• Family Trusts
  We specialise in family trusts. The best vehicle for providing our clients with maximum asset protection and flexible estate planning, we add more value by advising on tax efficient ways to restructure debt. We offer the complete service, including variable facility loan agreements from trusts to companies, charges protecting those loans, wills, enduring powers of attorney and the ongoing annual gifting programme.
  
  Our trust deed is modern and flexible, providing for the addition and removal of trustees and beneficiaries as our clients' needs and wants change with time. Using either single or parallel trusts as our clients prefer, we often recommend that our clients take up the role of "front line" trustees and appoint either an advisory trustee in the background, or use a corporate trustee structure with an independent director. As trustees our clients can vote on trust business, enter into transactions and retain title to property without involving another party. If needed, due to client circumstance, an independent trustee structure is also available.
  
  Trustees need only consult an advisory trustee if they so wish, but the appointment of an advisory trustee ensures that the independence of the trust is easy to establish. Carter Atmore Law offers the services of Atmore Law Advisory Trustees Limited to our family trust clients for this purpose.
  
  We have created our own unique software that creates and records all trust transactions, which are available upon the click of a button. Carter Atmore Law's software, combined with our established systems, ensures that our clients' trusts create a "paper trail" and follow correct procedure.
  
  Our specialist in the area of family trusts is Jeremy Goodwin.
  
  
  
• Gifting programmes
  It is usual for people who have set up trusts, the actual transfer of wealth into the trusts is effected by way of an annual gifting programme. Unfortunately, it is also common for the annual gifting programme to fall behind in time. Yet the gifting programme is often overlooked as being critical to the rationale for using trusts, namely asset protection by the transfer of wealth from personal ownership to trust ownership. We place great emphasis on this aspect and use computerised systems to ensure our clients' gifting programmes are kept up to date.
  
  Our specialist in this area is Janet Jarman.
  
  
• Trading Trusts, Blind Trusts
  For clients with particular needs, we are able to offer trading trusts if that is the preferred option. For clients wanting anonymity, we can offer a professional trustee service which can hold assets in trust without requiring those clients to also hold assets as a fellow trustee.
  
  Our specialist in this area is Jeremy Goodwin.
  
  
• NZ based trusts for overseas investors
  Overseas investors wishing to invest in New Zealand often find the New Zealand tax regime offers more advantages than their own country of domicile, particularly when investing in property. We are able to assist those investors in "quarantining off" investment in New Zealand property from overseas tax regimes so that income and capital gain from those investments is taxable under the New Zealand tax regime only while funds invested remain in New Zealand.
  
  Our specialist in this area is Jeremy Goodwin.
  
  
• Estate Planning and Relationship Property Agreements
  Our modern and flexible trust deed affords great opportunity for effective estate planning. Our clients can achieve their desired results by consulting with us in this area. The skilful use of family trusts and relationship property agreements will ensure that our clients' wishes are fulfilled. The ultimate goal, of course, is for family money to remain family money from one generation to the next.
  
  Our specialist in this area is Jeremy Goodwin.
  
  
• Estate administration
  We also offer estate administration, from the obtaining of probate or letters of administration to final distribution of estate assets. Our skilled lawyers are greatly assisted by our registered legal executives of many years experience, and we find that the greater use of our legal executives results in reduced costs to the executors and trustees of the estates.
  
  Our specialists in this area are Jeremy Goodwin and Janet Jarman.
  
  

Please contact any of our specialists if you want to discuss your own needs in these areas.