Blended family estates are a common source of complex succession disputes, requiring you to navigate relationship property, family protection and estate administration issues. This practical half-day programme covers contracting out agreements on death, rights of occupation, Family Protection Act claims, emerging case law and relationship property claims involving adult children and surviving spouses. Explore an executor's obligations when an estate brings a claim against a surviving spouse together with a panel of experienced practitioners. Working through the real-world issues that arise in practice, examine strategic decision-making, procedural challenges and common pitfalls, providing valuable insights that practitioners can apply immediately in their own matters.
Thursday, 19 November 2026
Chair:
Theresa Donnelly, Head of Legal, Perpetual Guardian
11.45am to 12.30pm Family Protection Act Claims Involving Adult Children – Current Trends and Practical Risks
Presented by Henry Stokes, Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, Perpetual Guardian
10.40am to 10.55am Break
9.50am to 10.40am Life Interests and Rights of Occupation
- Life interest or right of occupation: choosing and drafting the right structure
- Common flashpoints between the life tenant and the remainder beneficiaries: outgoings, insurance, sale, and relocation
- The surviving partner’s position: how life interests interact with relationship property elections and Family Protection Act claims
- Practical guidance for executors and trustees administering a life interest, including termination
Presented by Nick Williams, Barrister, Britomart Chambers
12.30pm to 1.15pm Executor’s Obligations Beyond the Will: Claims by Estates Against Surviving Spouses: A Panel Discussion and Real Life Scenario
- Applications for leave under section 88(2) of the PRA
- When can you bring applications without leave under section 88(3) of the PRA
- Limitation issues
- What to do if the surviving spouse is executor / administrator or has priority for a grant but won’t apply for one
Facilitator
Theresa Donnelly, Head of Legal, Perpetual Guardian
Panellists
Joshua Pietras, Senior Associate, Duncan Cotterill
Mary Rozeboom, Senior Legal Counsel, Perpetual Guardian
Henry Stokes, Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, Perpetual Guardian
Description
Attend and earn 4 CPD hours
9.00am to 9.50am How Secure is the Pre-Nup? Contracting Out Agreement & Application of Death
- The practical implications of the Court of Appeal’s decision in Rimmer v Wilton
- How will-drafting, property ownership and contracting out agreements intersect
- Advising executors and surviving spouses on death where there is a contracting out agreement
Presented by Sharee Cavanaugh, Director and Heather Smith, Associate, Greg Kelly Trust Law
10.55am to 11.45am Blended Families, Contested Estates: A Review of Recent New Zealand Case Law
- The current litigation landscape: common disputes in blended families and the parties who bring them
- What trends are we seeing across the key legal frameworks, including the Family Protection Act 1955, Property (Relationships) Act 1976 and Trusts Act 2019
- Lessons for practice and tips for advising clients seeking to balance competing claims and obligations
Presented by Jessie Rose, Special Counsel, Dentons
Learning Objectives:
- Understand how secure is a pre-nup, to navigate contracting out agreements and the implications and effect of death
- Become more capable in working with life interests and rights of occupation
- Manage blended families and contested estate matters through a review of the recent case law
- Work through Family Protection Act claims involving adult children and the current trends and practical risks involved
- Understand executor’s obligations beyond the will including claims by estates against surviving spouses
Presenters
Nick Williams, Barrister, Britomart ChambersNick Williams has in-depth experience in regulatory and commercial litigation, with a focus on financial markets, white collar crime, and trusts, including off-shore trusts.
Jessie Rose, Special Counsel, Dentons
Jessie is a Special Counsel in the Dentons Private Wealth team. She specialises in advising high net worth clients with their wealth and succession planning, including personal asset structuring, trust and tax advice. Her clients include individuals, families and trustees and she works closely with other intermediaries like accountants, family office personnel, investment advisers and foreign lawyers to ensure complex cross border matters are appropriately dealt with. Jessie is a Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP) experienced with both domestic and international structures after her time practicing in New Zealand and London. She enjoys assisting clients with all manner of complicated family affairs, taking a global and pragmatic view of their issues to ensure solutions are simple and cohesive.
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Henry Stokes, Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, Perpetual Guardian
Henry Stokes has been in private practice and acted as in-house counsel for a combined period of over 30 years. He is currently Group General Counsel, for Perpetual Guardian. Henry specialises in the areas of wills, estates, trusts (both family and charitable) and protection of personal and property rights matters, including having appeared in the Family Court, High Court and Court of Appeal. Henry has advised on all areas from the preparation and implementation stages through to the disputes, claims and proceedings stages, and is a fiduciary expert. He is a key member of the Group Leadership Team at Perpetual Guardian which are responsible for the strategic direction of the Group. Henry is an advocate for the trustee industry working together to provide world class trustee services to New Zealanders. He is a proponent of practical advice for trustees and beneficiaries alike so that all participants have a true understanding to be making fully informed decisions.
Sharee Cavanaugh, Director, Greg Kelly Trust Law
Sharee has more than a decade of litigation and advisory experience resolving complex, multi-party trust, relationship property, and estate disputes. She provides practical, efficient, and often highly technical advice and representation for executors, trustees, beneficiaries, and claimants in relation to such disputes.
Theresa Donnelly, Head of Legal, Perpetual Guardian
Theresa Donnelly has a wealth of experience in elder law, wills, estates 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.
Joshua Pietras, Senior Associate, Duncan Cotterill
Joshua has extensive experience in contentious trust and estate matters, acting for both beneficiaries and executors in a broad range of disputes. He has been acted as counsel in various cases involving drafting errors and execution errors for Wills and Trust Deeds.
Mary Rozeboom, Senior Legal Counsel, Perpetual Guardian
Heather Smith, Associate, Greg Kelly Trust Law
Heather joined the firm in July 2025. Prior to joining us, she worked at a law firm in Guernsey in their Private Client and Trusts team. She advises on a range of private client matters, including trusts, property, wills, and estates.
