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The Trusts Bill: What will it mean for you?

Last December, the draft Trusts Bill was released for public consultation. Resulting from recommendations in a Law Commission report, the new Trusts Act will replace the Trustee Act 1956 if passed and become the primary source of trust law in New Zealand. Here is an outline of the key proposals and changes

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Legal Boundaries: Why titles matter

You have just moved into your new home and your neighbour knocks on your door. They say that your garage is two metres into their boundary.

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Company or Trust

The two most common farm-owning entities are either a company or a trust. Often, a farming operation is carried out with a mix of trust ownership (typically owning the land) and a company (owning the rest). Both structures have their pros and cons; in this article we compare these two ownership models.

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Selling your property? Avoid payment of commission to more than one agent

It’s surprising that when selling property, the seller often pays little attention to the terms of the real estate agent’s listing agreement – particularly when there may a substantial sum of commission involved.

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Section 21 Agreements and Trusts

Are they a good mix in organising relationship property in the rural sector?

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Doing Up Your House?

If you’re looking at renovating your house, you should be aware that a building consent may be needed for more work than you think. Replacing your bathroom with ‘like for like’ is not as simple as that as many people don’t realise a building consent is required for wet rooms and tiled showers.

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Get a Building Report when you’re buying a new house

For many of us, buying a home is the largest purchase we will ever make. That’s why spending a few hundred dollars on a pre-purchase building report is so important as it can save you hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars in years to come.

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Rent Reviews

Changes to the standard form of the Auckland District Law Society (ADLS) Deed of Lease now make it possible for landlords to review the annual rent payable by either a market rent review or a Consumer Price Index (CPI) rent review.

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Easements on Rural Land

An easement is defined as ‘a right of one person is respect of another person’s land.’

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Residential Building Contracts: Homework is important when building

Building a new home can be exciting, as well as being rather daunting. Stories abound of disappointments and building hassles.