It's no secret that New Zealanders love trusts. At its
simplest, a trust is a legal relationship where someone (the
settlor) gives property to another (the trustee) to look after it
and use if for the benefit of another person (the
beneficiary).
By Alden Ho - 21 Jun 2018
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If you are the father of a child, you may think that you
automatically have a say in your child's upbringing (such as
schooling, religion, where they live etc) however that may not be
the case. Legally you only get a say in your child's life if you
are their legal guardian.
By Surendra Bennett - 14 Jun 2018
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One of the lesser known policies of the current government was
the promise to consider the reintroduction of minimum redundancy
compensation for employees affected by restructuring.
By Claire Mansell - 7 Jun 2018
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Short of a registered mortgage or the property being
registered in a party's name as owner, a caveat remains one of the
most powerful tools for a party wanting to protect their security
interest or their proprietary interest in a property.
By Tony Johnson - 30 May 2018
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Recently, the Tenancy
Tribunal ruled that landlords can claim for the profits that a
tenant makes in illegally subleasing their rental premises,
especially for the purposes of an Airbnb rental. In this case, the
landlord discovered that his apartment had been rented out 46 times
over a six month period on Airbnb for approximately $249 per
night.
By Pierce Bedogni - 25 May 2018
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In their advancing years, many people come to rely on the
support, services and affection of others. Often this support is
not from family members. In such instances many people make or
imply promises that they will look after the service provider in
their will. The promises are more often than not made to secure the
benefits supplied, but can be made simply as a reward or 'gesture
of gratitude' for the services supplied.
By Andrew Steele - 18 May 2018
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When does work start and finish? It seems like an obvious
question but it can be a bit more complicated than you might first
think. For instance, should employees be paid for "pre work"
activities like meetings or changing into protective work gear?
What about after work training?
By Claire Mansell - 15 May 2018
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The storm in Auckland on 10 April
caught many people unaware. Trees caused carnage in many
neighbourhoods - cutting power lines, falling on parked cars and
destroying homes. In fact, many people are now looking at leafy
inner city suburbs with fresh eyes. Could we have been growing our
own 'weapons of mass destruction' all these years?
By Geoff Hardy - 9 May 2018
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A negligent approach to removing asbestos not only puts you at
risk, but also those around you. WorkSafe has identified asbestos
as the single biggest cause of death from work-related disease. On
average about 170 people die in New Zealand every year from
asbestos-related diseases. In April 2016 a two-tiered
licensing system was introduced with new regulations to govern the
identification, management and safe removal and disposal of
asbestos. The transitional period ended on 4 April this year. If
you are planning to get work done (that is more than minor or
routine maintenance work) on a building built prior to 2000, you
must assume that asbestos will be present and be prepared for
significant compliance costs.
By Meika McHardy - 26 Apr 2018
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Whether you are a builder or a property owner, when you
embark on a building project it is critical that you use a
sophisticated written building contract that covers all the bases.
The days of doing building projects on a handshake are,
unfortunately, long gone.
By Geoff Hardy - 20 Apr 2018
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