Areas we serve / Mornington Peninsula / Balnarring, Merricks and Point Leo
Lawyers and solicitors for Balnarring, Merricks and Point Leo
Buying and selling, vineyards and rural land, beach houses, and wills and estates for Balnarring, Balnarring Beach, Merricks, Merricks Beach, Merricks North and Point Leo clients, from our Frankston office about 30 to 35 minutes away.
What we do for Balnarring, Merricks and Point Leo clients
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Legal services for Balnarring, Merricks and Point Leo clients
Balnarring is a village at the crossroads of the Frankston-Flinders Road, home to the Balnarring Picnic Racing Club, which traces its history to 1863. Around it are the vineyards of Merricks and Merricks North, where the region’s modern wine industry began with a vineyard planted in 1972, and the beaches of Balnarring Beach, Merricks Beach and Point Leo, where the Western Port Ramsar wetland begins.
We act for families buying and selling in the village, for vineyard and farm owners, for owners of beach houses, and for families with wills and estates. Radek Dajer, our principal solicitor, acts personally on each matter, in English or in Polish, and we meet at our Frankston office or by video.
Local note
Most homes in the Balnarring township are lived in all year, while more than half of the homes at Balnarring Beach and Merricks Beach were unoccupied on Census night in 2021.
Property, vineyards and estates around Balnarring
Choose a topic to see what it involves and how we help.
Contract and section 32 review, auctions and private sales, and settlement for homes and land.
- Before you sign: we check the contract, the section 32 statement and the planning controls on the land, including any overlay, and suggest changes while you can still negotiate.
- Cooling-off: for many private sales of residential property, you have 3 clear business days after signing to end the contract. There is none at a publicly advertised auction.
- Village shops: since 9 January 2025, land in the Commercial 1 Zone in Balnarring has a mandatory height limit of 8.5 metres and two storeys.
- Land tax at settlement: for most sales, a seller can no longer pass land tax on to the buyer.
Rural land, vineyards and cellar doors in Merricks, Merricks North and around Balnarring.
- Green wedge: rural land on the Peninsula is generally in the Green Wedge Zone, which encourages farming and discourages other development.
- Dwellings: in the Green Wedge Zone a dwelling needs a planning permit, and generally only one is allowed on each lot. The Mornington Peninsula Shire says there is no entitlement to build a house on rural land.
- Cellar doors: a winery or cellar door selling wine it makes usually needs a producer’s liquor licence. The state says a planning permit is not needed for the licence itself, but planning approval may be needed for other reasons.
- 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.
Holiday houses at Balnarring Beach, Merricks Beach and Point Leo.
- Short stay levy: since 1 January 2025 a 7.5% 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.
- Shire registration: short stay rentals must be registered each year under the Shire’s Short Stay Rental Accommodation Local Law 2022, with a contact person and the registration number in your advertising.
- Coastal hazards: since 9 January 2025, erosion and flooding overlays have applied to coastal hazard areas on the Western Port coast. We check them before you buy or build.
- Land tax: a holiday home is not your principal place of residence, so it usually counts towards your land tax.
Wills, powers of attorney and estates.
- Wills: executors, gifts and the residue of your estate. For blended families, life interests and protective trusts can balance a surviving partner against children from earlier relationships.
- Enduring power of attorney: appoints someone to make financial or personal decisions for you, or both, and continues if you lose capacity. Made under the Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic).
- Is a grant needed? Usually if the deceased owned real estate in their sole name. Property owned as joint tenants passes to the surviving owner without one.
- Family provision claims: must generally be filed within 6 months after the grant of probate or letters of administration.
Selling a vineyard or farm?
A sale of rural land with a business on it can include the land, the business, equipment, water and any liquor licence. We map what is being sold before the contract is drawn.
Planning ahead
Your estate plan, step by step
Five steps to a will and powers of attorney that match your wishes and your family. We explain each document in plain language, in English or in Polish.
01
Take stock
List what you own and how: property in your sole name, property owned as joint tenants, superannuation and any business or trust. Some assets pass outside your will.
02
Choose your people
Decide who will be your executors, your attorneys, your medical treatment decision maker and any guardians for young children.
03
Your will
We draft your will to state your wishes clearly, and supervise the signing so the witnessing requirements of the Wills Act 1997 (Vic) are met.
04
Powers of attorney
An enduring power of attorney covers financial and personal matters. A medical treatment decision maker is appointed separately, and most people need both.
05
Keep it current
Review everything after marriage, separation, a birth or death in the family or a major sale, and otherwise every three to five years. Check your superannuation nominations too.
How we work
Visit us from Balnarring, Merricks and Point Leo
435 Nepean Highway, Frankston VIC 3199
Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:30pm, by appointment
From Balnarring, Merricks and Point Leo
About 30 to 35 minutes by car via the Frankston-Flinders Road or Peninsula Link.
By bus
Route 782 runs between Flinders and Frankston through Merricks, Balnarring and Hastings.
Parking
Wilson Parking at 453 Nepean Highway, street parking on the Nepean Highway, and the car parks at McDonald’s across the road and at Dan Murphy’s.
Common questions
Can’t see your question? Call 1800 776 529 or send us a message.
Not as of right. In the Green Wedge Zone a dwelling needs a planning permit, and generally only one is allowed on each lot. The Shire says there is no entitlement to build a house on rural land, so check before you buy.
Yes, a winery or cellar door selling wine it makes usually needs a producer’s liquor licence. The state says a planning permit is not needed for the licence itself, but planning approval may be needed for other reasons.
If you rent it out for short stays, yes. The Shire’s Short Stay Rental Accommodation Local Law 2022 requires yearly registration, a contact person who responds to neighbours’ complaints within two hours, and the registration number in your advertising. The state short stay levy is separate.
No law requires it, but homemade wills are a common source of disputes. A will that is unclear, is not properly witnessed, or leaves out important assets can cost your family far more than it saved.
Our office is at 435 Nepean Highway, Frankston, about 30 to 35 minutes by car. Much of the work can be done by phone, video and email, so you may only need to come in to sign documents.
Yes. Radek Dajer speaks Polish and can take your instructions and explain your documents in Polish. See our Polish-language services.
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Talk to us about your Balnarring, Merricks and Point Leo matter
Tell us briefly what has happened or what you are planning. We reply to every enquiry within one business day, by phone, email or text, whichever you prefer.
What happens next
- Send the form.
- We reply within one business day.
- We arrange a time to talk, or ask for any information or documents we need first.
Prefer to talk? Call 1800 776 529, Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:30pm.