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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
In Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part I when Prince Hal finds the cowardly Falstaff pretending to be dead on the battlefield, the prince assumes he has been killed. After the prince leaves the stage, Falstaff rationalizes “The better part of Valour, is Discretion; in the which better part, I haue saued my life” (spelling and punctuation … Continue reading
Family trusts can generally run for up to 80 years. That puts quite an onus on the settlor to get it right. It also means that where beneficiaries are defined by reference to children and grandchildren there can be a significant number of beneficiaries over time. Jones & Ors as Trustees v Collings & Ors there … Continue reading
There are currently 27,322 registered charities in New Zealand with a combined reported annual income of $16,505 million. What is sometimes overlooked is all the people behind the scenes who make all this happen. Making sure that everyone who makes these things happen know their responsibilities and obligations is a significant undertaking. It has been reported … Continue reading
Beneficiaries of a trust – including a testamentary trust are entitled to information relating to the trust. In the Goodman v Campbell a minor beneficiary’s mother sought appointment as a litigation guardian following an executor’s refusal to provide information about the estate of which her minor son was the sole beneficiary. The trustee of the … Continue reading
Matters of Trust 