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Trusts can be many things. Well run trusts can provide long-term inter-generational asset protection. When the pie does not get split on the death of each generation, there can be greater potential for wealth generation. Trusts are also generally very private. Trust ownership is not noted on land titles or in the Companies Office. But will this … Continue reading
In the Matter of the Piedmont Trust and the Riviera Trust powers of appointment and who can exercise them are an important aspect of both the management of a trust, and the very terms on which a trust is settled. It is now generally agreed that whether the powers are held by a trustee or a … Continue reading
Never let the facts get in the way of a good story. The Panama Papers story is big by any measure and there is information a plenty. However, what is being said about New Zealand and suggestions of tax haven aspects to how trusts are taxed need to be considered alongside a good dose of … Continue reading
While foreign trusts are getting some headlines, it is useful to bring attention to a small amendment to the complying trust election regime where a trust can elect to be a complying trust. The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2015–16, Research and Development, and Remedial Matters) Act 2016 has amended ss HC 10 and HC 33 … Continue reading
New Zealand’s tax treatment of trusts has made front page headlines this week due to its taxation treatment of foreign trusts. To quote the New Zealand Herald article on the “Panama Papers”: “New Zealand’s 12,000-plus offshore trusts pay no New Zealand tax on foreign earnings. Their beneficiaries are not registered and their accounts are not filed … Continue reading
The long-awaited decision (issued in fact as two separate decisions) in Clayton v Clayton were released today (23 March 2016). The first decision relates to the Vaughan Road Property Trust (VRPT) and the second to the Claymark Trust. Background Mr and Mrs Clayton commenced a de facto relationship in 1986 and married in 1989. They … Continue reading
Work Safe New Zealand.New Zealanders are reported to have more trusts per head of capita than anywhere in the world. Whether this is true or not cannot be verified as there is no register of New Zealand family trusts. The secrecy that surrounds trusts is one aspect of why they have remained so popular. While … Continue reading
When embarking on asset and estate planning, an important but often overlooked enquiry is as to how the next generation will manage the assets (and what those assets might be) and who sensibly should be in charge. Consider the case of Frickleton v Frickleton. In this case one of four sons ends up as the sole executor … Continue reading
Relationships end. Sometimes badly. Few amongst us can remember what we saw in the other. Usually we move on. Bruises are dusted. The property is divided up, each thinks the other got more than they should have. Some of us are made of stronger stuff. Relationship property assets under the control of a single party to the … Continue reading
The Court of Appeal decision in Erceg v Erceg has provided the Court of Appeal’s view of the correct approach to the disclosure of trust information to beneficiaries. Prior to this Court of Appeal decision in Erceg v Erceg it was settled law in New Zealand that beneficiaries had a rebuttable right to trust information pursuant to the … Continue reading
Matters of Trust 