Countless families across New Zealand place their most valuable assets, such as their property, into a discretionary family trust.
However, when a couple separate and each party is a trustee to the same family trust, conflict and disagreement will often arise as to the management and enjoyment of trust assets. Disagreements on internal trust matters have the possibility of turning into time-consuming, expensive and public proceedings in court.
Mediation is an alternative solution for settling trust disputes and may be a more advantageous option for parties. Furthermore, the court now has the power to order that parties participate in an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process such as mediation.
