The Trusts Act 2019 introduced a presumption that trustees will provide basic trust information to every beneficiary and will provide further information on request. Before doing so, trustees must consider the factors set out in section 53 of the Trusts Act. Importantly, there is a procedure in section 54 of the Trusts Act where no … Continue reading
Webb v Webb relates to whether a tax debt owed by the former husband in New Zealand is enforceable in the Cook Islands, and what that means in the context of the division of matrimonial property in the Cook Islands; the validity of two trusts settled on somewhat unusual terms; and valuation considerations when a … Continue reading
The Matter of the Representation of Virtue Trustees (Switzerland) AG and Anor re The C Trust (the Trust) heard in the Royal Court of Jersey relates to a trust where a beneficiary named in the deed was also appointed a protector (by a hand amendment when the deed was executed) where the terms of the deed … Continue reading
Para 438 in the decision of MezhProm Bank v Pugachev refers to a phenomenon in patent law known as the Angora cat problem first identified by Professor Franzosi, an eminent academic expert in the field: “Professor Mario Franzosi likens a patentee to an Angora cat. When validity is challenged, the patentee says his patent is … 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
While “protectors” are not a common feature of New Zealand trusts, they are not entirely unheard of. A protector might be described as a hybrid of a trustee and an appointor. This is a fairly inelegant statement of the term, but hopefully it gets the idea across. The role of the protector developed in offshore jurisdictions … Continue reading