Blog

Does your subcontract expose you to high risk?

Cashflow is the very life blood of most industries. None more so than the construction industry. However, despite changes to building laws, multiple failures in recent months have shown that many subcontractors still struggle to get paid.

By Geoff Hardy - 30 May 2019

If you sign a building contract, can you change your mind and cancel it?

This situation arises surprisingly often. Occasionally the builder finds that he has over-committed himself, and doesn't have the resources to do justice to all the projects he has on the go. Sometimes that is because the building firm has lost one or more of its experienced personnel through death or natural attrition. Or the builder might discover that the property owner is very difficult to deal with and it is clear that they are going to be at loggerheads throughout the entire duration of the project. Of course the property owner might reach the same conclusion about the builder, and want to be rid of him. Or the property owner might simply run out of money, or discover that the project is going to turn out a lot more expensive than anticipated, perhaps because the site requires a lot of excavation and removal of rock, or the building contains asbestos which is going to take months to remove safely.

By Geoff Hardy - 27 May 2019

How the new Family Violence Act could affect you

The Family Violence Act 2018 will shortly come into force replacing the Domestic Violence Act. This new Act is designed to give the courts better guidance about the nature and impact of family violence.

By Surendra Bennett - 17 May 2019

Be careful what you say when promising to pay someone else's debt

Many people aren't aware that, in certain circumstances, you can be held legally responsible for other people's debts just on a simple promise to pay - whether given verbally, in a text or an email.

By Telise Kelly - 10 May 2019

Builders, what can you do if you're faced with a complaint from the Building Practitioner's Board?

One of the benefits of being a Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP) is the sole right to undertake and supervise restricted building work in New Zealand. However, with that right comes responsibility. If you fail to maintain the standards required of you, anyone can make a complaint against an LBP to the Building Practitioners Board.

By Pierce Bedogni - 3 May 2019

An Alternative to Bankruptcy

When a debtor has multiple creditors, often it seems as if there is no alternative but to throw in the towel and file for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy does have some advantages in that an individual is released from all his or her existing debts and that in three years (as long as no objection is filed in the Court) is discharged from bankruptcy. There are however downsides to bankruptcy.

By Tony Johnson - 11 Apr 2019

Left out? Challenging a Will

Accompanying the increase in blended families is a corresponding increase in claims by children against the deceased estate of a parent who entered a new relationship. Acrimonious divorces and de facto separations sometimes leave children of the relationship estranged from one parent. This in turn can sometimes result in the children being disinherited in favour of the estranged parent's new partner and family.

By Terri Gough - 5 Apr 2019

How free is speech on social media?

Following recent events, some employees are discovering that their social media activity is coming under scrutiny. As an employer, when can you become involved if your employee is posting vitriolic comments on Facebook?

By Claire Mansell - 27 Mar 2019

Businesses can still use the Consumer Guarantees Act

What the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (the CGA) does is insert some basic guarantees into every contract for the supply of consumer goods or services, and those guarantees override anything that the written contract might say to the contrary. This is important because large suppliers often impose standard form terms of trade on their customers that are heavily weighted in the suppliers' favour, and a small customer has no chance of negotiating anything more favourable.

By Geoff Hardy - 21 Mar 2019

In a relationship breakup can you get more than 50 percent?

Recently I had a new client who in our initial meeting said "my friends have told me I can get more than 50% of the assets". How many people going through a separation have heard the same thing from friends or family who have either gone through it themselves, or heard about "someone" who got more than 50%?

By Fiona McGeorge - 14 Mar 2019