If employers take only one thing out of the sacking of one of Australia’s best rugby players it should be this – in certain circumstances, an employer does have an interest, and the right to be interested, in an employee’s behaviour outside of the workplace.
Ashley-Jayne Lodge
There have been two recent notable High Court decisions regarding testamentary promises.
Basically, a testamentary promise is made when one person agrees with another that the one party will make provision for another in their will to reward them for services and work. If the promise is shown and the ...
Do you have assets overseas?
Many people now own some form of assets overseas, whether it is a timeshare on the Gold Coast, shares in Apple or a UK pension. However many people often don’t know how complicated it can be to deal with these assets after you die.
The ‘bank of mum and dad’ is probably the most used bank anywhere in the world. However, all too often, loans between family members are not formally recorded. This creates complications if family members later fall out or one party dies. The issue then is whether the advance was a ...
Wills are very important documents. The law recognises this by imposing very strict requirements on how they are to be signed.
For a Will to be considered valid, it must be signed by the willmaker, or at the direction of the willmaker, in the presence of two witnesses. Those witnesses ...
We are all living our lives online, whether it be social media or online shopping. What happens to your online accounts and digital devices when you die? How do you deal with your "digital legacy".
After his wife’s death Mr Jones appointed his daughter Mary as his attorney for both property and personal care and welfare. Mary was still living in Christchurch whereas his other daughter, Lucy, now lived permanently in London.
He thought this was a good practical choice, but was it really ...
What are they? Aren’t they just for "old" people?
Under the Wills Act the Court has the ability to declare a Will valid even if it doesn’t meet all of the usual requirements. This can make it easier for some cases where a formal Will hasn’t been completed however this should never be relied upon to carry ...
The Ministry of Social Development are scrutinising applications for residential care subsidies. They are now, more than ever, expressing that people are required to look to their own resources first before asking the state to pay.
When one of our clients passed away recently without a current Will, her family had to deal with a lot of unnecessary additional stress when trying to organise her estate.
The effect of poor Will drafting can be devastating. There have been numerous court cases where Wills have been drafted that do not actually achieve the effect that they were intended to achieve. However, a well drafted Will is incredibly good value for the benefit they bring your loved ones.