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This week I had an interesting conversation with two individuals who had received some really poor advice from their advisors. This advice has cost them dearly in terms of the assets they are about to lose. But the rot doesn't stop there, as the loss..

I'M TELLING ALL! After plenty of anxious moments and sleepless nights, I've done it. Yes, I have written a book. "Family Trusts 101" has finally been born. Trusts are never easy creatures to understand but I think this book should help all New Zealanders comprehend the..

On Monday Revenue Minister Peter Dunn confirmed that the government intends to abolish gift duty. Earlier this year the Minister had signalled that a review was being undertaken as to whether or not the gift duty regime should be repealed or amended.  Subsequently that review has..

As you can imagine, we see lots of different types of trust deeds here at GRA. Despite there being a variety of deeds around, there are some common provisions we like in all our clients' deeds of trust. One of these provisions relates to decision..

A labyrinth case, involving legal proceedings spanning a decade, has finally made its way through four courts. The ultimate judgement delivered by the Supreme Court is probably one of the most ground breaking decisions in respect of trusts and relationship property that this country has..

One of the largest value assets most people hold is their home.  Trusts are no exception to this. Frequently, the biggest asset a trust holds is the family home and bach the beneficiaries live in. Trustees have lots of legal duties they must satisfy and one..

Recently I had a conversation with one of my friends who told me she was constantly fighting with her nearest and dearest over money. They just didn't seem to be able to agree on what they should do financially. She felt they should clean up some..

Every parent wants their children to have an equally good if not better life than what they've lived. To achieve that objective, parents tend to work hard to build up assets so they have something to leave their children when they die. This is done with..

We all know trust law is a moving beast. The Court of Appeal recently demonstrated this when it released a judgement that had professional trustees using their little grey cells and thinking hard about their clients.  The case involved a fairly traditional marriage, of reasonably..