DECEMBER 2025 NEWSLETTER
20 Years in Business
Some of you may have seen that this year marked
our 20th anniversary!
20 years of C & F Legal in business!
Thank you to all of you for your continued business and support.
We really appreciate the relationships that we have with all of you — we acknowledge that this is what makes our business possible.
Musings of an Estate Lawyer
Having had the great privilege of assisting families with the administration of their loved one’s estates at a very difficult and distressing time gives one a unique perspective on the process of estate administration and the documents (or lack of) that underpin that process. The key document here is obviously the Will of the loved one who has passed away, and as an estate lawyer you get to see the good, the bad and the ugly Wills. The ones with anomalies and unintended consequences in them, but worst of all, the ones where there is no Will at all.
I often wonder as I peruse the Wills that come across my desk before meeting with families and executors to discuss them, or sigh at the absence of a Will altogether, why it is that people often are unwilling to give this crucial task more weight and importance? Why is this seen as a cookie cutter document that a lawyer should toss off the printer for a minimal cost, or (and I shudder to even say this) download a free kit off the internet that is likely non-compliant with New Zealand law?
As legal professionals, we charge by time, and if the Will is that cheap, it is unlikely that the appropriate thought and consideration has gone into preparation of this crucial document due to pressure to keep costs minimal. I simply do not understand this mindset. We spend our whole lives grinding our fingers to the bone at work aspiring to build assets and leave a legacy for our family, friends or causes that are important to us, then after all of this hard work, why is it that so many people fail to protect it properly or fail to plan for how it will be distributed?
Of those wishing to meet with me to prepare a new Will, at least 95% of these clients will say “oh it’s just a simple Will”. I always smile wryly at this as in 95% of these simple Will proclaimers, the Will turns out to be anything but simple. There is a blended family, there are children that they wish to leave out for various reasons or there are numerous layers of grandchildren that need to be treated differently. Every person’s situation is unique, and correspondingly, so are their testamentary wishes. It is crucial that considered thought is given to this task and an appropriate Will prepared accordingly.
Is there a blended family involved? And if so, if one parent dies what happens to their share regarding their own children’s interests compared with stepchildren’s interests? Are those interests properly protected? If you have adult children or children in relationships, what happens to their share? Have you done enough to ensure that their share is protected from relationship property claims should their relationship fail?
Another consideration is how old your Will is. Is it fit for purpose still? A Will should be a living document that is updated every time your personal circumstances change. Are the executors still alive? A common issue that we come across, especially with old Wills is that when we try to administer the estate, one or both executors may have passed on, may lack the required capacity to administer an estate or simply be too frail, leaving a real administrative headache and adding huge cost to the administration of the estate.
If they are alive, are they the most appropriate person to be appointed? Being an executor is far from the boon that it is glamorised to be. It involves hours of hard work and having to meet with legal professionals to sign documents frequently. Are your executors capable of this? If you pass away, will they be in a position to attend to this task without it causing them undue stress and hardship while they are grieving?
Often, a spouse is not the best appointment here. If you have responsible adult children, they often make a much better choice than your spouse or partner as it allows them the time to grieve without having to dash in and out of lawyers’ offices a short while after farewelling ‘their person’.
We often find that a spouse’s grief is so strong that the estate administration is significantly delayed, meaning that the spouse’s access to the assets of the estate is also significantly delayed causing hardship. Conversely, as a lawyer it is one of the hardest things I have had to do to sit across the table from someone to take the affidavit required for a probate application of someone who is sobbing so heart wrenchingly that they struggle to get out the necessary words, all because they need access to the estate assets as soon as possible but are not emotionally ready to do so. This should be avoided wherever appropriate.
Have you got four executors because you simply couldn’t choose two of your four children without offending the two not included? They will probably be ok with it if you consider that having double the executors will double (or even triple) the estate administration costs and make the estate a nightmare to administer, especially if those family members are based overseas.
These listed examples are only a handful of the issues that can arise with an outdated Will, or one that has not been carefully considered before it is prepared. Over this holiday season, we encourage you to dig out your Will from the dusty drawer in which it resides and give it some careful thought. We are here to help should you need to make any changes, or if in fact you are one of those who do not yet have a Will (don’t get me started), make an appointment as soon as possible – just please don’t tell us it is a simple one!
The Big Give 2025
We are once again proud to be supporting the “Big Give” on behalf of our clients. C & F Legal has made a $5,000 donation to the “Big Give”. These funds will enable the Fifeshire Foundation to support 300 local families over the Christmas period.
Congratulations
Left: Congratulations to Kayla McLellan, promoted to Senior Solicitor (Conveyancing), and new Associates, Carl Brandt (Commercial) and Niall Thrupp (Family and Litigation).
Our leadership team
Right: Founders Kathy Carr & Rick Farr, with Mark Broad, Director and recently appointed Director, Deborah Dye-Knighton.