RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Areas of practice include:
- Advising and opining on legal issues relating to trusts, the administration of trusts, resettlement and variation of trusts, estate planning, estates and wills.
- Establishing private family trusts, charitable trusts, incorporated societies and other organisations
- Advising on trustee powers and discretions.
- Advising on the legal aspects of the investment of trust funds and generally on trustees' prudential duties.
- Preparing and advising on relationship property agreements and issues.
- Advising on planning opportunities upon immigration into New Zealand and emigration from New Zealand.
- Advising on the use of New Zealand trusts in international tax planning.
- Establishing trustee operations in New Zealand in the context of international tax planning.
- Advising and guiding families on succession issues and development of strategies to address such issues including family constitutions.
- Advising and assisting trustees and beneficiaries in relation to the variation of trust instruments including applications to the Court.
- Advising on and preparing investment management contracts, custodian arrangements, administration contracts and other service contracts for trustees.
- Advising and guiding on winding up trusts and estates including trustee indemnity issues.
- Advising on enduring powers of attorney and management under Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1998.
- Acting as court appointed property manager to manager affairs of incapacitated individuals.
- Advising on contentious trust and estate matters - disputes between trustees and beneficiaries and between different classes of beneficiaries.
- Advising and assisting clients on a broad range of issues involving the interpretation of trust deeds, duties of trustees and the management and administration of trusts.
PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS
- Presenter of New Zealand Law Society travelling seminar on "Asset Protection" (1996)
- Presenter of papers entitled "Trusts in New Zealand - a changing environment" and "Administration of trusts" at the New Zealand Law Society inaugural conference on trusts (1999)
- Presenter of workshop on master trusts at the conference of the Association of Superannuation Funds of New Zealand (2000) and presenter on superannuation issues at industry conferences
- Presenter at New Zealand Law Society trusts conference (2001) on "Modern trust structures" and "How to do a resettlement - practical legal issues"
- Presenter at New Zealand Law Society Triennial conference (2001) on "International trusts in a rapidly shrinking world"
- Presenter, Auckland District Law Society seminars on the "Property (Relationships) Act and Estate Planning" (July 2002) and "Small business issues - asset protection and succession" (October 2002)
- Presenter at New Zealand Law Society trusts conference (2003) on "The Property (Relationships) Act: trust structures and wills"
- Presenter at New Zealand branch Society of Estate and Trust Practitioners (STEP) inaugural conference (2004) on "Contracting as a trustee - liability to creditors"
- Presenter at New Zealand Law Society's trusts conference (2005) on "Contracting as a trustee - liability to creditors" and "Private trust companies"
- Presenter at Legal executives masterclass (2005) on "Property (Relationships) Act and estate planning"
- Chairman Auckland District Law Society's trust conference 2006
- Presenter at Auckland District Law Society's conference on the "Interface between property and family law" (2007), on "Dealing with property in a trust on separation"
- Presenter at New Zealand Law Society trusts conference (2007) on "Drafting trust deeds" and Co-leader of workshop on trust and will drafting
- Presenter (with Brendon Catchpole) at PwC tax conference (2008) on "Trust law and tax fiction - the distribution of income to beneficiaries"
- Presenter at NZICA Trust Special Interest Group seminar (2009) on "Problems and pitfalls relating to the winding up of trusts"
- Presenter at New Zealand Law Society trusts conference (2009) on "The Legal adviser's role - forward looking in a practical way"
- Presenter CCH webinar series (2011 and 2012) on "The abolition of gift duty"
- Presenter at International Fiscal Association (New Zealand branch) conference (2012) on "Trust distribution issues" exploring the distinction between income for trust purposes and income for tax purposes
- Presenter at NZICA tax conference (2012) on "Is gifting relevant?"
- Presenter New Zealand Law Society trusts conference (2013) on "Trustee companies" and "Trustee powers"
- Presenter at Auckland District Law Society Inc seminar on "Crafting a modern discretionary trust deed" (2014)
- Author New Zealand chapter in Garb and Wood (eds), International Succession 3rd OUP (2010)
- Author New Zealand Chapter in Rhodes (ed) Private Client Tax, European lawyer Reference series 1st ed (2010), 2nd ed (2012), 3rd ed (2015)
- Author New Zealand chapter in Jordan's Trust Law Digest (2015)
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