This paper addresses how the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 (PRA) may affect elderly people, particularly where the parties have assets from a prior relationship. The author considers what happens to their property if their relationship ends on separation or death. The author also makes brief...

In this article, the author reviews the first New Zealand Court of Appeal decision on the Property (Relationships) Act 1976: Nation v Nation. The article concludes that this decision should be welcomed particularly by property lawyers, because it provides some much-needed certainty in regard to...

This article discusses the death provisions in the New Zealand Property (Relationships) Act 1976 (PRA) and their application in the New Zealand Court of Appeal decision in Public Trust v Whyman. The author argues that the decision reveals the general uncertainty as to the overall purpose and...

This article considers the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom case Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v James, which was a judgment under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in respect of a seriously ill man who lacked capacity to make decisions about his medical treatment. The author...

This article considers the New Zealand Court of Appeal decision in Clayton v Clayton, which concerned a relationship property dispute involving assets held in trusts. The authors provide a brief discussion of the relationship property claims that Mrs. Clayton made against Mr. Clayton’s various...

This article is an examination of the interaction between trusts and relationship property in New Zealand looking at key legislative provisions, sham and alter ego arguments, bundles of rights and the possible effects of the ongoing review of the law of trusts by the New Zealand Law Commission

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...