New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Powers of trustees

Legal area

Court

7 May 2015

RE CANTERBURY BRANCH NEW ZEALAND FEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN TRUST [2015] NZHC 950

Citation

[2015] NZHC 950
Court

High Court

The Court approved the scheme because the proposed amendments and limits on trustee amendment powers facilitate the administration and carrying out of the charitable trust, do not affect the integrity or charitable purpose of the original objects, and comply with the requirements of s56 (and the advertising requirements of s36). The Attorney‑General's report supported these findings.
21 Mar 2013

GREGORY NOEL RATHBUN, ALLAN MCKENZIE FRASER AND ANDREW MCKENZIE FRASER AS TRUSTEES OF THE BALFOUR TRUST HC AK CIV 2013-404-174

Citation

openlaw-f7d62d5d_b16a_43d6_bf58_1860821aa72d.pdf
Court

High Court

Where a trust deed authorises appointment of 'bodies' as discretionary beneficiaries and contains no clear prohibition on distributing income or capital to them, the Court will approve a s64A variation to confirm trustees may distribute to non‑natural discretionary beneficiaries where the variation benefits, and does not detrimentally affect, those lacking capacity; a s66 direction was unnecessary here.
4 Feb 2009

JEFFREY & ORS V JEFFREY & ORS HC HAM CIV 2008-419-000921

Citation

openlaw-91d2f7fe_7d96_4b6e_9e6e_94f83cdac1e6.pdf
Court

High Court

The plaintiff failed to discharge the onus for summary judgment because the material did not demonstrate the defendants had no real defence or a specific breach of duty; the will conferred extensive discretionary powers on the trustees (including sale and allocation powers) and issues of interpretation and practical difficulty (eg partition/subdivision) require further factual and legal inquiry; accordingly summary judgment is inappropriate and the proceeding must continue on the standard track.

New Zealand Case Law

RE CANTERBURY BRANCH NEW ZEALAND FEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN TRUST [2015] NZHC 950

GREGORY NOEL RATHBUN, ALLAN MCKENZIE FRASER AND ANDREW MCKENZIE FRASER AS TRUSTEES OF THE BALFOUR TRUST HC AK CIV 2013-404-174

JEFFREY & ORS V JEFFREY & ORS HC HAM CIV 2008-419-000921