Wills, child custody, power of attorney &
 

Family Trusts.

Today we did our wills and power of attorney re fiscal issues (there is one re health too). PoAs cost about $150 per person so if you wanted 2 done for each (one per partner) you are looking at $600. The writing of the will was free with 'Public Trust' (they are in the phone book) I reckon this is because they make monies upon the administration of the will.

In our will we dealt with who would look after the children in the event of us both pegging it. The most interesting part (and alas the most costly) was the 'family trust' isssue. It costs around $3k (you can get cheaper) and there is an admin. fee each year for the 1st 8-10 years until you have 'gifted' all your assets to your kids that you wish to have covered by the trust.

What basically a trust is all about is having your house and other assets (if you wish) signed over to your kids so that if Kate or I left each other the new partner avo 3 years could not nick 50% of the house off the kids if they split up. It also stops the state taking your assests to pay for residential care should it be needed. It also stops the kids partners in years to come also nicking 50% avo the 3 year rule and doing a runner. The upshot is that the kids inheritance is bullet proof. The yearly costs are around $400 ish. These need to be done so that the trust is seen to be proactively managed in a timely manner. The meetings will take place each year until you have gifted what you wish to gift to the kids in the trust (you can only gift $54k per couple per year under current rules). By the way there is no death duty in NZ AT PRESENT. It has not been done away with its just dormant set at 0%. It could come back anytime. Having a trust could avoid tax duties if death duty were to return.

Family trusts have a life of around 80 years. FYI. I am rather embarrased it has taken us over 5 years to get to this point. You lot have probably all done it. Shame on you Mr G you sloppy shite.

Re: Wills, child custody, power of attorney &
 

I'm not a huge fan of trust myself but really appreciate that you posted all that as a lot of people will be interested. I have seen people hurt by money being squirrelled away.

Re: Wills, child custody, power of attorney &
 

Yes I am interested in trusts etc, although I am equally intrigued by the potential issues with trusts etc, could you expand please?

Re: Wills, child custody, power of attorney &
 

I don't think there is a downside to them. They simply are for protecting the assests you have as a family ensuring that your children will get what is rightfully theirs and not the state or some fancy man/woman in future years.

Having lost significant amounts of cash over the past 20 years due to poor investment choices I am adamant to secure what we have left for the benefit of our 3 kids. We can still sell the house when we want to (so Iam told) and havinmg it in trust apparently makes it no more onerous to do so. apart from the initial cost I know of no downside..does anyone know ought different?

Re: Wills, child custody, power of attorney &
 

I agree Genesis, however Pricklykina seems to be intimating that there are downsides in his personal opinion and would like to know more.

Re: Wills, child custody, power of attorney &
 

Just googled it and there don't appear to be any downsides apart from the set up cost and the yearly admin fees until all your assets that you wish to be gifted to your kids have been giftee. I googled 'nz family trusts the down side' and looked at 'streetsmartgroup.co.nz' about 7 or so down on the 1st page.

Re: Wills, child custody, power of attorney &
 

I'm a bit puzzled here (not hard!), I can understand the benefits of assets being in the trust for such protection but once gifted surely they are the childrens assets in full and final measure??? So accessible and "at risk" (from your context) by them???

Re: Wills, child custody, power of attorney &
 

A tip for anybody considering setting up a trust... if you are purchasing a house, set up the trust at the same time to save heaps of cash from having to do double paperwork!

Re: Wills, child custody, power of attorney &
 

May seem a silly question, but...if you put your house in trust for the children can you still sell if you want to? :confused:

Re: Wills, child custody, power of attorney &
 

Yes, its as easy as falling off a log. There is very little if any downside to setting one up. apart from the cost!

Re: Wills, child custody, power of attorney &
 

Just looking at it Genesis, did you also do the trust via 'Public Trust'? If so how were the agents etc?

Re: Wills, child custody, power of attorney &
 

Yes we went thru public trust but we will have a look to see if anywhere else is cheaper. The agent who dealt with us seemed on the ball and affable enough.