Legal Insights & News, Bramwell Bate Lawyers

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May 25, 2021 In Bramwell Bate News By Bate Hallett

Removal of incapacitated trustees under the new Trusts Act 2019

The new Trusts Act 2019 has had a far-reaching impact on all aspects of trust law. One of its very sensible and practical amendments is to assist in streamlining the process when a trustee under a trust becomes incapacitated. The outcome is that, where a trustee has lost mental capacity and is deemed medically unable to carry out the trustee function with its related duties, they may be relieved of those duties. The regular focus on trust administration will mean that trustees’...

May 19, 2021 In Bramwell Bate News By Bate Hallett

New Zealand/Australia Travel Bubble Requirements

COVID-19 is ravaging the world. New Zealand and Australia have fared well in containing and limiting its impact on their populations both personally and economically. However, certain sectors of commerce have been stopped in their tracks. The hospitality industries, with all their supporting services from airlines to vineyard workers, together with all the dots joined in between, have been limited to local support only. The New Zealand and Australian governments have extensive structured quarantine requirements in place, which have been adapted...

May 18, 2021 In Bramwell Bate News By Bate Hallett

Recent change to the bright-line test

The new rules around the bright-line test have been hard to miss in recent days, but what do they mean for the average person buying a residential home to live in? The bright-line test has been amended over the years and as such, there are three different rules to consider depending on when you purchased your residential property. For a residential purchase between 1 October 2015 and 28 March 2018, the bright-line period was just two years; this test is now...

April 1, 2021 In Bramwell Bate News By Adam Harris

Bramwell Bate Lawyers Is Pleased To Announce Their Newest Director

Following a year as an Associate, Bramwell Bate Lawyers is pleased to announce Christine Symes as their newest Director. Christine joins current Directors Kevin Osborne, Roger Phillip, Edward Bostock and Leah McHardy. Born and raised on a farm in Southland, Christine attended the University of Otago in the late 90s before moving to Hawke’s Bay with her husband Ben, a born and raised local. After working as an in-house lawyer for StockCo, a livestock finance company, Christine returned to working...

March 11, 2021 In Bramwell Bate News By Bate Hallett

Employers need to balance growth with volatility from COVID-19

First published in The Profit. Written by Edward Bostock. No doubt we are all spending a lot of time considering what sort of year 2021 will be. New Zealand has been very fortunate compared to the rest of the world, however, there are still plenty of challenges we are facing particularly for those in certain industries such as tourism and events, most recently highlighted by the cancellation of the Art Deco Festival due to the change in alert levels. Confidence in the...

March 8, 2021 In Bramwell Bate News By Adam Harris

Changes to sick leave entitlements

As has been anticipated, there are some proposed changes to the Holidays Act 1993 (“the Act”) that are expected to come into effect later this year. The changes look to double the minimum number of sick days available to employees from 5 to 10 days per annum, after they have worked with an employer for six months. The Holidays (Increasing Sick Leave) Amendment Bill (“the Bill”) is currently before the Select Committee of the New Zealand Parliament and is under review....

March 4, 2021 In Bramwell Bate News By Adam Harris

Important Changes to the Residential Tenancies Act for Landlords and Tenants

3 March 2021 Whether you are a landlord or tenant, it is essential to understand your rights and responsibilities under the Residential Tenancies Act. The Act is in the process of being updated and a number of important changes took effect on 11 February 2021: Rent can only be increased once every 12 months. Previously rent increases could occur every six months (this change took effect earlier, on 12 August 2020).  Landlords must have genuine reasons to end a tenancy, even if...

February 24, 2021 In Bramwell Bate News By Adam Harris

Virtually witnessed documents, are they valid?

The main purpose of having a witness to a document is to authenticate that the person signing was in fact the person noted on the document. The implementation of electronic signatures was already common practice and with the advancement of technology, was always likely to increase in use. In New Zealand, however, law requires that for an electronic signature to be legitimate, it must comply with the following: The document must identify the signatory. The electronic signature is as reliable as...