Expertise

Private Wealth

Overview
Intelligent structure and strategy to protect your net worth now and in the future

Hesketh Henry has a specialist Private Wealth team for estate planning, wealth management and relationship property issues. The services we offer for protecting personal wealth are relevant to individuals, families and business owners.

Our Private Wealth team is dedicated solely to legal advice and services connected to protecting and growing private wealth. The breadth of the team and their level of specialisation makes them fast and efficient, especially when it comes to legal planning for complex family trust and succession arrangements.

You can trust your Hesketh Henry Private Wealth lawyer to quickly understand your current situation and help you formulate your short, medium and long-term goals. These will help to shape an action plan that looks after your best interests and provides an enduring solution for your family.

Our Private Wealth team can be engaged to assist with estate planning, forming, restructuring and administering any type of trust, enduring powers of attorney; insurance advice; succession planning and wills and contracts related to the Property (Relationships) Act 1976. We are also experienced in obtaining probate and letters of administration in New Zealand and for international wills relating to New Zealand assets.

Need advice on Private Wealth?
Contact the expert team at Hesketh Henry.
Examples

Examples of work completed by our team include:

Key Contacts
Media
Publications
Events

Insights & Opinion / Private Wealth

Navigating Settlor Intentions in Trust Restructures – Legler v Formannoij [2024] NZSC 173
In Legler v Formannoij the surviving widow Marina Formannoij, was forced to navigate the complexities of two trusts that were part of her late husband Ricco Legler’s estate plan: the Kaahu Trust (wh...
08.05.2025 Posted in Private Wealth
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Passing the Torch: Priming your Family Business for a Succession
As the first in a series of articles looking at the generational wealth transition and its impacts on business succession in New Zealand, Ben Hickson (partner, Corporate & Commercial) and John Kir...
07.04.2025 Posted in Corporate & Commercial & Private Wealth
Deciding to Wind Up? Observations on winding-up a trust from a recent High Court case
A trust can be a hassle and expensive to maintain.  So, it is not unusual for clients to reflect on whether a trust should be maintained. When settlors, Bert and Diana Queenin, decided to wind up the...
24.03.2025 Posted in Private Wealth
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Have you updated your Will since becoming a parent? The importance of nominating a Testamentary Guardian
For parents, preparing a Will or Deed that appoints a testamentary guardian is an important step to ensure the well-being of your children if you die. A testamentary guardian is a person who after a p...
22.01.2025 Posted in Private Wealth
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Left out of the will?
The Family Protection Act 1955 (FPA) is a significant piece of legislation in New Zealand that allows certain family members to challenge a will if they believe adequate provision has not been made fo...
19.11.2024 Posted in Private Wealth
Are trustees bound to relationship property agreements?
In Rawson v Prescott [2024] NZHC 1919, the High Court addressed a dispute involving trust property and a relationship property agreement. Mr RR, trustee of the GR Family Trust, sought summary judgment...
10.09.2024 Posted in Private Wealth
Avoiding the Grey Area: Interpreting Trust Beneficiary Classes
Beneficiary classes in trust deeds should be clearly defined to ensure the assets of the trust benefit the people who the settlor(s) of the trust originally intended.   If they are not, then disputes...
05.09.2024 Posted in Private Wealth
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