Insights & Articles

Planning Ahead: Need to make a Will even if you don't think you do?" But I don't have any assets yet" is a common response when making a Will is suggested to twenty-somethings. There is a misconception, among young people in particular, that in order to make a Will, you should have already built up a sizeable asset base. While you may not own a home or have a large un-cracked nest egg, you will almost certainly have a number of assets to protect, including:

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 special status is given to the "family home" in relationship property disputes under the relevant legislation, the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 ("the Act").

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.

Assignment of contracts is a fairly common practice in the business world. In an assignment, the person assigning the contract - the "Assignor" - assigns the benefits of the contract the Assignor holds to a new person (the "Assignee") who takes the benefit of that contract "the Assignee". Some contracts may expressly prohibit assignment and some contracts provide that a contract may not be assigned without the consent of the other party. If a contract has no provision relating to assignment, then the general rule is that it may be assigned, with a few exceptions.

What do you do when you are chasing a company for a debt and despite your requests, pleas, calls and curses, the company is failing or refusing to pay? The statutory demand process may be suitable in such circumstances.

Real estate agents or salespersons seeking to challenge a Complaints Assessments Committee's finding of unsatisfactory conduct need now to be aware of a shortened appeal period.

The combination of isolating within one bubble along with additional financial stress, changes to childcare and working from home can bring personal relationships closer or unfortunately, push them apart. Breakdowns in personal relationships can add an additional layer of stress to an already difficult situation. However, it is important to remember that help is available.

At 3.00 pm on 28 September 2021, the Government announced changes to travel during the current Alert Level 3. Travel across the border from Level 3 into Level 2 has been strictly limited, but the new rules that take effect at 11:59 pm tonight (28 September 2021) now permit travel across the border if one or more of the following situations applies to you:

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.

A recent decision in the High Court of New Zealand has provided the first instance of the Courts using the Fair Trading Act 1986 ("FTA") to declare specific terms in a standard form consumer contract unfair, and therefore unenforceable. The decision in Commerce Commission v Home Direct Limited1 was made pursuant to sections in the FTA which were introduced in 2013 and give the Commerce Commission power to apply to the District Court or High Court for a declaration that a term in a standard form consumer contract is unfair.

Gift duty was abolished from 1 October 2011 and while the legislative change itself is simple, it has surprisingly complex consequences. The abolition of gift duty has made it possible for individuals to gift assets directly to a trust and it is likely this practice will supplant the former method of selling property to a trust with a gift back.