The Supreme Court recently issued its much-anticipated ruling in A, B and C v D and E Limited as Trustees of the Z Trust known as the Alphabet case. It concerns the extent of fiduciary duties owed by a parent to an adult child. ⚖️
The case involves a father, who transferred most of his assets to a trust during his lifetime, leaving his adult children without any entitlement to those assets. The children argued that due to past abuse they suffered at their father’s hands, including physical, emotional abuse and sexual abuse, their father owed them fiduciary duties that extended into adulthood. They believed his actions in transferring assets breached those duties, and the assets should revert to his estate to satisfy their Family Protection Act claims to be provided for from his estate.
While the Court agreed that fiduciary duties exist between a parent and minor child, it ruled that those duties generally end once the child reaches adulthood or the caregiving responsibility ends. The Court rejected the notion that such duties continued into adulthood, despite the children’s vulnerability due to the abuse they suffered during childhood. Importantly, the Court noted that imposing fiduciary duties in this case would create legal uncertainty and “reverse engineer” a remedy for past wrongdoing.
The Court also ruled against treating the trust assets as part of the father’s estate. However, it acknowledged the need for legal reform in this area and pointed to the Law Commission’s 2022 proposal to allow courts to unwind property transactions that intentionally defeat claims under succession law.
While the Court was sympathetic to the appellants, it ultimately found that the law could not support their claim in this case. The ruling highlights the need for further reform in this area of law, which the Law Commission’s proposals may address in the future.
Kerry Bowler
When your livestock are grazing away from your property, your legal obligations as their owner under the Animal Welfare Act don’t go on holiday. It’s your duty to ensure their care meets the required standards, and that means staying actively involved in their well-being.
Here’s why regular checks and oversight are non-negotiable:
- Weighing and Monitoring
Insist that the grazier regularly weighs your animals and provides detailed reports. But don’t just rely on the numbers—attend these weighing sessions periodically to verify the accuracy of the data and get a firsthand look at your animals’ condition.
- Feed and Water
Livestock require enough feed to maintain good health and condition. Check that they have consistent access to high-quality, clean water to prevent dehydration and support overall well-being.
- Safe Surroundings
Ensure the grazing environment is safe, free from hazards, and appropriate for the type of stock being grazed. Unsafe conditions can lead to injuries, poor health, and stress for your animals.
- Signs of Illness or Injury
Early detection is key to preventing long-term issues. Look for signs of lameness or other health concerns. Timely treatment can make the difference between a full recovery and chronic problems like susceptibility to bone damage or ongoing mobility issues.
- Correct Handling
Observe how your animals are being handled. Poor handling practices can lead to stress, injuries, or behavioural issues. It’s your responsibility to ensure they’re treated with care and respect.
- Accountability
Don’t take a “set and forget” approach to sending livestock out for grazing. Visit them regularly to ensure the care described by the grazier matches the reality. This keeps the grazier accountable and ensures you’re meeting your obligations as an owner.
- Development of Young Stock
For young stock, this period is critical to their growth and development. Regular monitoring ensures they’re meeting weight targets, growing at a healthy pace, and building the foundation for a productive future.
Ultimately, livestock owners must remain hands-on, even when animals are in someone else’s care. Regular checks safeguard their well-being and ensure you’re compliant with the Animal Welfare Act. After all, your animals rely on you to advocate for their welfare, wherever they are.
As the summer sun blazes, it’s a timely reminder to step up and meet our animal welfare responsibilities, whether you’re a dedicated farmer or a devoted pet owner. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) Codes of Welfare provide the essential roadmap, setting minimum standards for animal care and offering best practices to help you go above and beyond.
Summer brings unique challenges for animals, and heat stress is a major concern. For pets, never leave them in cars, even for a short time—internal temperatures skyrocket, creating a life-threatening situation. Adequate ventilation and shade are equally crucial indoors to keep your furry friends comfortable.
