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
read article 
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
read article 
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
read article 
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
read article 
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
read article 
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
read article 
It is very common for clients to find out that their
contract doesn't actually say what they intended, or that they have
made a mistake in it. The law provides three ways to remedy such
problems.
By Geoff Hardy - 6 Mar 2019
read article 
In Clayton v Clayton, the Supreme
Court quashed any residual belief that a discretionary family trust
set up by one spouse during a marriage will, in the event of the
marriage dissolving, protect 'their' property from a claim by the
other spouse.
By Andrew Steele - 1 Mar 2019
read article 
Everyone loves a good romance story but what does it mean
when the relationship ends as quickly as it started? A marriage
which ends before its third anniversary is referred to
as a marriage of short duration. In New Zealand there are special
rules around division of assets for these short
relationships.
By Surendra Bennett - 21 Feb 2019
read article 
The Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988
allows the Court to appoint a "welfare guardian" for a person who
has lost the capacity to make decisions for themselves in relation
to their personal care and welfare. Generally, only one person may
be appointed as a welfare guardian. The commonly known exception to
this was where there are "exceptional circumstances" which satisfy
the Court that it would be in the interests of that person to do
so. However, on 14 November 2018, this test changed.
By Tony Johnson - 17 Feb 2019
read article