land on the Peninsula is generally in the Green Wedge Zone, which encourages farming and discourages other development, and many properties are covered by vegetation, landscape or design overlays. The Shire’s MyLot tool and the section 32 statement show what applies.
- Septic systems: some properties are not connected to sewer. The Shire must consent before a building permit is issued for work that installs or alters a septic system, and adding bedrooms or fixtures can require an upgrade.
- Short stay rentals: since 1 January 2025 a 7.5% short stay levy applies to bookings of less than 28 days, unless the property is someone’s principal place of residence. The booking platform collects it, or the owner for direct bookings.
- Empty homes: vacant residential land tax now applies across Victoria to homes left empty for more than six months of a year. A holiday home used by the owner for at least four weeks in the year may be exempt, but the conditions need checking every year.
- Land tax: a holiday home is not your principal place of residence, so it usually counts towards your land tax.
Subdividing a larger block, off-the-plan sales and disputes with builders, within the Shire’s planning controls.
- Covenants: some older subdivisions carry restrictive covenants on title, for example limiting the number of dwellings. A covenant can prevent a subdivision unless it is removed or varied.
- Zone and overlays: they decide whether a second dwelling or a subdivision is possible. The Shire’s MyLot tool shows them, and the section 32 statement must disclose them.
- Before you spend: we review the title and planning controls with your town planner or surveyor before you commit to costs.
Estate planning and probate for Peninsula families: wills, powers of attorney and medical treatment decision makers, grants of probate, and family provision claims.
- Wills: executors, gifts, guardians for young children and testamentary trusts, including for blended families.
- Enduring power of attorney: appoints someone to make financial or personal decisions for you, and continues if you lose capacity. Made under the Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic).
- Family provision claims: must generally be filed within 6 months after the grant of probate or letters of administration.
Business lawyers for Peninsula shops, cafes, wineries, trades and tourism businesses: retail and commercial leases, business sales, contracts, and disputes between owners.
- Retail leases: the landlord must give a retail tenant a disclosure statement and the proposed lease at least 14 days before the lease is entered into, and a retail lease must generally run for at least 5 years, including options.
- Selling the business: a retail landlord may refuse consent to an assignment only on limited grounds, and is taken to consent if it does not respond within 28 days of a complete request.
- Disputes: most retail lease disputes must go to mediation at the Victorian Small Business Commission before VCAT can hear them.
- Owners and creditors: shareholder and partnership agreements, and advice for directors of struggling companies and their creditors on statutory demands, restructuring, administration, liquidation and director penalty notices. See business and insolvency.
Building contracts, defects, variations and payment disputes for Peninsula home owners, builders and subcontractors, from a contract review to a VCAT hearing.
- Statutory warranties: every domestic building contract includes warranties that the work will be done in a proper and workmanlike manner, with good and suitable materials, in line with the plans and the law, and with reasonable care and skill. They pass to later owners and generally cannot be contracted out of.
- Variations: a change to the plans or specifications in a major domestic building contract must be recorded in writing and signed. A builder who does not follow the process may be unable to recover the cost.
- Before VCAT: for most domestic building disputes, VCAT will not accept an application until the Building and Plumbing Commission’s dispute resolution service issues a certificate of conciliation.
Most matters are resolved by agreement. When a dispute goes further, these are the courts and tribunals Peninsula matters usually go to.
- Frankston Magistrates’ Court, Fletcher Road, Frankston: civil claims up to $100,000, such as unpaid debts and claims for damage, and intervention orders.
- VCAT Frankston, 1 Balmoral Street, Frankston: mainly renting, consumer and guardianship matters. Retail lease disputes and planning reviews also go to VCAT, sometimes in Melbourne.
- Family law: the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia sits in Dandenong and in Melbourne.
- Probate: applications are filed online with the Supreme Court of Victoria, so executors usually do not need to attend court.
- Larger claims: the County Court and the Supreme Court sit in Melbourne.
Documents for use overseas?
Radek Dajer is also a notary public. Notarial appointments for Peninsula clients are held at our Frankston office.
Executors on the Peninsula
An estate, step by step
What an executor does, from the first weeks to the final distribution. Much of it can be done by email and phone, wherever you live.
01
Is a grant needed?
We find the original will and check whether a grant is needed. Property owned as joint tenants passes to the survivor without one.
02
Apply for probate
The intended application is advertised online through the Supreme Court’s RedCrest-Probate system, then filed with affidavits and a statement of assets and liabilities.
03
Assets and debts
Once the grant is made, the executor identifies and collects the assets, pays funeral expenses and debts, and keeps proper records and accounts.
04
Tax and notices
Final tax returns are lodged. The executor can publish a notice under section 33 of the Trustee Act 1958 (Vic), giving creditors and claimants at least two months to claim.
05
Distribution
A distribution properly made more than 6 months after the grant is protected, provided the executor has had no notice of a family provision claim. We prepare the estate accounts and transfer or sell property.
How we work
One lawyer, start to finish
Radek Dajer acts on your matter personally, from the first meeting to the final document, settlement or hearing.
Costs in writing
Before any work starts, we tell you in writing how we will charge and give you an estimate, and we update it if things change.
English or Polish
Meetings, advice and explanations of documents in English or in Polish.
Frankston office
At the top of the Peninsula, 10 to 15 minutes from Mount Eliza and Mornington, with video meetings for clients further south.
Common questions
Can’t see your question? Call 1800 776 529 or send us a message.
No. Our office is at 435 Nepean Highway, Frankston, usually 10 to 15 minutes from Mount Eliza and Mornington. Much of the work can be done by phone, video and email, so you may only need to come in to sign documents.
Yes. We act on the purchase or sale of Peninsula property for owners who live elsewhere, working by email and phone. You will need to verify your identity, and some documents may need to be signed in front of an authorised witness where you live.
If you rent it out for stays of less than 28 days, usually yes: 7.5% of the booking fees, collected by the booking platform, or by you for direct bookings. It does not apply to a property that is someone’s principal place of residence.
It depends on the zone, the overlays and any restrictive covenant on the title. We review the title and planning controls with your town planner or surveyor before you commit to costs, then act on the subdivision through to registration.
Yes. We act for home owners, builders and subcontractors on contracts, defects, variations and payment claims. For most domestic building disputes, the Building and Plumbing Commission’s dispute resolution service must be tried before VCAT will hear the claim. See building and construction.
If you are an eligible person, you may be able to make a family provision claim, which must generally be filed within 6 months after the grant of probate. Get advice early, because the time limit is strict. See probate and estate administration.
Yes. Radek Dajer speaks Polish and can take your instructions and explain your documents in Polish. See our Polish-language page.
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Talk to a lawyer about your Peninsula matter
Tell us briefly what has happened or what you are planning. We will explain your options, the next steps and how we charge. Call 1800 776 529 or send us a message, Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 6:00pm.
