Business owners ask this question often, and with good reason. With all the changes to New Zealand’s (NZ) trust laws and tax environment, it’s no wonder many of you are questioning whether these structures are still worth the effort. I see it all the time – business owners hanging onto outdated structures that stopped serving […]

What is a “Family Office”, Why have one, what have others done, and what choices exist? The “Family Office” is a relatively new label for a relatively old structure Family offices have their origins in the sixth century, when a Kings steward was responsible for managing royal wealth. The modern concept of the family office […]

The Trusts Act 2019 received royal consent in July 2019 and will come into effect after 30th January 2021. The Act codifies existing practice surrounding trusts. The key changes are: Extension of a trust’s life from 80 years to 125 years. Defined trustee duties to mandatory duties and default duties. Default duties can be contracted […]

A number of you will no doubt remember, the release of the Panama papers in early 2016, which suggested that NZ might be considered a tax haven, due to its taxation rules with respect to foreign trusts. Naturally the resulting public outcry saw the appointment of an independent reviewer by the Government, whose task it […]

Most do not have to consider the vexed issue of legacy and succession. Most don’t have to fret that when they die, their children will have choices that they are ill prepared for. Some fret that their children expect to inherit and thus live waiting for their parents to die. This is the point where […]

We are born naked and without any possessions or identity. But from the moment we fill our lungs with our first breath and scream our arrival into this world we begin accumulating. We accumulate, clothes, a car seat, Plunket book, toys, birth certificate, basinet, pram, high chair, more toys, bank account, NHI number, photos, a […]

New Foreign Trust Disclosure Regime – Are You Ready? The passing of the Taxation (Business Tax, Exchange of Information, and Remedial Matters) Act 2017 in February 2017, saw the introduction of new disclosure rules for foreign trusts. A reaction to the so-called Panama papers published in early 2016, which suggested NZ might be considered a […]

The release of the Supreme Court’s (“the Court”) ruling in the case of Clayton v Clayton (SC 23 2015) on 23rd March 2016 certainly caused a stir around the desks of numerous accounting and legal professionals throughout New Zealand, as word spread that the highest court in the land had determined that a power of […]

We have written before on this topic. Sorry if it sounds like a broken record, but we are trying to be the fence at the top of the hill, rather than the ambulance at the bottom! If you know of anyone looking at becoming a trustee, we’d be more than happy to have a chat […]