Your Lawyers Turner Riddell Hervey Bay - Family law & Wills and estates

Your Lawyers Turner Riddell Hervey Bay is a law firm whose principal lawyer is Claire Riddell. Riddell graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Law Degree in 2000 and obtained an Arts Degree majoring in Psychology in 1997. She received the Deans Certificate of Merit for Family Law at university and her Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice in 2001. Riddell worked for Legal Aid South Australia for three years before moving to Hervey Bay, Queensland, in 2004. She then worked as an Associate Lawyer for a premier local firm for six years.

In 2010, she purchased a law practice from one of the first lawyers to practise in the Hervey Bay area. The firm's main services are family law and divorce, and wills and estates, with free initial appointments for family law and estate matters.

Natalie is the office manager and assistant to Claire, with extensive experience in legal firms and having worked for some of Queensland's top barristers. Melissa is the conveyancing clerk and assists with enquiries in residential buying and selling of real estate. Natasha is the office assistant and helps with bookkeeping. The firm's liability is limited by a scheme approved under the Professional Standards Legislation.

Wills, powers of attorney and advance care directives form the bulk of the work described in accounts of this practice, and Claire Riddell is named repeatedly as the solicitor who handles those matters. Preparing or updating a will is characterised as seamless and considerably less stressful than anticipated, and an aspect raised across a number of reviews is the clarity with which each document and each step is explained. Questions are answered thoroughly, and the pre-appointment questions are credited with making the meeting itself run efficiently.

Estate work following the death of a family member also features, with affairs put in order carefully and sensitively. Support staff, among them Natalie and Rose, draw praise for a warm and friendly manner, while long-standing clients of many years report consistent professionalism and communication across each engagement. Fees are considered reasonable and price effective for the work completed, and documents are generally drawn up promptly, often sooner than expected. Thorough and knowledgeable handling of wills, powers of attorney and advance care directives, delivered with an approachable manner, is the theme running through the accounts.