I was born in Melbourne into a Chinese-Australian family. My father, Kin Wee Chua, started our law firm in 1990, and I now practise alongside my parents. I am the second generation, preparing to take over a business my father built. So when a client tells me about the conversation they have not had with their father, or the sibling who expects the business, I do not need it explained. I have experienced those dynamics in my own family.
Family across borders
Our extended family has plantations in Malaysia, and I have worked on them. I studied in Shanghai and Hong Kong, worked in finance in Hong Kong, and worked in law firms in Myanmar and Vietnam. I hold a Singapore work pass. Like many of our clients, my family’s life, work and assets do not sit in one country. Neither do our obligations to each other.
That experience shapes how I practise. A family’s wealth may be managed from Singapore, its property may be in Melbourne, its elders may be in Kuala Lumpur and its grandchildren in London. The law treats each piece separately. The family does not.
What I have learned from my own family and from our clients
- Most families get along. The parents who come to plan their estates usually have good relationships with their children. The job is to protect those relationships, not to assume the worst.
- What is not said matters most. In Chinese families, respect for parents and a reluctance to talk about death mean the important conversations often do not happen. Usually someone outside the family has to make it safe to start them.
- Business and family are the same thing. Succession of the business is succession of the family, and vice versa.
- Language is respect. Explaining a will to a parent in Mandarin, or a family meeting where the elders speak Cantonese and the grandchildren English, changes the quality of the decision.
Why it matters to you
I have also run businesses myself: a restaurant, accommodation and a real estate agency. I am an Accredited Family Business Advisor and a nationally accredited mediator. I bring that to estate planning, family business renewal, cross-border estates and, when it comes to it, disputes.
Our firm speaks English, Mandarin and Cantonese. More importantly, I hope we speak the language of families like yours.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Justin Chua?
Justin Chua (蔡智勋) is a Melbourne lawyer and nationally accredited mediator at Chua Tan Associates, the firm his father, Kin Wee Chua, founded in 1990. Born in Melbourne into a Chinese-Australian family, he is also an Accredited Family Business Advisor, and he advises families on estate planning, family business succession, cross-border estates and estate disputes.
What languages does Chua Tan Associates work in?
The firm works in English, Mandarin and Cantonese. This matters in practice: explaining a will to a parent in Mandarin, or running a family meeting where the elders speak Cantonese and the grandchildren speak English, helps every generation understand and take part in the decisions being made about the family’s future.
Does Justin Chua advise families with assets in more than one country?
Yes. Many of the firm’s clients have wealth, property and family members in several countries, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Australia. Justin has studied and worked in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Myanmar and Vietnam and holds a Singapore work pass, and he advises on the Australian side of cross-border estates and family business succession.
Why do Chinese families find estate planning conversations difficult?
Respect for parents and a reluctance to talk about death mean that the important conversations in Chinese families often do not happen. Usually someone outside the family needs to make it safe to start them. Most families get along, and the aim of good planning is to protect those relationships rather than to assume the worst.
Chua Tan Associates advises families, executors, trustees and their professional advisers on estate planning, estate administration and estate disputes, in Australia and across borders. To arrange a confidential consultation, please contact our Melbourne office on +61 3 9602 3988 or submit an enquiry. Advice is available in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.
Justin Chua (蔡智勋), lawyer and mediator, Chua Tan Associates, Melbourne. General information only, not legal advice. Victorian law unless stated otherwise.
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