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Our people are what make us unique

We have been assisting our clients since 1948 and our legal specialists provide innovative and practical solutions across property law, commercial, employment and business law, disputes resolution, charity, social enterprises, estates and immigration law.

Community Housing – A Legal Guide

This free resource, updated in June 2026, covers key considerations that should be worked through in the provision of community housing here in Aotearoa.

Our team have a long history of assisting organisations with community housing. We have condensed all of the key things we have learned down into this guide, which traces the typical lifecycle of a community housing project and unpacks what is involved at each stage.

For more information and to download the guide for free, visit our Information Hub.

Charities: Policies Package

Designed for Purpose-Driven Organisations

Getting started with policies can seem daunting, but they’re essential to protecting your people and your organisation’s purpose.

To support you, we’ve developed an affordable, one-off Policies Package designed specifically for for-purpose organisations.

Whether you’re building your policies from the ground up or reviewing existing ones, we’re here to make the process simple and practical.

Latest Articles

Trustee Liabilities: Demystifying your role

In our series of articles on “demystifying the role of Trustees of charitable trusts” we answer some of the questions we hear most often from Trustees. In this article we focus on the legal liabilities of Trustees. In our other articles…

What Powers do the Trustees of Charitable Trusts have?

Our charitable trust clients often ask what powers Trustees have. It is a great question to be asking. While Trustees tend to have quite wide powers, sometimes the powers are restricted by the wording of the Trust Deed. Knowing what is permitted…

Delegation within Charitable Trusts – What is Permitted?

It is relatively common for Trustees of charitable trusts to delegate some functions and responsibilities to other people. However, it is important to understand what delegations are legally permitted and what is not able to be delegated, and…

Trustee Duties: Demystifying your role

Thousands of New Zealanders are Trustees of charitable trusts, providing governance for thousands of diverse charities. In our series of articles on “demystifying the role of Trustees of charitable trusts” we answer some of the questions…

Do You Know Who Your Trust Beneficiaries Are?

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Beneficiaries are the people for whose benefit a trust has been established. They may be named individuals, or they may fall within a wider class, such as “children”, “grandchildren”, or other family members. It is important for trustees…

Changes to the Skilled Migrant Category Visa – August 2026

From 24 August 2026, two new pathways under the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) Resident Visa will take effect, alongside changes to the current point-based pathway. The changes are designed to provide more options for skilled migrants, better…

Memorandum of Wishes: What are they and why are they important?

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A Memorandum of Wishes, sometimes called a Letter of Wishes or Memorandum of Guidance, is an important document for anyone who has established a trust. It allows the person who created the trust, known as the settlor, to record their wishes…

Understanding Charitable Purposes: Preventing Scope Creep and Purpose Drift

Charitable purpose is more than a line in a trust document. It is the beating heart of an organisation, its North Star, and the aim which it must legally pursue. What is a Charitable Purpose? New Zealand's Charities Act defines what purposes…

When Purposes Become Outdated: Can Charitable Purposes be Changed?

Society changes. Language evolves. Gold rush towns become ghost towns. What made sense in 1950 may be impossible, impractical, or simply no longer appropriate today. If a charity's purposes have become outdated and there is no power in the…
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