New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Trust resettlement

Legal area

Court

19 Jun 2023

RYAN v LOBB [2023] NZHC 1518

Citation

[2023] NZHC 1518
Court

High Court

On objective contract interpretation the Mortgage did not secure WAG's loan to Mr Lobb because the advance was a past payment made prior to the transfer of the Mortgage and was not money owed by the registered proprietors acting as trustees; accordingly declarations were made that the registered proprietors owe no money to WAG and the Mortgage does not secure repayment of any debt or obligation, and WAG was ordered to take steps to discharge the Mortgage under s 83 PLA; the application for a stay was dismissed because the appeal was weak and the balance of convenience favoured implementation…
3 Apr 2023

ZHOU v LASSNIG [2023] NZHC 714

Citation

[2023] NZHC 714
Court

High Court

Stay was granted but only on terms because the balance of convenience favored allowing the respondent to seek sale of the Jack Barry Road property and to be paid from its net proceeds an on-account sum ($406,000) plus his $290,000 capital contribution, with remaining proceeds held in solicitor's trust pending appeal; this preserves the effectiveness of any eventual appellate order while mitigating the respondent's prejudice.
17 Sept 2020

TEUWISSEN v KOOIJ, [2020] NZHC 2402

Citation

[2020] NZHC 2402
Court

High Court

Because the Mayflower Trust deed provided for resettlement on separation and the principal opposing party did not appear to contest the application, the Court entered summary judgment ordering payment of reasonable trustee costs, division of the residue with half to the plaintiff's new trust, and payment of plaintiff's costs of $11,349.50 from the trust residue.
25 Mar 2020

POLLOCK v POLLOCK [2020] NZHC 648

Citation

[2020] NZHC 648
Court

High Court

The Court found both plaintiffs had arguable claims under the Family Protection Act (moral duty breached) but there were no assets in the deceased's estate because the impugned transfers were valid and not procured by undue influence or unconscionable conduct; claims under Law Reform (Testamentary Promises), remedial constructive trust, unjust enrichment and breaches of fiduciary/professional trustee duties failed. Consequently plaintiffs could not obtain awards from the estate; trustees (Cheryl and CLM Trustees) were not removed though trustees must treat Steven's children as discretionary b…
18 Nov 2019

McKENZIE v McKENZIE [2019] NZHC 2983

Citation

[2019] NZHC 2983
Court

High Court

The Court accepted the parties' consent and made orders recording the resettlement of the Alister McKenzie Family Trust into a New Trust with specified trustees, authority to seek vesting orders by consent, directions for sale of the trust property and priority reimbursement allocations from net sale proceeds, with the overriding requirement that trustees at all times give primary consideration to the welfare and interests of Julie, and did so under the Court's power to make consent orders (Senior Courts Act 2016 s 20(1)(g)).
9 Aug 2018

RHH LIMITED v SANDRINE ANDERSON [2018] NZHC 2032

Citation

[2018] NZHC 2032
Court

High Court

The application for further discovery was granted in part: the defendants must file and serve a further affidavit of documents by 22 August 2018 limited to (a) VGA Ltd/Virginia Gomes file documents to the extent Helice Properties Ltd or Ms Anderson have a right of inspection (noting financial statements are relevant and likely to exist), and (b) texts and correspondence between Miriam Roberts and Ms Anderson for the specified periods; Ms Anderson must depose as to whether she backed up emails when changing servers in May 2013 and whether she has searched/access to those backups. Requests for…
17 Nov 2017

MAHONEY v MAHONEY [2017] NZHC 2822

Citation

[2017] NZHC 2822
Court

High Court

The application for separate trials was dismissed because the applicant failed to show that bifurcation would be efficient: the issues were not sufficiently discrete, there would be significant evidential overlap (notably valuation evidence and facts surrounding non-disclosure of the Fletcher arrangements), bifurcation risked duplication, inconsistent findings and delay including potential multiple appeals, and therefore the presumption of a single trial was not displaced.
4 Sept 2015

AVISON v MCFARLANE, AVISON AND BUTLER AS TRUSTEES OF THE AVIAN TRUST [2015] NZCA 409

Citation

[2015] NZCA 409
Court

Court of Appeal

Appeal allowed: the daughters had no arguable constructive trust claim on the evidence and the transfers/gifting to the Avian Trust were not made for the purpose of contracting out of the PRA so s21/s21F do not void the transactions; clause 8.12 therefore applied and summary judgment ordering resettlement of half the Avian Trust assets (including Nos 29 and 31 Avian Road) to the Peony Rose Trust was appropriate.
22 Jun 2010

MCKNIGHT AND ORS V CRAIG AND ORS HC DUN CIV-2009-412-000919

Citation

openlaw-327012a1_3bfd_47ac_863f_18eeb016a201.pdf
Court

High Court

The Court approved the proposed variation because the applicants amended the draft Craig Family Trust deed to remove the identified potential detriments to minor and unborn beneficiaries, counsel for those beneficiaries confirmed no detriment remained, and approval was granted conditionally on the deed conforming to the amended draft filed 10 June 2010.