Terms of service

The short version: this site is general information, not advice about your situation. We are your lawyers only once we are engaged, which for the online services happens when you submit your instructions and pay. The fees for those services are fixed, and are set out below.

1. Using this website

General information, not legal advice

Everything on this website, including practice-area pages, films, answers to common questions and anything our team says in them, is general information about the law in Victoria and about how we work. It is not legal advice, it does not take your circumstances into account, and it should not be relied on as a substitute for advice from a lawyer who knows your situation. The law changes; content was accurate when written but may not be current.

The free 15-minute call

The free call offered on this site is a short preliminary conversation to work out whether your matter is one we can help with, roughly what it would involve and what it would cost. No legal advice is given on the call and nothing said on it should be relied on as advice.

When we become your lawyers

Contacting us through this website, booking a call, sending an enquiry or attending a first meeting does not make you our client and does not oblige us to act for you. A lawyer-client relationship begins only when we have completed a conflict check and both of us have signed a costs agreement, we have otherwise confirmed in writing that we act for you, or you have submitted your instructions and paid for one of the online services below. Until then, information you send us is not protected by legal professional privilege and we cannot promise it will be kept confidential or that it will prevent us from acting for another party. Please keep enquiries general and save the detail for the meeting.

Results and figures

Figures on this site (such as the value of property settled or the number of clients acted for) are the firm’s own aggregate records and are rounded. Past results, including any client stories, are not a prediction or guarantee of the outcome of your matter. Every matter turns on its own facts.

Costs for other matters

References to fixed fees and estimates describe how we usually charge. Apart from the online services below, the fees for your matter will be set out in the costs disclosure and costs agreement we give you before work starts, as required by the Legal Profession Uniform Law.

Links, third-party services and copyright

This site links to and embeds services run by others, including Microsoft Bookings, Google Maps, Stripe and the websites of courts and regulators. We do not control them and are not responsible for their content, availability or privacy practices. The content of this website, including text, photographs and the Joshi Lawyers name and logo, is owned by or licensed to Joshi Lawyers Pty Ltd. You may view, print and share pages for personal, non-commercial use; any other use needs our written permission.

2. The online services

Joshi Lawyers Pty Ltd (ABN 76 140 306 654), trading as Joshi Lawyers, is a law practice in Victoria. Our online will service and online divorce service are fixed-fee legal services. We take your instructions through the questions on our website, our lawyers prepare and review the documents, and we advise you and see the matter through as each service describes. They are provided by our lawyers and staff; they are not do-it-yourself kits. These terms apply to both; sections 3 and 4 add what is specific to each.

Fees, GST and payment

Our fees are fixed and are stated excluding GST. GST of 10% is added to every fee of ours, and the amount including GST is shown before you pay. Court fees are passed on at cost and carry no GST. Payment is taken in full when you submit your instructions, by card through Stripe. The amount is an estimate of the total legal costs for the matter and, because the fees are fixed, it is also the total unless work outside the service is needed and you ask us to do it, in which case we quote for it before we start.

Costs disclosure

This disclosure is made under the Legal Profession Uniform Law as it applies in Victoria. The total legal costs for each service are the fixed fees set out in sections 3 and 4, plus any court fee stated there. You have the right to negotiate a costs agreement with us, to receive a bill, to request an itemised bill after receiving a lump-sum bill, to be told of any substantial change to the matters disclosed, to seek the assistance of the Victorian Legal Services Commissioner if you have a dispute about costs, and to be notified that you may obtain independent legal advice about these terms. By submitting your instructions and paying, you accept these terms as our costs agreement for the service.

Your responsibilities

Your documents are only as good as your instructions. You must give full and accurate answers, use full legal names and current addresses, read what we send you carefully, send us the documents we ask for, and tell us about anything that changes. You must be at least 18 and must be giving instructions freely and for yourself. If you are helping someone else complete the questions, the matter is theirs, and our lawyer will need to speak with them.

How we prepare documents

We use document automation and other technology, operated under the supervision of our lawyers, to prepare documents from your instructions and to process your change requests. Every document is reviewed by a lawyer before it is provided to you, filed or signed.

Communication and security

We communicate with you by email, using the address you give us. Links we send you are personal to you; please do not forward them. Your answers and documents are encrypted in transit and at rest and are seen only by the lawyers and staff working on your matter. Payments are processed by Stripe; we do not see your card details. Our privacy policy explains what we collect and how we handle it.

3. Online will service

What it covers

The service is designed for straightforward estates. It covers a will for one person or mirror wills for a couple, appointing an executor (your own or the firm), a guardian for children under 18, specific gifts, the division of the rest of your estate, and the matters set out in the questions. It can also include, if you choose, an enduring power of attorney and an appointment of medical treatment decision maker, and a superannuation nominations guide.

