05.06.24
The Budget 2024
What does the government’s Budget delivered by the Minister of Finance on 30 May hold for you?...
02.04.24
Invoices not being paid on time?
What should you do if you are struggling to pay an invoice, or have customers who aren't paying your invoices?...
18.03.24
Commercial leasing and landlord consent
We discuss what a tenant can do with a leased property without the landlord's consent and what a landlord needs to do when a tenant seeks consent...
29.02.24
Can your ex-spouse claim your property when you die?
Because married couples can't divorce immediately, separated spouses may still have rights to the other's property if one of them dies...
05.02.24
Trial periods vs probation periods
We discuss the differences between trial periods and probation periods to help employers better understand their options...
22.11.23
Proposed Changes to the Retirement Villages Act 2003
Considering moving into a retirement village is a big decision, involving lifestyle choices as well as a significant financial commitment....
20.09.23
Major implications for company directors
Directors can, and will be, held personally liable for financial losses experienced by creditors if the directors allow the company to trade recklessly and/or trade while insolvent. ...
15.08.23
Refusing an Inheritance
The Family Protection Act 1955 (FPA) allows children to challenge their parents’ wills, but this only applies to assets a deceased owned in their personal names; it doesn’t apply to trust assets....
03.07.23
Supreme Court majority rules Property (Relationships) Act 1976 can apply to ‘throuples’
If you have more than one partner, the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 could now apply to you - read the article from the Auckland District Law Society here...
05.04.23
Keeping your employees during the ‘big quit’
Employers can implement retention tools to minimise turnover and ensure employee engagement. ...
24.03.23
Storm Damage to Properties
Storm damage to properties - advice on what landlords, tenants and buyers can do...
02.02.23
What is a Letter of Intent and the PPSR?
A letter of intent, also known as a heads of agreement, is often used by parties before entering into a formal contract and the PPSR register only records interests in personal property (not land). Personal property includes all property that is not land....
23.12.22
Green marketing. Is it real?
Making any form of environmental claim in marketing is known as ‘green marketing.’ Making an environmental claim that is misleading, false or unsubstantiated is usually referred to as ‘greenwashing.’ It is not a new concept......
13.10.22
Negative equity on your property? Not necessarily a nightmare.
Negative equity on your property? Not necessarily a nightmare....
12.09.22
Fair Trading Amendment Act 2021
How do the words "unfair terms" effect your business?...
10.08.22
When Lotto winners fall out
Who gets what when you share the lotto winnings...
10.08.22
Trusts Act 2019 - why does it effect my Will?
Changes to the Trusts Act 2019 might effect how your property is dealt with after your death....
04.07.22
Co-owning a property
What to do when buying a property with a family member or friend...
27.05.22
Budget 2022
The highs, the lows, and whether or not this will put more money in your account...
31.03.22
Mental health in the work place
Emerging trends from WorkSafe New Zealand indicate that the mental wellbeing of staff should fall under an employer’s obligation to provide a ‘safe’ workplace. How are you doing as an employer, and how can employees help make sure everyone is safe?...
30.03.22
Not sure of your boundary?
Sometimes the legal boundaries do not match up with structures (such as a fence or a building) on that property. What happens when the title does not match what is literally ‘on the ground’?...
25.02.22
Gift or Loan? The importance of properly documenting advances between family members.
The trusty Kiwi “She’ll be right” approach is often manifested in a reluctance to formally document intra-family lending arrangements. Catch cries of “I trust the kids to sort things out between themselves after I’m gone” and .......
03.02.22
Grounding the jet-setters
What are the rules around annual leave and overseas holidays now that Covid-19 makes everything so uncertain? Can employers legitimately deny leave if their staff disclose an intention to travel internationally? What happens when employees are stranded .....
22.11.21
Defining a de facto relationship
You may have heard that ‘Marriage is betting someone half your stuff that you’ll love them forever’. But what happens about the ‘stuff’ you own before you formally say “I do”?...
20.10.21
Getting Down to Business
A practical guide for people starting a business...
13.09.21
Lease vs licence
Choosing the premises from which to operate your business can be daunting; it is essential that you know you are entering into the right type of agreement to suit your intentions. Leases and licences are common contractual arrangements. ...
03.09.21
Britney Spears’ conservatorship - could it happen in New Zealand?
The American entertainer Britney Spears’ conservatorship has recently been in the headlines. She is asking American courts to reconsider the conservatorship which has been in place for some years....
24.08.21
Buying your first home using KiwiSaver funds, but you are already a trustee of a trust
KiwiSaver members may use their funds to help buy their first home; this is straightforward. What happens, however, if you want to buy your first home and you are already a trustee of a trust that owns property?...
08.07.21
Buying Off the Plans
What is buying off the plans? Buying off the plans is when you sign an agreement to purchase a property sight unseen, typically from a developer, before construction has been completed or, in some cases, even before the build has begun. ...
18.06.21
Recent property tax changes
In March 2021, the government announced three changes to property tax rules that are likely to affect anyone with residential property investments....
31.05.21
Bright-line test proposed changes
This fact sheet summarises changes the Government intends to make to the taxation of residential property. Once legislation is enacted, more details will be available at ird.govt.nz/property...
23.05.21
To jab or not to jab?
