Click here for Part 1In 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...
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 capital distribution to himself by use of a Power of Attorney on behalf...
A First DecisionThe Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 came into force in April 2017 bringing with it significantly increased penalties for breaches of health and safety duties. Now the first sentencing decision by the District Court under the Act has arrived to provide some insight as to how the ne...
When purchasing a property, the Agreement for Sale and Purchase will usually specify that you can make enquiries with the vendor’s solicitor in relation to any of the interests that may be noted on the title. A land covenant is an example of a type of interest that you, through your lawyer, may wa...
Under the provisions of the Employment Relations Act (“the Act”), parties to an employment agreement can agree upon a trial period of up to 90 days from the commencement of employment, provided the employer has not previously employed the employee. In the event the employee is unable to bring...
The survivor needs to consider the optionsPart 8 of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 (“the Act”) deals with the division of property where a marriage or de facto relationship ends because one of the parties has died. The surviving spouse or de facto partner has a choice between two option...
Anti-money laundering & countering financing of terrorism.As anyone who has attempted to open a bank account or invested funds through an investment manager in recent years will attest, such activities are no longer the relatively straightforward exercise that they used to be. The provision of d...
A warning for Property Investors.In 2015, the government introduced the “bright-line test”, a method which attempts to tighten the property investment rules. The bright-line test states that (subject to exemptions) any gain from disposing of residential land within two years of acquiring it will...
In commercial lease agreements, rent review clauses provide for how annual rent payable is determined.In addition to providing what the review is based on (i.e. either the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or market rent), many commercial leases provide that the rent payable on review shall not be reduced...
The “ordinary course of business” exemption.When buying or leasing valuable goods it is important to check that they are not subject to a security interest. Otherwise, the secured party is able to use its security interest to call in the goods you purchased or leased, to repay the debt they are...