We publish a wide range of useful information on a regular basis.
Family Trusts have been particularly significant since 1993. Anecdotally, it would seem that there are in excess of half a million Family Trusts in New Zealand currently. That is significantly more, per head of population, than for almost every other country. ...
In the leading Property (Relationships) Act case of Clayton v Clayton the Court of Appeal (2015) & Supreme Court (2016) found that Mr Clayton’s powers under a Trust was relationship property, and this meant that Mrs Clayton had a relationship property ...
"This is a sorry tale of what can occur when a family adopts an inappropriate form of trust deed without adequate advice or sufficient understanding of the legal effect of its terms.”- Dobson J begins his judgment in McLaren v McLaren ...
In our Summer 2014/15 article, we addressed the issue of claims by former spouses/de facto partners against property owned by a Trust. This situation generally arises when there are assets that existed before the start of the relationship, and the property was settled on a Trust ...
Too often clients think of themselves and their Family Trust as being interchangeable – they are not. The Family Trust is a separate legal entity operated by the trustees. The trustees in turn have legal obligations towards all beneficiaries named in ...
Trustees’ Obligations & Breach of Trust with Power of AttorneyA recent High Court decision considered a claim for breach of trust in the context of the use of a General Power of Attorney by a Trustee. A Trustee had made a ...
It is generally understood that by holding property such as a house in a Trust a spouse or de facto partner will be prevented from subsequently being able to bring a successful claim in respect of that property in the event ...
Subscribe to have future issues of our newsletter emailed to you.