Insights & Articles

It is common knowledge that when a married couple in New Zealand gets divorced, they, generally speaking, get half each of all the property owned by the parties. In New Zealand this asset division also extends to de facto relationships of more than three years, but what is a de facto relationship? A marriage is easy to identify: there is a wedding, someone cuts the cake, there is usually an adorable child in charge of the rings and most importantly, a legal document; a marriage certificate which says you are married. However, de facto relationships are not so easy to identify.

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.

Passed on 1 March 2017, the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 ("CCLA") represents a step taken by our Parliament to consolidate and modernise New Zealand's law relating to contracts and sales. The CCLA will come into force on 1 September 2017.

There are a large number of statutes that potentially apply to any business providing financial services or products in New Zealand. We are aware from prosecutions by regulators and from assistance that we have provided to clients, that many people are unaware of the full compliance requirements that relate to their business. In some cases, businesses may comply with one statute, but are unaware that there are other statutes that apply.

The Property (Relationships) Act 1976 ("the Act") applies to marriages, civil unions and de facto relationships. Generally under the Act, at the end of one of these relationships, the parties receive a 50:50 share of all the relationship property. This usually includes the home, family chattels, and all other property acquired during the relationship. However the Court does have the power to award a lump sum payment or order the transfer of relationship property from one party in the relationship to the other under Section 15 of the Act.

Before a deceased's last will can have the legal effect of distributing property to his or her heirs accordingly to its terms, it must be admitted to probate, that is accepted by the High Court as being valid.

A new Trusts Bill has recently been released for public consultation. This bill updates and changes various aspects of trust law. One interesting proposed change is the rights beneficiaries have to trust information. The most recent judicial case involving beneficiaries and trust information is Erceg v Erceg [2017] NZSC 28. The Supreme Court did not find that there was a presumption for or against disclosure of trust documents, but that there is an "expectation that basic trust information will be disclosed to a close beneficiary who wants it". The Supreme Court's analysis did differ from the lower Courts. The Supreme Court listed certain factors to take into consideration when courts receive a request for disclosure.

At one time or another, all businesses confront the unpleasant task of collecting outstanding fees for the services or products they have provided. When a client refuses to pay an outstanding invoice, recovering the money due may turn into a drawn-out process, even when the amount owed appears un-contentious. Engaging a solicitor to assist with the debt recovery process has the benefit of both impressing on the debtor your commitment to pursuing the debt and simplifying an otherwise frustrating process.

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.

The Construction Contracts Amendment Act 2015 is implementing a number of updates to the Construction Contracts Act 2002 ("the CCA"). The amendments are coming into force progressively between 1 December 2015 and 31 March 2017.