Your employee doesn’t want a Covid vaccination? While many Kiwis are queuing up and eagerly awaiting their Covid vaccinations, not everyone is willing to take ‘the jab’. ...
20.04.21
Social media – intellectual property owner’s friend or foe?
Treat your friend as if he might become an enemy (Publilius Syrus, 85-43 BC)...
01.04.21
To Trust or Not to Trust
The need to protect a family’s assets is not a recent phenomenon. For hundreds of years people have wanted to safeguard their family’s assets by sheltering them in a trust. ...
18.03.21
Reverse Mortgages - Increasing in Popularity
The current combination of increasing living costs, rising house prices and low interest rates has seen more than property-seekers signing up to home loans. ...
01.03.21
New Trusts Legislation Now in Force
The Trusts Act 2019 came into force on 30 January 2021. One major topic of discussion arising from the new Act has been the provisions governing disclosure of trust information to beneficiaries. ...
05.02.21
Raising Capital for your Business
The COVID pandemic has paved the way for innovation, and many New Zealanders spent 2020 investing time and money into their new or existing businesses. ...
19.11.20
We’re buying a house together
In 2020, many couples have found themselves cashing out what would have been their big OE savings stash and using it for a house deposit....
19.10.20
Understanding Your Property Title
Before you buy a property it is important that you understand exactly what you are purchasing. Your property title records (or should record) all of the interests that affect your title. ...
21.08.20
Relationship Property Claims
When entering a second or subsequent relationship, it is common to want to keep assets safe from relationship property claims....
01.07.20
What the Zero Carbon Act means for business
One of the most significant pieces of new legislation introduced last year was the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act 2019, more commonly referred to as the ‘Zero Carbon Act’. The legislation outlines the government’s targets over the ne...
19.06.20
Residential Tenancies Post COVID-19
Due to the COVID lockdown and the ensuing impact on the country’s economy, the government has made temporary changes to the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. These changes restrict a landlord’s ability to increase the rent or to end residential tenancies. ...
18.05.20
Government’s COVID-19 wage subsidy scheme
Many New Zealand employers are scrambling to maintain solvency while balancing their employer obligations during the COVID-19 lockdown; thousands of businesses accepted the government’s COVID-19 12-week wage subsidy as a necessary lifeline. ...
24.03.20
Sole Trader vs Company
You have decided to quit your job, and go out on your own to run your own business. Do you form a company or trade in your own name? We outline some of the pros and cons of these two options to help you make a decision....
19.02.20
Claims on an Estate
The Family Protection Act 1955 allows children to bring claims against the estate of a deceased parent on the basis that their parent did not adequately provide for their ‘proper maintenance and support’. ...
18.11.19
Trusts Act 2019
The Trusts Act 2019 will come into effect on 30 January 2021. Much of the Act updates or restates existing law. However, there are a number of changes about which trustees and people with trusts should be aware....
01.11.19
Residential Tenancies
The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2019 came into force on 27 August 2019. This legislation affects both landlords and tenants in a number of ways including limiting a tenant’s liability for careless damage in rental properties....
01.09.19
Subdivisions
Subdivisions are more common than you think. A subdivision can range from the carving up of hundreds of acres of rural land for housing, developing land in a prime commercial area, selling half your section or simply wanting to extend your boundary....
01.08.19
Economic disparity at the end of a relationship
As much as we like to think we are living in the modern day, there are still a large number of relationships that follow the more ‘traditional’ practice of having one party act as the ‘homemaker’, while the other acts as the ‘breadwinner’. ...
30.07.19
Great, you've found a new business, now how do you buy it?
Looking to purchase a business? We can help! There are a number of steps involved in buying a business, and working your way through them can seem quite overwhelming, particularly for first time buyers. ...
08.06.19
Blended families – wills and trusts
Making sure everyone you care about gets a fair share of your property after you die is an issue most of us grapple with. This may also have additional complications when you have a blended family....
01.06.19
Property sale and purchase agreements – important to get the GST component right
Generally speaking, GST on a property sale and purchase between two GST-registered entities results in a ‘GST neutral’ position for both the seller and the buyer. ...
01.04.19
No enduring power of attorney
Most people are now aware of the importance of having an enduring power of attorney (EPA). If you are unable to make decisions for yourself at any stage (either temporarily or longer term) it is important there is someone in place to act on your behalf. ...
01.01.19
Moving Checklist
There are many tasks to complete before you move into your new home. Here we have a list of jobs to be done in the coming weeks. Tick these off as you go!...
01.12.18
Buying a cross lease property
New Zealanders love to talk about property. There are a multitude of topics relating to property that Kiwis have an intimate knowledge and understanding about which form the topic of water cooler and dinner conversation. ...
01.09.18
Do I still need a trust
If you have a family trust set up a number of years ago, it’s good practice to review it to ensure it is still ‘fit for purpose’. Leading on from that is the question that is often asked of us, “Should I bring my trust to an end?” ...
01.04.18
Pre purchase inspections, what you can object to and what you can’t.
The final step before you settle your property purchase is to undertake a ‘pre-purchase inspection’. This gives you the right to inspect the property one last time and raise any last-minute issues about the property....
01.01.10
On the Move - A practical guide for buying and selling your home
Buying and selling a home can be an exciting time. There’s an opportunity to realise your hopes and dreams, and perhaps to begin a new part of your life. ...
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