The threshold for requiring a formal grant of administration is increasing from $15,000 to $40,000, reducing legal costs and easing the process for executors and families. In the article below, Megan explains what this change means, how it may affect you, and why having a valid will in place remains essential.
In deciding whether to wind up a trust the trustees should take into account the circumstances of the beneficiaries of the trust, the terms of the trust deed and obtain legal and tax advice. This article sets out some of the reasons why you may want to wind up a trust, matters that should be checked before winding up a trust, and the steps that need to be taken to wind up a trust.
As a beneficiary of a trust, you are not obliged to just “trust” that the trustees are doing their job properly. But how can you check? This article looks at the options available to beneficiaries to obtain trust information.
New Zealand’s Tax Administration Act 1994 (the Act) was amended in December 2020. The changes to the Act include the introduction of new disclosure requirements for trusts to allow for the IRD to better monitor trust income.
Many family assets in New Zealand are owned by a family trust. The trustees of such trusts must comply with a wide range of duties and obligations. This article considers one of those duties, the trustee duty of impartiality, and what this duty means in practice, particularly when trustees want to distribute trust assets unequally amongst trust beneficiaries.
We are often approached by clients who would like to give something back to the community and have therefore decided to form a charitable trust. There are a number of key steps in this process, which we can assist with.
It is an honour to be asked to be an independent trustee for a friend or family member. However this honour comes with significant risks. This article discusses those risks and how to minimise them.
Family trusts are often marketed as a great way to protect family assets. Although trusts can be useful, they are not ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ cards, as Mr Lightbody discovered when his trust was considered by the Supreme Court in Regal Castings Ltd v Lightbody.