If you tell us on the first screen that your situation has a complication (a blended family, leaving out a spouse or child, business, trust or self-managed superannuation interests, assets overseas, a concern about capacity, or signing from outside Victoria), we still prepare your will through the service and the lawyer reviewing it is told, so the consultation covers those matters. The service does not include testamentary trusts, foreign wills, or other work beyond a will in the form the questions produce. If your instructions need such work we will tell you before the consultation, quote for it, and you may choose to proceed on our usual terms or to withdraw and be refunded as set out below.

Fees

A will is $500 plus GST ($550) and mirror wills for a couple are $780 plus GST ($858). The enduring power of attorney and medical treatment decision maker are $250 plus GST ($275) for one person or $400 plus GST ($440) for a couple. The superannuation nominations guide is $100 plus GST ($110) for one person or $150 plus GST ($165) for a couple. Each round of changes after the first is $150 plus GST ($165). The fee for the will includes preparing it, review by a lawyer, one round of changes to the draft, the consultation, the signing and witnessing, and storage of the original in our safe. There are no disbursements.

How it works

1. You answer the questions and pay. Your answers are our instructions.
2. We prepare your draft, a lawyer reviews it, and we email you a link to read it, usually within one business day.
3. You confirm the draft or request changes. One round of changes is included. Each further round is $150 plus GST, payable before the changes are made. A round may include any number of changes, but a change that takes the will outside the service will be referred to a consultation instead.
4. When you confirm the draft, you book an online consultation with one of our lawyers. The consultation is where we advise you, answer your questions, confirm the will reflects your intentions, verify your identity and oversee the signing. Until the consultation we have not advised you, and the draft is not a will until it is signed and witnessed.
5. The will is signed and witnessed by audio-visual link under the remote execution procedure in the Wills Act 1997 (Vic), or in person at our office if you prefer. For a video signing you must be in Victoria on the day, alone in a quiet room, with photo identification and a device with a camera.
6. If you choose, the signed original is held in our safe at no charge and you receive a copy, a storage certificate and a card for your executor. You may collect the original at any time.

Appointing Joshi Lawyers as executor

If you choose to appoint the firm as your executor, you are told in the questions, before you sign, that you could appoint an executor who does not charge, and how the firm charges your estate if it acts. The will appoints Dinesh Joshi, the firm’s principal, with the principal of the firm for the time being as substitute. The firm’s charges for administering the estate are paid from the estate under the will’s professional charging clause and any commission allowed by the court. You can change your executor at any time before signing, and after signing by making a new will.

Refunds

If we decide that the service does not suit your situation, we refund the fee in full. If you withdraw before your first draft is issued, we refund the fee less $100 plus GST for the work done. Once a draft has been issued the fee for the will is not refundable, because the legal work has been done. Fees for an add-on that has not yet been delivered are refunded in full. If a consultation is booked and you do not attend, we will offer one further booking at no charge.

4. Online divorce service

What it covers

The service covers a sole or joint application for divorce under the Family Law Act 1975 where at least one party is an Australian citizen, is domiciled in Australia or has been ordinarily resident in Australia for the 12 months before filing. It includes preparing the application from your answers, review of your answers by a lawyer, witnessing the affidavit that accompanies the application, filing with the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, serving a sole application on your spouse, correspondence with the court, and sending you the divorce order. Where your answers show that the court will need an additional document (an affidavit about separation under one roof, an application for leave to apply within two years of marriage, an affidavit explaining why a marriage certificate cannot be produced, or an application for substituted service or dispensation with service where your spouse cannot be found), or where a sole application with a child under 18 requires attendance at a hearing and you ask us to attend for you, the questions tell you so, explain why, and show the fee for that work before you pay.

The service does not include translation of documents, applications to the court about property, parenting, maintenance or child support, nullity, or responding to a spouse’s objection. If your matter needs such work we will tell you, quote for it before we start, and you may choose to proceed on our usual terms or to withdraw and be refunded as set out below.

Fees and the court fee

The application for divorce is $1250 plus GST ($1375). Each additional affidavit the court needs is $400 plus GST ($440). An application for substituted service or dispensation with service, where your spouse cannot be found, is $600 plus GST ($660) and the court may ask for further evidence of your attempts to find them. Attending the hearing of a sole application where there is a child under 18, if you ask us to attend for you, is $600 plus GST ($660); attending yourself costs nothing extra. The court’s filing fee, $1170 or $390 where the fee reduction applies, is paid to the court on your behalf, is not our fee and carries no GST. Court fees are set by the court and may change; if the fee has changed when we file, we will tell you and charge or refund the difference. There are no other disbursements unless we quote for work outside the service.

