MENZ ISSUES

MENZ Issues: news and discussion about New Zealand men, fathers, family law, divorce, courts, protests, gender politics, and male health.

Wills

Filed under: General — BF1972 @ 9:18 pm Thu 7th January 2016

Has anyone had any experience in drafting up a will that protects the new wife from a litigacious ex-wife? Not wanting to think the worst outcome for my own life expectancy but you never know what life has planned for you. There are children to be factored in but the main concern is around contesting of any will that is created.

Any thoughts or comments appreciated!

10 Comments »

  1. Mate,best method I know of is setting up a trust. Every man should have one as early as possible, with the named beneficiaries being their children,with themselves and one independent as trustees. This is now common among women with any form of assets at all, but men seem to be reticent for some reason. Just make sure you find the right accountant/lawyer and get it set up right. Doesn’t have to be expensive,if you speak to the right people 🙂

    Comment by bjrodger — Fri 8th January 2016 @ 12:12 am

  2. Get good advice. I know of a woman who managed to get money from a family trust just by living with a man for more than two years and no children involved!!!

    Comment by Robyn — Fri 8th January 2016 @ 9:38 am

  3. I suspect family trusts are just a way for lawyers to make money.

    Like Robyn, I also know of cases where Family Court Judges have decided that trust assets do count as matrimonial property.

    Soon after the new Matrimonial Property Act was passed, one man told us that he had a family farm placed into trust (at the cost of about $5,000) after loosing half his assets to his first wife.

    When his second marriage also broke up, the judge simply said “that’s not fair”, and he had to sell the farm to pay his ex-wife’s share of the assets.

    Comment by JohnPotter — Fri 8th January 2016 @ 11:00 am

  4. It is easy to overturn a trust where it is new, or there is slightest suggestion of avoidance – it’s a little harder when a trust existed sometime prior to the occasion, but simply owning one (as a male) means you’re liable to significant legal costs to protect it, even if you successfully defend the claim.

    Paying out an amount of money can be the lessor of two evils. Give her the money to shut the claim down rather than give it to the lawyers.

    We also learnt many years ago, that the Family Court will allow the IRD to raid a trust for child support.

    For the average man, this sort of legal paperwork is basically a waste of time, when it comes to financial protection.

    Comment by Downunder — Fri 8th January 2016 @ 11:28 am

  5. In addition to the above where men are happy to let a new partner be the legal owner of their (collective) assets etc. to protect oneself from constant litigation from the ex, a new set of problems arises:

    That you become liable to attempts at bankruptcy to access the partner, and variations on this theme.

    Also you’re more likely to encounter assessed income through the IRD child support mechanism should you have children in the mix.

    Comment by Downunder — Fri 8th January 2016 @ 11:52 am

  6. In the worst hit areas of New Zealand the ratio of men to women is 87:100

    Are we surprised so many men have left the country when our financial viability and security is so easily threatened?

    There is never security in life for anyone, only opportunity, but in New Zealand even opportunity is stolen from us as a result of this type of legal environment.

    Comment by Downunder — Fri 8th January 2016 @ 12:04 pm

  7. Move your cash assets overseas if you can.

    Comment by legend — Fri 8th January 2016 @ 12:17 pm

  8. So, why bother with a woman in New Zealand?

    Why not go overseas, with your cash assets, and find a woman there.

    Comment by Downunder — Fri 8th January 2016 @ 12:47 pm

  9. Put money into cash/gold or something value-able that can be sold then hide it somewhere. Even wills can be broken, the whole legal system here is unscrupulous (hopefully I won’t get a knock on the door and end up in a body bag for saying that but that’s what I think).

    Comment by J — Fri 8th January 2016 @ 1:51 pm

  10. I suppose the other option is to get rid of the mother.

    When some random dude walks up and kills the ex of an A-Lister, you have to ask that question.

    Comment by Downunder — Sun 10th January 2016 @ 9:37 am

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

Please note that comments which do not conform with the rules of this site are likely to be removed. They should be on-topic for the page they are on. Discussions about moderation are specifically forbidden. All spam will be deleted within a few hours and blacklisted on the stopforumspam database.

This site is cached. Comments will not appear immediately unless you are logged in. Please do not make multiple attempts.

Skip to toolbar