Areas we serve / Mornington Peninsula / Mornington
Lawyers and solicitors for Mornington
Wills and will disputes, conveyancing, leases for Main Street businesses, subdivisions, and business debts and insolvency for Mornington clients, from our Frankston office about 15 minutes away.
What we do for Mornington clients
Choose what you need help with. Each one opens the detail further down this page.
Legal services for Mornington clients
Mornington is the largest town on the Peninsula, with the shops and cafes of Main Street, the harbour at Schnapper Point and a mix of established houses, units and townhouses around the town centre.
We act for Mornington home owners, buyers and sellers, for landlords and tenants of shops and offices, for families planning ahead or in a dispute about a will, and for business owners facing debts they cannot pay. 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
Planning permits, rates and building consents for Mornington go to the Mornington Peninsula Shire, whose office is at 2 Queen Street.
Main Street leases
Leasing a shop or cafe in Mornington
A lease of a shop or cafe is usually a retail lease, which the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) regulates closely. Before you sign or renew, check these points.
Tap or point to the gold markers on the shopfront.
Property, leases, wills and business in Mornington
Choose a topic to see what it involves and how we help.
Contract and section 32 review, auctions and private sales, and settlement for houses, units and townhouses in and around Mornington.
- Planning controls: the zone and any overlays decide what can be built or subdivided. The Shire’s MyLot tool shows them, and the section 32 statement must disclose them.
- Cooling-off: for many private sales of residential property you have 3 clear business days after signing to end the contract, at a cost of $100 or 0.2% of the price, whichever is greater. There is no cooling-off after an auction.
- Units and townhouses: read the owners corporation rules, fees and any special levies before you sign.
Retail and commercial leases for shops, cafes and offices, for landlords and tenants, including disclosure, options and make-good.
- Before you sign or renew: we review the lease and the disclosure statement, and negotiate rent, outgoings, make-good and option terms while there is still room to negotiate.
- 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.
- The shopfront above: disclosure, the minimum term, outgoings, options and disputes under the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic).
Two-lot and small subdivisions, owners corporations and off-the-plan sales on established residential blocks.
- Subdividing: usually a planning permit, then a plan of subdivision certified by the Shire, a statement of compliance and registration with Land Use Victoria.
- Owners corporations: units and townhouses with common property are managed by an owners corporation. Read the rules, the fees and any special levies before you sign.
- Before you spend: we review the title, any restrictive covenant and the planning controls with your town planner or surveyor before you commit to costs.
Wills lawyers for Mornington families: wills, powers of attorney and probate, updated as your family changes.
- Wills and powers of attorney: wills, testamentary trusts, enduring powers of attorney and medical treatment decision makers, updated as your family changes.
- Executors: probate applications are filed online with the Supreme Court of Victoria, so executors usually do not need to attend court.
Contesting a will in Victoria: family provision claims, challenges to the will itself and disputes with executors. We act for claimants, beneficiaries and executors.
- Family provision claims: under Part IV of the Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic), an eligible person can ask the court for provision, or further provision, from an estate. Eligible people include a spouse or domestic partner, children and stepchildren, and in some cases others who depended on the deceased.
- Time limit: a family provision application must be made within 6 months after the date of the grant. The court can extend the time, but an application to extend must be made before the estate is finally distributed.
- Challenges to a will: doubts about the will-maker’s capacity, knowledge and approval, undue influence, fraud, or whether the will was properly signed and witnessed. A caveat can be lodged to stop a grant while a genuine dispute is resolved.
- Executors: an executor who distributes within 6 months after the grant, or after learning that a family provision claim has been made, can be personally liable if the claim succeeds.
Bankruptcy and insolvency advice for Mornington business owners, directors, creditors and individuals. Time limits are short, so get advice as soon as a demand or notice arrives.
- Statutory demands: a creditor owed a due and payable debt of at least $4,000 can serve a statutory demand on a company. The company has 21 days from service to pay or apply to court to set it aside, and the court cannot extend that time.
- Bankruptcy notices: under the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth), a creditor with a final judgment of at least $10,000 that is no more than six years old can apply for a bankruptcy notice. If the debtor does not comply within 21 days, the creditor can petition the court to make them bankrupt.
- Director penalty notices: directors can be personally liable for the company’s unpaid PAYG withholding, GST and superannuation. The 21 days to act start on the day the ATO posts the notice.
- Small business restructuring: a company with total liabilities of no more than $1 million can appoint a restructuring practitioner and put a plan to creditors while the directors stay in control.
- Creditors and individuals: proofs of debt, enforcing security and creditors’ meetings, and advice on bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth).
Mornington Peninsula Shire
Planning permits, rates and building consents for Mornington go to the Shire, whose office is at 2 Queen Street, Mornington. Start planning questions with its MyLot tool online.
Subdividing in Mornington
Your subdivision, step by step
From the first check of your block to new titles you can sell. We coordinate with your surveyor and town planner at each step.
01
Check the block
We review the title, any restrictive covenant, and the zone and overlays with your town planner or surveyor before you commit to costs.
02
Planning permit
Most subdivisions need a planning permit from the Mornington Peninsula Shire.
03
Plan certified
Your surveyor prepares the plan of subdivision, and the Shire certifies it.
04
Statement of compliance
Once the permit conditions are met, the Shire issues a statement of compliance.
05
Registration and sale
The plan is registered with Land Use Victoria and new titles issue. An owners corporation is created if the plan has common 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.
Close to Mornington
About 15 minutes from Mornington, with parking nearby, or meet us by phone or video.
Visit us from Mornington
435 Nepean Highway, Frankston VIC 3199
Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 6:00pm, by appointment
From Mornington
About 15 minutes by car via the Nepean Highway, the Moorooduc Highway or Peninsula Link.
By bus
Route 781 runs between Mornington and Frankston station, a short walk from our office.
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.
No. Our office is at 435 Nepean Highway, Frankston, about 15 minutes from Mornington by car. Much of the work can be done by phone, video and email.
Check the option clause and its deadline now. Under a retail lease the landlord must remind you at least 3 months before the option closes, but under other leases a missed deadline can cost you the option. We review the lease and negotiate any new terms.
Usually, if the premises are used wholly or mainly for selling or hiring goods or providing services to the public, such as a shop or cafe. There are exclusions, including where occupancy costs exceed $1 million a year or the tenant is a listed company. See commercial leases.
It depends on the zone, the overlays and any restrictive covenant on the title. We review them with your town planner or surveyor before you commit to costs, then act on the plan of subdivision through to registration and the sale of the new lots.
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. A will can also be challenged if there are doubts about how it was made or signed. Get advice early, because the time limit is strict. See probate and estate administration.
Act straight away. A company served with a statutory demand has 21 days to pay, secure or compound the debt, or apply to court to set the demand aside, and the court cannot extend that time. A person served with a bankruptcy notice also has 21 days to comply. Send us the document as soon as it arrives. See business and insolvency.
Yes. Executors can deal with us by email and phone, and probate applications are filed online with the Supreme Court. We tell you what needs to be signed and where.
Yes. Radek Dajer speaks Polish and can take your instructions and explain your documents in Polish. See our Polish-language page.
Property, leasing and estate insights
If the Victorian Government gets its way, from 1 October 2026 you will not be able to take your home…
The Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) gives retail tenants in Victoria important protections. Learn about disclosure statements, minimum lease terms, rent reviews, and how to resolve disputes at VCAT.
Buying a home is one of the most significant financial decisions you will make. A conveyancing lawyer guides you through contracts, Section 32 statements, stamp duty, and settlement.
Talk to us about your Mornington 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.
