Are you leasing the premises from which you run your business? The Landlord may require you to enter into a commercial lease recording the terms on which the premises are leased. Typically the following details are included in a commercial lease: The name of the landlord and the tenant. The name of the guarantor. The landlord may require you to personally guarantee the lease. A description of the premises to be leased. Whether car parks are included in the lease. The term of the lease. The date the lease starts. Whether you have the right to renew the lease and for how long, for example, the lease may state that you have three rights of renewal of three years each. The date the lease ends. T

Many people take comfort in having a will that expresses their final wishes, believing that upon their death the instructions they have set out will be followed. Therefore, it may come as a surprise to some that your will can be challenged after you die and if successful, a Judge may decide how your estate is divided. The legal validity of the will may be challenged if, for example, it does not comply with procedural requirements such as witnessing or if the deceased was not of sound mind when they signed it. If the will is found to be invalid, either an earlier will can be reinstated or the estate will be distributed under the rules of intestacy. Pursuant to the Family Protection Act 1955,

With the desire to provide for their children long after they are gone, we are often approached by clients wanting to know the “safest way” to give assets to their child without it potentially becoming relationship property. In a qualifying relationship, relationship property is divided between the parties when the relationship comes to an end. When transferring an asset to your child who is in a relationship, it is highly likely that the asset will be converted into relationship property and in the event the relationship ends by separation, your child’s estranged partner will entitled to a half share. To protect an asset from future claims, we will often advise a client to establish a fam

Having a family trust used to be considered the be all and end all for asset protection. For many asset holders, establishing a family trust and transferring their assets meant they lessened the risk of having their wealth consumed by rest home care fees and allowed them to avoid tax implications. These days, however, it’s not that straight forward. Now that gift duty has been abolished in New Zealand, the maximum amount of debt a person or couple can gift to a family trust before it is seen as a deprivation of assets is $27,000 per year, or $6,000 per year in the 5 years preceding the application for the Residential Care Subsidy. This is half the amount it was prior to the abolishment on 1