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Rules called the associated person rules apply to tax certain capital gains derived from land due to associations between builders, property developers and dealers. These rules were strengthened with general effect from the start of the 2010/11 income year. However, an unintended consequence of the amendments to the associated person rules is that the rules can … Continue reading
A fundamental principle of trust law is a trustee’s duty to act in the best interests of the beneficiaries. Equally recognised is a beneficiary’s right to trust information so that the beneficiary has the means to enforce the beneficiary’s rights. However, what a beneficiary of a discretionary trust does not have, is a right to be notified … Continue reading
Testamentary trusts are the most common form of trust in existence. A new pages has been added to this blog to consider and comment on issues and matters peculiar to wills and testatmentary trusts. See Wills and testamentary trusts
In Bank of New Zealand v Rowley and Skinner [2012] NZHC 2835 the High Court determined that it could have the jurisdiction to liquidate a trust. See Liquidation of trusts – more clever ways to winkle assets from trusts for the background facts. The matter has now been reconsidered, following service of the judgment referred to … Continue reading
It is a fundamental proposition of trust law that a valid trust requires that the settlor has a clear intention to create a trust. However, regardless of how clear those intentions or the terms of the trust are, a trust can later be varied even if in defiance of the settlor’s stated intentions. Where a … Continue reading
Delegation is only permissbile between trustees in limited circumstances. These circmstances can be proscribed by the deed of trust or the Trustee Act. When dealing with trustees, unless all trustees are party to any decision or contract it is extremely important for any contracting party to establish whether the trustee being dealt with has the … Continue reading
Two recent cases have highlighted the importance of ensuring that any person who disposes of assets onto trust should update their will to reflect the disposition, and if relevant link to the trust. In one case the fact that assets purported to be bequested by will had previously been transferred to a trust was used in … Continue reading
Relationship property agreements and trusts are poor bedfellows at the best of times. While trusts are a common feature of many couples’ asset and estate planning activities, assets owned by a trust are not relationship property. Although the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 (the Act) can have application to trusts, the provisions that allow parties to contract … Continue reading
The thorny subject of the informality that can occur with family arrangements involving loans and trusts and the resultant lack of accord when relationships sour is not new. See Is it a bird, is it a plane, is it a loan? The issue has arrisen again in the context of a statutory demand issued by the purported … Continue reading
Vanity Fair is an unlikely source of interest for people whose minds turn more often to trusts than trust fund babes. However, a line in Vanity Fair’s recent interview with Ned Lambton, the seventh Earl of Durham, after whose ancestor Wellington’s Lambton Quay was named (the first New Zealand connection), warrants further consideration. Discussing his … Continue reading
Matters of Trust 