Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Description
Attend and earn 1 CPD hour
* This interactive online recording includes questions and quizzes requiring critical thinking about the topics, so you have no annual limits to the number of points/hours you can claim with this format of learning. Please verify with your CPD rules
Chair
Theresa Donnelly, Legal Services Manager, Perpetual Guardian
Learning Objectives:
- Recognise common legal pitfalls in estate planning and administration involving blended families
- Understand how recent case law addresses joint ownership disputes and presumptions of advancement
Common Estate Disputes Arising from Blended Families - Recent Cases
- Challenges for drafting and implementing wills in blended families
- Joint ownership disputes, including resulting trust claims and the presumption of advancement
- Common inheritance conflicts in modern family structures
Presented by Sam Jeffs, Barrister, Mills Lane Chambers
Presenters
Theresa Donnelly, Legal Services Manager, Perpetual Guardian
Theresa Donnelly has a wealth of experience in elder law and trust related matters. Theresa graduated from Auckland University in 1992 and has over 30 years’ experience in private practice, government and in-house Legal. Theresa is currently the Legal Services Manager at Perpetual Guardian, and formerly Public Trust (Team Leader) and the Ministry of Social Development, where she was (lead Senior Public Law Team). She is a regular presenter and speaker for professional groups such as Legalwise, NZLS/CLE, TLANZ, CCH and other professional organisations.
Sam Jeffs, Barrister, Mills Lane Chambers
Samuel Jeffs is a barrister at Mills Lane Chambers specialising in commercial and civil disputes. He has advised and acted for parties in a wide range of disputes arising from contracts, joint ventures, shareholdings, construction projects, and trusts and estates. Sam has appeared in a number of courts, including successfully in the Supreme Court, and various specialist tribunals, including arbitrations. Sam graduated from Oxford with a BCL (Distinction) and the University of Auckland with BA/LLB(Hons) degrees, where he was a Senior Scholar for both Law and Arts. Sam has spoken at conferences and has also published a number of articles.
