Family trust: Pier Law

by Metropol | November 11, 2026 8:33 am

Kids grown up? Moved house? Thinking about retirement? It’s probably time to review your family trust writes Pier Law trust specialist Chris Powell.

When you first established your family trust, life probably looked a little different. Perhaps your children were young, you’d just bought your family home, or you were focused on protecting your assets for the future.

Fast-forward 10 or 20 years, and a lot may have changed. Your children might now have families of their own, you’ve bought or sold property, or retirement is just around the corner. The question is, has your family trust kept up with these changes?

Move with the times
Many family trusts were established years ago and haven’t been revisited since. However, a trust isn’t something you can simply set up and forget. Here at Pier Law, I can review your existing family trust, identify areas requiring attention and provide practical advice on your next steps.

A review can help answer some important questions, like the following:

• Is your trust still doing what you intended? Does it continue to serve the purpose for which it was established?
• Are the right people benefiting? Does your trust still reflect who you want to benefit from its assets?
• Are your trustees meeting their obligations? Are they complying with their duties under the Trusts Act 2019?
• Does your trust work alongside your Will? Are your estate planning arrangements aligned?
• Is your gifting up to date? Has gifting been completed, or is further action required?

Is your trust still working for you?
Whether your trust was set up with us or another law firm, we’re here to help. We’re now offering a trust review at a special price of $500 + GST (excluding AML disbursements), which includes an assessment of your trust documents and a meeting with me to discuss any recommendations.

Additional services such as financial statement reviews, written reports and Annual Trust Meetings with signed minutes are charged separately.

The point is that life is ever changing. Make sure your family trust keeps up. With offices in Kaiapoi, New Brighton and Northwood, contact Pier Law to book your review, email
info@pierlaw.co.nz, call 03 366 5540 or go to pierlaw.co.nz

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Main image: Is your family trust still fit for purpose? The team from Pier Law can help with that.
Left to right: Caroline Davey, Chris Powell, Bill Herbison.

Source URL: https://metropol.co.nz/family-trust-pier-law/

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