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The transfer of a family home to a trust is a relatively routine occurrence. The general order of events is: settle trust execute agreement for sale and purchase carry out any gifting get bank consent register transfer What happens if the last step does not occur? Has the sale in fact been effected? Particularly in … Continue reading
One of the stated purposes behind the proposed new Trusts Act (currently in the form of a draft bill) is to make trust law clearer and more accessible. Laudable, but is it realistic? The naysayers need not go much further than the decision in NZ Natural Therapy Limited (in Liquidation) v Little. A little bit of background … Continue reading
This blog, which might just as easily be entitled “Flat earth Society members need not apply”, considers the charitable status of cryogenics research. “[1] The possibility of life after death is, perhaps, one of humanity’s oldest preoccupations. Resurrection is at the heart of Christian ideology. And from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, HG Welles’ When the Sleeper … Continue reading
The harsh reality of math of asset and estate planning is that sometimes 3 into 1 just will not fit. Consider Talbot v Talbot. The residual estate comprised: 1 farm interest worth approximately $4m $2m cash, and 3 beneficiaries. One son had worked on the farm from the age of 17. The two daughters enjoyed a … Continue reading
14 years since the paper Some Problems in the Law of Trusts was released a draft Trusts Bill has been released for consultation. The draft Bill largely reflects the recommendations from the Law Commission’s review of trust law that commenced in 2009 culminating in a final report that was released in 2013. The Bill has been introduced to address problems with current … Continue reading
The idea behind the “bright-line” test is a clear rule that provides with limited exceptions (the most important one for most people relating to the sale of the family home) sales of residential property within two years of acquisition will be taxable. However, what comprises an acquisition or a disposal is not always entirely obvious. For example, consider the … Continue reading
War of the Roses is a 1989 American film based on the 1981 novel The War of the Roses by Warren Adler. The film, which co-stars Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito chronicles the demise of a marriage against the backdrop of a beautiful home that the couple, literally fight to the death over. Trust disputes can be … Continue reading
Come gather ’round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You’ll be drenched to the bone If your time to you Is worth savin’ Then you better start swimmin’ Or you’ll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin’ Come writers and … Continue reading
There is no register of family trusts in New Zealand thus affording trustees considerable privacy. However, one area where trusts are generally “open to the public” is where trust matters come before the High Court, or a higher court. This has been highlighted in the case of Erceg v Erceg (SC) where the trustee respondents … Continue reading
Certainty as to object, that is, who the beneficiaries of a trust are is one of the three certainties required to evidence a valid trust. See Davis v White. However, what is the position where it is clear that a person or company or trust is a beneficiary – it is just that had the … Continue reading
Matters of Trust 