For farmers, the stakes are high, especially for dairy cows. According to DairyNZ, cows thrive in temperatures between 4-20°C. Above this, they begin to experience heat stress, exacerbated by the energy-intensive process of digesting food and producing milk. As temperatures rise, they absorb more heat from their surroundings, making it harder to maintain their body weight and productivity.
Combatting heat stress means getting strategic. Ensure your grazing plan allows cows access to shade, such as tree cover, during the hottest parts of the day. Keep plenty of fresh, clean water available and adjust feeding practices to help them stay cool and maintain their condition.
This summer, let’s prioritise our animals’ comfort and well-being. To ensure you are on the right track, dive into the Codes of Welfare on MPI’s website. And if you are after expert advice tailored to your needs, our friendly team at Edmonds Judd is just a call away. Let’s make this summer safe and stress-free for all!
Fiona Jack
If you’re buying a beach house and planning to rent it out or Airbnb it when you’re not using it, there are some things you might want to consider:
- If you are going to rent the property out – make sure that it complies with the healthy homes standards. If not, consider how much it might cost you to make it compliant.
- If you are going to rent it out with Airbnb, you don’t have to comply with the health homes standards.
- Either way, you might want to consider how difficult it might be to manage the property if you live a couple of hours drive away from the property. Think damage, parties, meth use or production, and cleaning up at the end of each stay.
- Consider additional costs for operating an Airbnb. Some councils increase rates for temporary accommodation arrangements like Airbnb.
- You will need to make sure that you obtain insurance that covers you if your Airbnb or rental tenant damage the property.
- Again, get yourself some tax advice.
- Finally, if you are renting, make sure you know your obligations as a landlord and how you can go about legally ending the tenancy.
We’re open again from 6th January to help you with your property purchases and conveyancing needs. We can also help you with ownership structures, negotiating property sharing agreements, succession planning, and any disputes that might arise.
Joanne Dickson
If you’re buying a beach house with friends or family, things can go brilliantly well. But sometimes things can go very badly! Protect yourself and those close relationships by taking these points into consideration:
- Think carefully about the ownership structure. Are you all going to own the property in your personal names? Is anyone in business and needing to protect their assets – their share of the property could be vulnerable to a claim from creditors, so you might want to consider using a trust? What if the worst happens and one of your co-owners dies – how will you feel about their children inheriting their share of the house? Is it going to be held in a partnership?
- Enter a property sharing agreement. If things don’t go according to plan, it is useful to have a contract that clearly sets out what is to happen if you don’t want to co-own that house anymore. This might be because you are no longer getting along, or you need to get your money back out of the house, or you’ve broken up with your significant other and need to sort out relationship property issues, or any number of other reasons. The property sharing agreement should also include when/how the co-owners can use the property, whether their friends or family can use the property, and how the expenses relating to the property are to be shared and paid.
- Get tax advice. Get along to your accountant, there could be some unexpected tax complications.
We’re open again from 6th January to help you with your property purchases and conveyancing needs. We can also help you with ownership structures, negotiating property sharing agreements, succession planning, and any disputes that might arise.
Wishing you all the best for the Summer holidays.
Joanne Dickson
If someone has made a harmful/damaging statement about you or your business online, your first step should be to notify the online platform that is hosting the offending content – e.g. Trademe, Facebook, etc. Platform hosts often have an easy method to allow you to report the post. On Facebook for example, if you hit the three dots at the top of the post, the popup menu includes a “report post” option.
You can ask Netsafe for help. Netsafe’s services are free of charge. It is approved under the Harmful Digital Communications Act (HDCA) to investigate complaints about online abuse and intimidation, like bullying, harassment, and revenge porn – which can include online defamatory statements.
Netsafe has relationships with many online platforms and can negotiate on your behalf to have the material taken down.
Another option is to send the author of the content a cease and desist letter – a lawyer can help with this.
The last option is to bring proceedings in court under the Defamation Act – again, a lawyer can help you with this too.
Wishing you a defamation-free holiday season!
Joanne Dickson
