Advice re potential NZ inheritance

[mumofoliver]

Hi
this might be slightly long winded and a BIG stab in the dark that someone can help me but it's worth a go . . .

My DH is from NZ but lives over here. MIL (in NZ) has just been diagnosed with a potentially fatal brain tumour - she has a specialist appointment at the end of the month and they may operate immediately.

She wants to sort her will out. She wants to leave her estate equally to DH and SIL. Problem is that SIL is now separated from her husband and they are jointly in a big amount of debt.

MIL doesn't want her inheritance to be swallowed up by this debt (esp to SIL's ex who is a horrid horrid man) so wants a way around this. She would ideally want the inheritance to be used to buy SIL a house.

One suggestion is to leave everything to DH who can then buy a house for SIL until she is debt free and clear and can then transfer the house to her. there is no inheritance tax or CGT. Potential issues I can think of is the ongoing relationship with SIL and DH (no worries at the moment, they get on fine), tax issues for my DH.

Another is for SIL's share to be put into a trust, the trustees buy a house and SIL lives in it until a later date but who/what determines that date, how easy is it etc etc

Any ideas/comments/knowledge would be welcomed - I am a lawyer (UK) myself but property based so not too hot on this subject esp in NZ. MIL wants this to be solved for her as obviously has other things on her mind.

Thanks in hope

Hi from NZ

Perhaps a 'family trust' NZ style is the way to go with carefully selected trustees and beneficiaries. Google it and do some research first to see if would suit your circumstances then you would definately need to go through a NZ solictor to sort it out. Wills can be written to leave everything to the trust and all sorts of things included in the Trust deeds. I am no expert, but am in NZ and have recently gone through establishing one for our family with an awful lot of help and advive from our solicitor.

Thanks Catper - we have emailed a solicitor inNZ as we think the trut route is the easiest an quickest.

Not an expert on NZ but a Trust that allows SIL to have use of a property but not actual title to the property would be the ideal solution. Then when SIL is free of debt the ownership could be transferred by the trustees at their discretion.

It is also quite common for a trust to specify that your SIL has use of the property until her death and then the title passes to her children so she never actually owns it.