Hilary Somerville is a Senior Associate Lawyer at Pacific Law on the Sunshine Coast.
With over a decade of experience as part of the succession team Hilary focuses mainly on estate planning and estate administration. This includes preparing Wills, powers of attorney, helping with QCAT applications and helping executors manage deceased estates. She also advises on structuring and asset protection for business owners and property investors.
Helping people at a time when life is difficult is what gives Hilary the most job satisfaction. “Meeting people and getting to know their stories is something I enjoy,” says Hilary. “Everyone is different. I like being able to help people at a difficult time in their lives and hopefully take some stress off their shoulders. I also love a good puzzle and estate planning is essentially putting all the pieces together.”
Pacific Law is an experienced Sunshine Coast law firm specialising in Conveyancing, Property and Development Law, Commercial and Business Law and Wills and Estates across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.
They pride themselves on applying high level legal expertise and industry knowledge to help their clients achieve their desired outcomes. Pacific Law provides both practical and commercial legal advice for individuals, businesses and larger organisations.
Pacific Law are committed to helping those facing adversity, with a specialised program within their organisation focused on supporting local charities and their initiatives. “If you make a meaningful gift to a charity like SunnyKids in your Will, we’ll reduce our fees by 10 per cent. This has been a very popular program and has encouraged more gift-giving in Wills,” says Hilary.
“I have seen the work that SunnyKids do in our community and I am so impressed by the dedication and energy that SunnyKids bring to everything,” she says. I really like the fact that SunnyKids focuses on education and prevention while also helping families currently experiencing family violence.”
Our P100 members are an essential part of our organisation, they keep the wheels of our operations turning and enable us to manage our projects with greater certainty. Many of our P100 members have become our biggest fans and provide us with opportunities to shine within our local community. Perhaps one of our greatest joys is meeting our new members, welcoming them into the team and getting to know the generosity that underpins their support of the work we do.
“I feel like being a P100 member is just the tip of the iceberg,” Hilary says. “For us, connecting with SunnyKids is an opportunity to support a home-grown organisation that plays a vital role on the Sunshine Coast.”
Many of our P100 members enjoy our quarterly gatherings and use this as an opportunity to meet other members and learn more about the work we’re doing in our community. “It has only been a short while since Pacific Law joined the P100 Village, but I’ve really enjoyed learning more about SunnyKids and meeting other like-minded supporters,” says Hilary.
“You’ve got to help others where you can. In my line of work, it’s common to deal with people experiencing grief and loss, poor health and family conflict. It is a constant reminder of my good fortune to be healthy, living in a beautiful part of the world and part of a supportive, loving family. This has driven my belief that it’s important to give back,” she says.
Our P100 members are a crucial part of our SunnyKids Village. They support our initiatives that are imperative in helping break the cycle of violence and reducing the devastating intergenerational impact of trauma and family violence. Without this support much of the work we do just wouldn’t be possible.
We’re extremely grateful for the ongoing support of our P100 members and can’t wait to kick-start 2024 with vigour and energy. We’re excited to welcome Pacific Law into our P100 Village and look forward to getting to know more about the incredible work they do and the generosity of those within their team.