Lisa Barca

• Lisa Barca is a Partner and Accredited Specialist within Turner Freeman’s Wills and Estates Team.
• Lisa practises in the areas of estate planning, deceased estates, deceased’s disputes and elder abuse. She focuses on servicing the needs of individuals, families, privately owned business entities and private investment structures.
• Lisa is professional and personable in her client interactions and goes the extra mile in forming strong and genuine relationships with them.
• Lisa understands the complexities which are often associated with the distribution of a person’s estate, and this allows her to combine her strong attention to detail with the sensitive approach needed in an often emotionally charged process.
• Lisa’s close connection to her grandparents has fuelled her passion in elder law, which includes advocating for vulnerable persons in the community including those with disabilities. Lisa’s greatest achievement in this area, is revoking a financial management order that was in place for over 30 years.
• As a fluent Italian speaker, Lisa has the capacity to assist clients from the Italian community with their estate matters.

Experience

• Preparation of standard Wills, and wills incorporating trusts including Testamentary Discretionary Trusts, Special Disability Trusts, Accommodation Trusts, and Education Trusts, and rights of occupation.
• Preparation of Enduring Powers of Attorney, Appointments of Enduring Guardian, Memorandums of Wishes and testamentary contracts.
• Advising on superannuation in the context of estate planning, including reviewing superannuation deeds, and binding and non-binding death benefit nominations.
• Simple and complex uncontested Probate applications, and administration of deceased estates.
• Contested Probate applications, including for lack of testamentary capacity.
• Reseal applications.
• Statutory Will applications.
• Family provision claims.
• Assisting Executors with the passing of accounts, as well as claims for Executor’s Commission and of their responsibilities and obligations.
• Acting for beneficiaries to ensure the Executor(s) and Trustee(s) of an Estate act in accordance with their obligations.
• Assisting clients with preparing applications, or responses to applications to the Guardianship division of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, for financial management and/or guardianship orders.
• Assisting clients with applications concerning financial mismanagement by other person(s).
• Applications to the Protective List of the Supreme Court of NSW.
• Advising guardians and attorneys of their fiduciary duties.

Awards

• Finalist in 2021/22 STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) global Private Client Awards in the category of ‘Young Practitioner of the Year’.
• Recognised as a Rising Star in NSW, Estates and Succession Planning in 2021 by Doyle’s Guide to the Australian Legal Profession.
• Winner of Senior Associate of the Year – SME Law in Australia, at the Women in Law Awards in November 2022. Finalist in the Women in Law Excellence Award. This Award shortlisted the top 8 women out of the 28.
• Winner of Lawyers Weekly 30 under 30 awards in the Wills & Estates category in June 2023.
• Finalist in 2022/23 STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) global Private Client Awards in the category of ‘Young Practitioner of the Year’.
• Selected by STEP Australia to present on the topic titled ‘Succession of Digital Assets on Death or Incapacity’ in the Banco Court, Supreme Court of NSW. The seminar attracted a high calibre audience which included 3 Supreme Court Judges.

Qualifications & Memberships

• Accredited Specialist, Wills & Estates
• Bachelor of Laws (Macquarie University)
• Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Finance (Macquarie University)
• Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice (College of Law)
• Master of Applied Laws (Estate Planning) (College of Law)
• Registered Trust and Estate Practitioner – Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners
• Law Society of NSW