Kiwilaw* - 'yield to principle, not to pressure'
Probate, wills, estate administration, reseal grants, transmission to executors
by Cheryl on
Making a valid will is easier in New Zealand than in many other countries. You don’t have to use a lawyer. You don’t have to register the will. Almost anyone can witness the will.
Even if you don’t get it right, the High Court still has the discretion to declare your will ‘valid’.
[Read more…] about How to sign, witness, and store your new New Zealand willby Cheryl on
This form is a valid New Zealand will if you fill it in clearly, date it, and sign it in New Zealand in front of two adult witnesses who are both present. It is unashamedly unconventional.
It is intended for people who have never quite got round to making a will and who think $250+ for a ‘lawyer’s will’ is more than they want to spend right now.
[Read more…] about A New Zealand will does not need jargon, prose, paragraphs, or moneyby Cheryl on
I am appalled to see that, in its email bulletin this evening, NZLS is cravenly accepting MBIE’s interpretation of the Level 3 restrictions instead of applying the plain wording of the Health Act (COVID-19 Alert Level 3) Order 2020.
[Read more…] about NZLS surrenders role of interpreting legislation to bureaucratsby Cheryl on
It’s a crisis! There are not enough judges! Judge time is having to be moved from District Court criminal cases to Family Court cases! Family Court registry staff are overloaded!
All of this is true. [Read more…] about Family Court crisis creates more incentive to use FDR and mediation – to ‘make peace, not war’
by Cheryl on
Dad is in prison. Mum wants a parenting order for day-to-day care of the children.
Before she can apply to the Family Court, Mum is required to attend a parenting-information programme (‘Parenting Through Separation’).
She is also required to use Family Dispute Resolution (FDR), to try to reach agreement with Dad without Family Court proceedings. [Read more…] about Parents in prison can still use FDR (Family Dispute Resolution)
by Cheryl on
Registrar John Earles runs the Probate Unit of the High Court. He is not keen on people taking a DIY approach to probate applications. It’s too easy for them to get things wrong, and they expect advice from his staff which his staff are not allowed to provide.
[Read more…] about Probate – do it yourself? or do you use the solicitor who holds the will?
by Cheryl on
When Oranga Tamariki social workers and police uplift children without notice, often using deception to gain access to the children, parents and families are justifiably enraged, shocked, and indeed beside themselves. Families’ and parents’ reaction may then make things worse and be used against them in subsequent court proceedings.
All of that is bad enough.
What makes everything worse is confusion about the relevant law. [Read more…] about ‘Care and protection’ – confusion about without-notice uplifts, family group conferences, and s67 ‘declarations’
by Cheryl on
New Zealand First’s election platform included a policy of making Family Court counselling more effective.
We hope that the new government will encourage more creative use of the existing system, before making changes that may prove unnecessarily disruptive.
The collaborative approach outlined below is one such creative innovation, achieved within the existing system.
[Read more…] about Creative use of s46G counselling orders – with one psychologist per party, using peace-making therapeutic skills in a collaborative approachby Cheryl on
If you become incapable of making decisions, or of communicating decisions, who will do this for you?
The cheapest answer is to appoint an ‘attorney’ beforehand, by a document known as an ‘enduring power of attorney’ (‘EPA’). [Read more…] about Reduce the family friction – put controls in your EPA (enduring power of attorney) – to protect your attorney from attack by other members of the family
by Cheryl on
A prison inmate has the same legal status as any other parent/guardian.
So a serving prisoner may apply for parenting orders or orders involving guardianship disputes. A prisoner may also defend applications for such orders. [Read more…] about Prisoners don’t cease to be parents
