Areas we serve / Mornington Peninsula / Baxter and Pearcedale
Lawyers and solicitors for Baxter and Pearcedale
Buying and selling, rural lifestyle lots, wills and family law for Baxter and Pearcedale clients, from our Frankston office about 10 to 20 minutes away.
What we do for Baxter and Pearcedale clients
Choose what you need help with. Each one opens the detail further down this page.
Legal services for Baxter and Pearcedale clients
Baxter, about 7 km south-east of Frankston, is a township on the Stony Point line with a structure plan adopted in 2019 and the heritage-listed Sages Cottage. Pearcedale, further east, is a former fruit-growing town surrounded by green wedge land, and is split between the City of Casey and the Mornington Peninsula Shire.
We act for Baxter and Pearcedale families buying and selling, for owners of rural lifestyle lots, for parents making wills, and for people working through a separation. 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.
Which council?
Pearcedale’s township is in the City of Casey, while land to the south is in the Mornington Peninsula Shire. Your rates notice or the planning property report shows which council handles planning and rates for your property.
Property, wills and family matters in Baxter and Pearcedale
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.
- First home buyers: no land transfer duty on homes up to $600,000 and reduced duty up to $750,000, and other concessions for some homes and off-the-plan purchases.
- Baxter’s future: the Shire’s housing amendment (C219morn), awaiting the Minister’s decision since 2024, proposes more housing change in township centres including Baxter and Somerville.
Buying, selling and building on rural lifestyle lots around Baxter and Pearcedale.
- 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.
- Pearcedale: Casey describes Pearcedale as an urban island within the Western Port Green Wedge, surrounded by rural land in the Green Wedge Zone.
- 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.
Wills and powers of attorney for parents with young children.
- Guardians: your will can appoint guardians for your children if both parents die.
- Testamentary trusts: a trust created by your will to protect young or vulnerable beneficiaries and control when they receive their inheritance.
- Superannuation: your fund’s trustee decides who receives your super unless you have a valid binding death benefit nomination. Some nominations lapse after a set period.
- Without a will: your estate passes under the intestacy rules in the Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic), which may not match your wishes.
Separation, property settlement and parenting arrangements.
- Separation and divorce: separate legal steps under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth). You do not need to be divorced to settle property or parenting arrangements.
- Time limits: married couples must apply to the court within 12 months after their divorce takes effect; de facto couples within 2 years after the relationship ends.
- Parenting: the best interests of the child are the paramount consideration. Before applying for parenting orders you generally need a certificate from a family dispute resolution practitioner.
Buying a rural lifestyle lot?
Check the zone, whether a dwelling exists or has a permit, and whether the land is on sewer or needs a septic system, before you sign.
Separating
Separating, step by step
What happens after a separation, from the first advice to an agreement or orders. We explain each step, in English or in Polish.
01
Get advice early
Separation and divorce are separate legal steps. Time limits apply to property claims: 12 months after a divorce takes effect, or 2 years after a de facto relationship ends.
02
Children first
The best interests of the child are the paramount consideration. Before applying for parenting orders you generally need a certificate from a family dispute resolution practitioner.
03
The property
We gather the details of the property, debts and superannuation of both parties, which the court looks at when deciding a fair division.
04
Agreement
Most matters are resolved by negotiation, mediation or family dispute resolution, and agreed arrangements can be made into consent orders, usually without anyone attending court.
05
If you cannot agree
We act for you in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, which sits in Dandenong and in Melbourne, and brief a barrister where the matter needs one.
How we work
Visit us from Baxter and Pearcedale
435 Nepean Highway, Frankston VIC 3199
Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 6:00pm, by appointment
From Baxter and Pearcedale
About 10 to 20 minutes by car via the Frankston-Flinders Road or the Baxter-Tooradin Road.
By bus and train
Bus route 776 runs from Pearcedale through Baxter to Frankston station, a short walk from our office, and Baxter station is on the Stony Point line.
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.
Both. The township is in the City of Casey, and land to the south is in the Mornington Peninsula Shire. Your rates notice or the planning property report shows which council handles your property.
In civil matters, the proper Magistrates’ Court is generally the one closest to where the matter arose or where the defendant lives, whatever the council. Family law matters go to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, which sits in Dandenong and in Melbourne.
Usually not. In the Green Wedge Zone a dwelling needs a planning permit, and generally only one is allowed on each lot. A small second dwelling of 60 square metres or less may be possible, but it also needs a planning permit.
Yes. A will lets you appoint guardians for your children and leave your estate through a testamentary trust that controls when they inherit. Without one, the intestacy rules decide who inherits.
Our office is at 435 Nepean Highway, Frankston, about 10 to 15 minutes from Baxter by car, and a little further from Pearcedale. Baxter station is two stops from Frankston on the Stony Point line.
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 Baxter and Pearcedale 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 6:00pm.