WA Property Lawyers: Property and Agribusiness Law in Albany WA
WA Property Lawyers is a Western Australian firm working in property, agribusiness, commercial, settlement and estate matters. Albany is one of our four locations, alongside West Perth, Merredin and Esperance, and our Albany office is at Level 1, 184 Aberdeen Street. We describe what we do as legal solutions for town and country, and clients looking for a property lawyer in Albany WA can arrange a time through our main line on (08) 9380 3600.
Why the rural side matters here
Our team comes from all over the state, with backgrounds in both metropolitan and rural areas, and it is made up of lawyers, conveyancers, paralegals and support staff. Our Director, Eden Coad, was born and raised on a broadacre farm at Lake Grace and looks after the Albany location. That background is the practical reason a Great Southern farming family might ring us rather than a city firm: the questions that come up around succession, leases and duty exemptions are not the same questions that come up in a suburban sale, and we have said ourselves that we understand better than most how much the minutiae of a farming contract can matter. Eddie Biggs is our Senior Associate.
Our legal services
We group our work into six areas, each with its own page on our site.
What we advise on
- Agribusiness: farm succession planning, discretionary and unit trusts, farm leases, shareholder, partnership, share farming and share cropping agreements, and family farm transfers that may be exempt from transfer duty where the land stays predominantly in farming.
- Property: preparing and reviewing contracts for house, farm and commercial sales, advising on terms and special conditions, and helping meet contract obligations.
- Commercial: commercial legal work alongside the property and rural sides of the practice.
- Settlements: settlements on rural, residential and pastoral property, including new homes, rural block sales and subdivisions of existing holdings.
- Estate planning: wills, enduring powers of attorney, enduring powers of guardianship and succession planning.
- Deceased estates: handled as a distinct area of the practice.
Leases, duty and the details that catch people out
Two parts of the work are worth setting out plainly. On leases, we prepare leasing documents for commercial and agricultural property, review documents on behalf of tenants, and sit in on negotiations. Whether it is a short lease, a long lease, a sub-lease or something with unusual conditions, the point is that the terms are clear before anyone signs.
On duty, transfers of a family farm can be exempt from transfer duty when the property continues to be used predominantly for farming, and transfers of shares in a family-owned agricultural company can be exempt from landholder duty. Whether a particular transfer qualifies depends on the circumstances, which is the sort of thing to check before the paperwork is drawn rather than after.
We also publish notes on changes that affect buyers and sellers. Two current ones: the Foreign Resident Capital Gains Withholding rules, under which sellers of property valued at $750,000 or more need a clearance certificate or the buyer must withhold 12.5 per cent of the purchase price for the ATO; and new anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations that apply to us from 1 July 2026.
Making an appointment in Albany
Our Albany location works by appointment rather than as a drop-in office, so the first step is to book a time. Appointments across all four locations are arranged on (08) 9380 3600, and general enquiries can go to [email protected]. Our permanent office is at 48 Outram Street, West Perth, with post to PO Box 256, West Perth WA 6872.
If you are buying farmland, our own advice is to allow time to speak with your accounting and legal advisors before making an offer, because both feed into how the offer should be constructed. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.