Insights & Articles

The truism that charity begins at home might have been given a serious knock back going by the recent UK Supreme Court decision concerning an adult daughter's claim against her mother's estate in IIott v Mitson [2017] UKSC 17.

Feeling stressed or anxious about how Covid-19 (coronavirus) and New Zealand entering alert level 4 with nationwide lockdowns will affect you and your family members? Times of crisis can result in a push-and-pull effect with our personal relationships. They bring people together – only those in your household! - but difficult times can also lead to difficulties arising in our relationships with our, quite literally, nearest and dearest.

The situation seems simple. A promise is made (by the "promisor") to someone (the "promisee"), that they will be rewarded in the promisor's Will for work or services carried out. Time passes, and the (now deceased) promisor has failed to follow through on their promise, leaving no such reward (or less than what was promised) in their Will. The promisee can then claim against the deceased's estate for the remuneration that was promised to them. Such claim is made under the Law Reform (Testamentary Promises) Act 1949.

During this unprecedented and unsettling time, there is an opportunity here to take advantage of the phone calls and emails slowing down (for some) and use your time to address those things you have been putting off – a bit like that painting job most people have been meaning to get to.

On 16 March 2017 changes to the Protection of Personal Property Rights Act 1988 come into effect. Some of these changes affect how Enduring Powers of Attorney ("EPOA") are made, and others affect how they operate. If you have any unsigned EPOAs drafted and they are not fully executed by this date, they will be invalid and will need re-drafting. EPOAs fully executed prior to 16 March 2017 remain valid. Please urgently contact us if you wish to finalise documents prior to 16 March 2017.