Property, Wills, Estates and Trusts
Dealing with higher interest rates and the increasing costs of living can make obtaining your ‘first home plates’ challenging. However, there are some steps you can take to make your journey towards homeownership a bit smoother. Read on ...
When someone has died, it is helpful for their solicitor to be contacted. The solicitor can check the person’s last Will, to see if it included a preference for burial or cremation, or other funeral instructions.
You may have heard the word ‘caveat’ batted around while waiting in line for your coffee in downtown Tauranga or in the latest legal drama on Netflix but what actually is a caveat?
When drafting Wills, it is common for a couple to leave their entire estate to each other and to provide that after the death of both of them, their estate will pass to their children in equal shares. But what happens if you have children from a prior relationship?
Everybody knows it is important to have a will in place, but it is also very important to appoint someone to act on your behalf if you lose mental capacity. Life is uncertain, and an accident or serious illness could impact your life at any time, so having Enduring Powers of Attorney or “EPOAs” is a significant part of your estate planning.
So what's the deal when you purchase property with your parents, sister, best friend or in-laws?!
Read on for some examples of when to actually engage a lawyer in your property matters...
A unit title property is part of a development where all unit owners form a community, known as the ‘Body Corporate’. The Body Corporate will own the common areas within the development, for example the driveways, hallways, and stairs. There are a number of requirements for meetings, voting, rules, charging levies, and managing funds such as a long-term maintenance fund.
Our law around unit title property is set to change in the following ways ...
Purchasers are excited about moving into their new property. There is an expectation that the vendors will leave the property clean and tidy and will remove all their belongings and rubbish. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.
Succession law governs how property passes from one individual to another on death and who has rights to that property. Regardless of how a person chooses to leave their estate in their Will, the law recognises the rights of certain individuals to entitlement under legislation.
So what does happen to your assets if you haven’t spelled out what you would like to happen?
