Inland Revenue has releaed a post-implementation review of the increased disclosure requirements that were introduced in December 2020 with application from the 2021–22 and later income years. See Trust disclosures post-implementation review Inland Revenue’s post-implementation recomendation is to retain the disclosure regime with changes to: The report is accompanied by the 2023 trust disclosure data and … Continue reading
In Naaman v Jaken Properties Australia Pty Limited, the High Court of Australia considers “whether a successor trustee owes a fiduciary obligation to a former trustee in respect of the former trustee’s entitlement to indemnification out of trust assets or the commensurate beneficial interest in the trust assets that the former trustee retains following replacement … Continue reading
Testamentary trusts arise in many circumstances and for many reasons. In Castle Trustees Limited the deceased provided for the residue of his estate to provide income for his children throughout their lives with a 1/4 share of the total residuary estate being distributed in equal shares to the grandchildren following the death of each child. … Continue reading
Settling relationship property matters where this is a trust or trusts in the mix can be problematic where the record of agreement may not correctly reflect trust owned assets. In Willis v Willis, Duffy J was of the view that an agreement that purported to be made under s 21A of the Act could not … Continue reading
This appeal to the Supreme Court addresses what rights or powers s in a family trust can properly be treated as “property” rights or interests falling within the ambit of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 (the PRA). For the background see Weakly Fiduciary. The appeal was denied, the reasons for which are summarised at [125] … Continue reading
Trustees are commonly also beneficiaries of family trusts. However, where sibling rivalry or other family disputes compromise the proper administration of a trust, Court assistance can be necessary to determine whether trustees have been properly removed, or whether some or all of the trustees should be removed. In Lim v Lim-Yip the Court was required … Continue reading
The Supreme Court has held that notwithstanding the fact that “The appellants were abused in a most shocking way by their father when they were children…” that “The imposition of fiduciary obligations based on peculiar vulnerability alone, untied from the analysis of, or even need for, a subsisting relationship, is inconsistent with the relationship-based analysis … Continue reading
“Retaining” the trust when a relationship ends is often not as straight-forward as the relevant parties might consider. This is highlighted in Collinson v Collinson & Co Limited where orders were sought for variation to a trust to allow the inclusion of one the settlor’s child and a any future children with his new party. … Continue reading
The question posed by the court in An application by Hoglie Trustees Limited as trustee of the Larry Robertson Family Trust was whether the Larry Robertson Family Trust (the Trust) was void from inception due to lack of certainty as to the Trust’s objects. Relevantly section 15 of the Trusts Act 2019 provide that: As … Continue reading
Innes v Darlow relates to an application for an order referring the parties to mediation pursuant to section 145 of the Trusts Act 2019. The background of the matter is set out at [13] as follows: “The plaintiff alleges that [her parents] (who were two of the three trustees of the Trust) agreed, promised or … Continue reading