How it works

1. You answer the questions and pay. Your answers are our instructions, and we rely on them.
2. We email you a confirmation listing the documents we need, beginning with your marriage certificate. Please send them promptly; we cannot file without them.
3. Within two business days a lawyer reviews your answers, prepares the application and any additional documents, and contacts you if anything needs clarifying. Until that review we have not advised you.
4. You book a signing and advice consultation with one of our solicitors, by video, using the link in your confirmation email. Appointments are available from three days after payment, so that the application is ready and you have had time to read it. At the consultation your solicitor goes through the application with you, answers your questions, verifies your identity and witnesses your signature on the affidavit that accompanies the application. For a joint application your spouse signs the same way, at the same consultation or a separate one. Additional affidavits are signed the same way. The consultation is included in the fee; if you do not attend a booked consultation we offer one further booking at no charge.
5. We file the application once you have been separated for 12 months. If that date has not yet arrived, we hold the application and file it on that date.
6. For a sole application we serve the sealed application on your spouse and file proof of service. For a joint application nothing is served.
7. The court lists the application. Attendance is required only for a sole application where there is a child under 18, and then by you or by us for you as you chose. We tell you the outcome and send you the divorce order, which takes effect one month and one day after it is made.

Timing and the court

Dates are set by the court, not by us. Most applications are listed two to three months after filing, but the court may list later, ask for further information, require attendance, or adjourn. We will keep you informed and do what the court requires; work the court requires that is outside the service will be quoted before it is done. If there are safety concerns, tell us in the questions and we will use our office as your address for service and handle all contact with your spouse.

Refunds

If we decide that the service does not suit your situation, we refund everything you paid, including the court fee. If you withdraw before the application is filed, we refund the court fee and our fees less $200 plus GST for the work done. Once the application is filed, the court fee cannot be recovered from the court and our fee for the application is not refundable, because the legal work has been done. A fee for hearing attendance that has not yet been performed is refunded in full.

5. Legal advice consultation

What it covers

The legal advice consultation is a paid meeting with one of our lawyers about a family law, commercial, property or wills and estates matter, in person at South Yarra or Point Cook or by video, booked through the form on this website. You complete the form, pay the fee, and choose a time. The lawyer reads your form before the meeting and, at the meeting, gives you advice on your situation and the options open to you. It does not include work after the meeting, such as drafting documents or corresponding with the other side; if you ask us to go on acting, we give you a costs agreement for that work first.

Fee

The fee is $500 plus GST ($550), paid by card when you book. It is the whole fee for the consultation; there are no disbursements. If the meeting runs over the allotted time, we do not charge more for it.

Conflicts and refunds

Before the meeting we check that acting for you would not put us in conflict with an existing or former client. If it would, we cannot act, we tell you so without giving reasons, and we refund the fee in full. If you cancel up to the day before your consultation we refund the fee in full. If you cancel on the day or do not attend, the fee is not refundable, but we will offer one further booking at no charge if you tell us within seven days. Paying for a consultation does not make you a client of the firm for any other purpose, and we are not your lawyers for the matter until we have confirmed in writing that we can act and you have accepted our costs agreement.

6. Starting a property, lease or business matter online

When we act for you on a property, lease or business matter, we send you a link to our onboarding page. There you tell us about the matter and pay an amount on account of costs by card, set at a share of our fixed fee for the matter (plus $500 for the sale or purchase of a business). It is not a fee: it is received into our trust account, held for you on account of our costs and disbursements, and applied to our bill once the bill has been given to you. Within one business day we send you our costs disclosure and costs agreement for the matter, which sets out the fixed fee, what it covers and how we bill; that agreement, not these terms, governs our fees and the work. If we find before starting work that we cannot act for you, for example because of a conflict, we refund it in full. If you decide not to proceed before accepting the costs agreement, we refund it less the cost of any work you asked us to do in the meantime.

7. Liability and general

To the extent permitted by law, Joshi Lawyers Pty Ltd excludes all liability for any loss arising from use of, or reliance on, this website or its content. Liability limited by a scheme approved under professional standards legislation. Nothing in these terms excludes rights you have under the Australian Consumer Law that cannot be excluded.

These terms are governed by the law of Victoria, Australia. We may update them from time to time; for an online service, the version you accept when you pay applies to your matter. Joshi Lawyers Pty Ltd (ABN 76 140 306 654, ACN 140 306 654), trading as Joshi Lawyers; our lawyers hold current Victorian practising certificates issued by the Victorian Legal Services Board. If you have a concern about the website, a service or our costs, please contact Dinesh Joshi, Principal, at inquiries@joshilawyers.com.au or 03 8386 9502. You may also contact the Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner.