Trusts emerge regularly in relationship property disputes and they are generally well understood to take priority whenever there is a competition between the trust and a claim that the trust property otherwise falls within the pool of relationship assets available for division. Nevertheless,...

On death there is an inevitable tension in succession law between property and family, between testamentary freedom and the deceased's duty to provide for family members. This paper considers the relationship property rights of a surviving spouse (or partner) in common law jurisdictions. The...

The breakdown of a marriage, civil union, or de facto relationship inevitably affects children of the relationship. The question this paper addresses is whether the interests of children should be taken into account in the division of property between their parents and, if so, how those...

When the new Wills Act was adopted in 2007 it made a number of changes to the law regulating wills. Probably the most radical change is the power in s 14 to validate wills that do not comply with the formal requirements for making a valid will in s 11. This change follows Australia’s lead,...

This paper was commissioned as part of the New Zealand Law Commission review on various aspects of the law of succession, in particular the Family Protection Act 1955. The author begins by reviewing criticisms of the Act in case-law, before considering a number of options for the transmission of...

This paper is the result of a survey of the judicial awards made under the New Zealand Family Protection Act 1955 in favour of children of the deceased. It was commissioned by the New Zealand Law Commission as part of its project on the law of succession. Its purpose was to determine whether...

This article considers the limits on testamentary freedom in New Zealand, with a particular focus upon the Court’s treatment of adult children’s claims for family provision under the Family Protection Act 1955 and compares that to the institution of forced heirship in civil law...

Succession law in New Zealand has been widely criticised for many years as being incoherent and unprincipled both in regard to its approach to property entitlements for spouses and unmarried partners and in its liberal approach to support claims under the Family Protection Act 1955. Although...