Wills, Trusts & Asset Protection

Although Family Trusts have become popular recently they have been with us in one form or another for more than Four Hundred years. Their basic nature remains much the same but their role has evolved to meet the needs of each generation.

10 years ago no one seemed very interested in whether Trusts were compliant or not, but since then a number of things have happened which put Trusts very much under the spotlight.

When considering an appropriate Trust structure it is important to properly identify the type of assets being settled. Generally assets should be held in one of the three different types of Trust.

As the festive season looms ever nearer I got to thinking about the legal implications of Christmas, as only a lawyer would.

It is difficult to write articles about child abuse. This article is not however about any current case.

Is it possible for one human to do that to another without knowing that such an act will at the very least cause serious and probably permanent brain damage, if not death?

If the legal Fairy Godmother ever shoulder-tapped me and gave me the option of passing any law I liked then the choice would be simple. I would pass a law making it illegal for the New Zealand parliament to pass any more laws on any topic - ever.

I remember the first time I looked at a set of documents for a 'Blue Chip' transaction. Perhaps I was having a bad day, but I had to read them through about three times to work out how they were supposed to operate. There were, I think, three separate c

Although there are still some people promoting trusts the enthusiasm has waned somewhat. The big legal topic these days is not whether you need a trust but whether the trust you set up a few years ago is worth the paper it is written on.

Jury trials are often in the news. Sometimes the complaints of jurors who feel they are inconvenienced and underpaid feature. Occasionally a trial where the decision of the jury seems unusual, such as the trial of the activists who allegedly damaged the