Jacobsen & Co Lawyers

Property Law

Thinking of buying or selling a property? Need to refinance?

Whether you are buying or selling a property, you are the one who must be satisfied with the outcome – not the agent, not your family or friends. Stay in control of the process and let your lawyer help you to:

• understand the buying and selling process
• understand the continuing financial commitments, especially if you are buying a unit title or leasehold property as they are different to those associated with traditional home ownership
• understand the different disclosures you are legally required to make as a seller or request or receive as a buyer of a unit title property, and the consequences or remedies available if they are not made or are made late
• understand the loan documentation and the financial commitment you are making, and that it fits within your budget
• work out your financial limitations – how much you can borrow, how much you can afford to repay, and can you satisfy any conditions of your loan approval?
• talk to your lawyer about any pre-purchase checks (‘due diligence’) you should make
• find out the other costs of buying or selling a property
• complete any other legal work you might need such as making a will, preparing enduring powers of attorney, setting up a trust or understanding taxation or property relationship matters
• understand the agents’ role, who they work for, how they are paid and how you can get best value from them.

Relationship Law

Sometimes things don’t work out how you have planned

Breaking up is hard to do, but so is coming together. We get it, talking about breaking up and who gets what is difficult when you are in a relationship and even more difficult when you have just left me. We have helped many different situations and because of our experience, we prioritise the human element over the process. You and your ideal outcome drives the process and not the other way around. When you enter a relationship and you and your partner don't start on an even footing financially, a contracting out agreement can help you. The agreement records who brought what to the relationship and what happens to your property if you separate or one of you dies.

It is called a contracting out agreement because once signed, you and your partner will have opted out of the equal sharing rules set out in our relevant legislation. Instead, you will make your own contractual arrangements with your partner.

At the other end of the relationship spectrum, when you exit a relationship, a separation agreement records your legal separation from your partner and sets out how your relationship assets and liabilities will be divided between you. This can be an emotional time and we are here to help.

Trust Law

Considering a trust or have a trust and want to know more?

Trusts are a popular way of protecting property and managing assets.

A trust is created when a person (the settlor) transfers property to people (known as trustees). Trustees are obliged by law to use the property for purposes that the settlor has specified. Usually one of these purposes is to make payments from the trust property to people (called beneficiaries).

Although a trust is normally given a name and is often referred to as if it is a separate entity, like a company, it is not. A trust is a relationship between trustees and beneficiaries which imposes duties on the trustees to deal with the trust property in the interests of beneficiaries.

The way the trust property is to be dealt with and the parties involved are usually set out in a document known as the trust deed. Trusts can also be created by wills.

Trusts can be set up for charitable purposes such as education or established specifically for the benefit of the members of a particular family. The terms of trusts can differ markedly depending on the purpose for which a trust has been established.

The Trusts Act 2019 ("the Trusts Act") applies to all express trusts in New Zealand, including family trusts. If settlors and trustees have not already done so since this legislation came into force on 30 January 2021, they should organize a comprehensive review of their trust deeds.

This guide deals with one particular type of trust – the family trust – but much of the information will also apply to other types of trusts.