When New Zealand headed into Covid Level 4 in March, real estate transactions stalled because of difficulties completing essential elements of settlement, such as the legal paperwork, giving of vacant possession and the inability of moving companies to access the property. In response, a number of buyers and sellers adjusted their agreements to delay settlement until alert levels decreased.
Before you buy a property it is important that you understand exactly what you are purchasing. Your property title records (or should record) all of the interests that affect your title. That way, you are fully informed about any rights or obligations you may have – before you buy.
In a recent case[1], trustees’ decision-making came under scrutiny from the High Court.
Lara Unkovich was a young teenager when her grandfather died in 2016, leaving her a share of his estate. Her share was worth around $65,000. Under his will Lara would not receive the funds until she was 21 years old. The trustees, however, had the power to make payments towards her ‘maintenance, education, advancement or benefit.’ The trustees were her aunt Margaret and a lawyer.
Charities play an important role in our society to help the disadvantaged, support specific causes or to advance knowledge. In New Zealand we have more than 27,000 registered
charities, with 230,000+ volunteers and 180,000 paid staff [1]. Many of these charities are
structured as trusts which can be incorporated and run as a trust board by the trustees.
Others are structured as incorporated societies or companies, or as unincorporated bodies. These types of charities are run by a board with specific obligations and responsibilities.
The Charities Act 2005 (which is currently under review) regulates the Charities Register and sets out the statutory rules relating to registered charities. Those rules include a re-quirement for registered charities to report, on an annual basis, to Charities Services (a di-vision of the Department of Internal Affairs).
I need to make a will but I do not want to leave my estate to my son as I never see him. I also do not want to leave my estate to my stepchildren. What can be done?
In some parts of the world, a will-maker can leave their assets to whomever they want, whether that be their children, a distant relative or to the local cats’ home. In New Zealand, however, this is currently not the case. Continue reading
After separating, you could find yourself at loggerheads with your former partner or spouse on exactly how all property should be divided between you. Negotiations may be bouncing between your lawyers, with no common ground achieved. Without agreement, you could file court proceedings but learn costs would increase dramatically. As well, it could be years before a judge can give a decision on how your property will be divided.
Mediation, on the other hand, could be arranged within weeks. It offers a practical alternative to reach a conclusion on how property should be divided between you and your former partner.
Contracts are commonplace in business and life. A well-drafted contract can provide certainty and clarity for businesses and others by creating legal obligations for each party to do what they say they will. But what if a party to a contract doesn’t do what they promised they would? Are you allowed to penalise that party for not fulfilling their obligations under the contract? We will explore the enforce-ability of so-called ‘penalty clauses’ in light of a recent decision in the Court of Appeal.
It is common for businesses to try to reduce their risk of suffering a loss under a contract. One way businesses try to minimise their risk is by including a clause in the contract that requires money to be paid to them to compensate for loss if the other party doesn’t do what they promise.
There have been a number of developments around property investment by overseas investors and also on residential tenancies.
If you are an overseas investor or a landlord, you should ensure you are up-to-date with the latest changes and/or proposals.
An overseas investor attempting to circumvent the requirements of the Overseas Investment Act 2005 has received the first criminal conviction under that legislation. In February 2020, Dr Won Joo Hur was fined $100,000 for falsely stating to the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) that a property was not purchased on his behalf and providing a false loan document to support his version of events.
The Auckland District Law Society and the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (ADLS & REINZ) are the authors of the most common template Agreement for Sale and Purchase that is used by the majority of lawyers and real estate agents throughout New Zealand. In November 2019, ADLS & REINZ released the 10th edition of the agreement with changes that impact and benefit both buyers and sellers.
The 10th edition makes a number of changes to the agreement that include:
The Family Protection Act 1955 allows children to bring claims against the estate of a deceased parent on the basis that their parent did not adequately provide for their ‘proper maintenance and support’. Exactly what constitutes ‘proper maintenance and support’ is the subject of considerable litigation, as well as extensive commentary in the media.
Since a trio of Court of Appeal decisions in the early 2000s, a general understanding has emerged that awards under the family protection legislation can be quantified by referring to a percentage of the relevant estate. It has long been said that a financially-stable adult child might expect to receive between 10%–20% of the estate of their deceased parent, depending on a number of factors including the size of the estate and the position of others under the will or those people who are entitled to make a claim. In many cases, the 10%–20% threshold has become an informal benchmark when assessing the position of a financially-stable adult child making a claim against a modest, but not insignificant, estate. Continue reading