New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Topic

Derivative action by beneficiary

Legal area

Court

13 Jun 2022

ANDREWS v ANDREWS [2022] NZHC 1380

Citation

[2022] NZHC 1380
Court

High Court

Plaintiff lacks standing because he is not a beneficiary under the will and s126(2) of the Trusts Act 2019 permits review only by a beneficiary; the first cause of action is barred by res judicata given prior judgment; absent consent the AR Trust trustee cannot be joined as plaintiff and no special circumstances exist to grant leave for a derivative action; accordingly summary judgment and strike out of both causes of action are appropriate.
26 Jun 2015

SIMPSON v SAX [2015] NZHC 1466

Citation

[2015] NZAR 1210
Court

High Court

The trustees had conferred a rent-free right of occupation on both trustees which was never revoked; derivative action was inappropriate because trustees were not given the opportunity to act and special circumstances were not established; however, by virtue of the shared possessory interest conferred by the trustees the parties stood in a position analogous to co-owners and each could claim occupation rent for periods of sole occupation by the other; the deed, read in context, allowed interest to be charged on demand though rate unspecified, and a 5% rate was appropriate; defendant's tort cl…