A
Acknowledgement of Debt - A document that records a loan between two parties and which normally details date for repayment, interest terms and any security being taken for the loan.
Annual Return – A statutory filing requirement for all New Zealand companies. It provides the Companies Office with current details of each company including current directors, shareholders and contact addresses.
Authority to Uplift – A formal notification by a client to their previous lawyer for them to provide a new lawyer with all of the client’s information and legal documents held by the previous lawyer.
Agreement for sale and purchase – A formal document between a Vendor and a Purchaser recording the terms of sale and purchase for a property, business or other type of asset.
B
Buy-sell Agreement – An agreement between business owners which records the mechanism for transfer of ownership on the permanent disability or death of one party to the agreement. This is normally created in conjunction with a business’ insurance advisor, solicitor and accountant.
Builder’s Report – A formal report from a builder as to the state of a house or building being purchased. Some sale and purchase agreements have conditions including a Builder’s Report condition that will allow a purchaser to cancel an agreement if the building or structure is not sound.
C
Casual Employee - An employee who works when and if needed, with no expectation of continuing employment.
Company – An entity used to own assets or manage a business, which normally has liability limited to the assets it holds. Each company is made up of Shareholders (percentage owners) and Directors (authorised signatories) and they will vary in size and structural complexity depending on the activity they are used for.
Confidentiality Agreement – An agreement between parties to keep information secret and confidential, normally used in the preliminary stages of a business purchase.
Conveyancing – The process of transferring legal title to real property, including transfer of ownership, registration of mortgages and dealing with interests on titles.
Covenant - A provision registered on a title to land which limits or restricts the owner and future owners in respect of the use of that piece of land.
D
Debenture – See General Security Agreement.
Donor – The person who grants a gift to another person.
Donee – The person who receives a gift.
E
Easement - The right to use another person's land for a stated purpose. It can involve a general or specific portion of the property and will be registered on the property Title.
Employee – A person hired by another person to do work for them.
Employer - Someone who employs other people to do work for them.
Employment Agreement - An official document that the Employee and Employer enter into in good faith which defines an employee’s terms and conditions of employment.
F
Financing Statement – The document that contains information about a security interest that is registered on the Personal Property Securities Register.
Forgiveness of Debt – A document that records a donor’s act of releasing a donee from some form of obligation, i.e. to repay a debt.
G
General Security Agreement - An agreement listing business assets or specifically identified assets agreed as security against a loan.
Goodwill – That portion of a business’s sale price that relates to the intangible value of the business’ trade.
H
Head Lease - A lease to an entity that will subsequently grant leases to sub-lessees who will be tenants in possession.
I
IRD – The Inland Revenue Department in New Zealand which manages people’s tax obligations and collects tax from individuals, companies and trusts.
Insurance Buy-Sell Agreements – Formal documents between business owners which dictate the procedures for use or distribution of insurance pay-outs when an owner dies or is permanently disabled. These should normally be implemented in conjunction with an independent trustee manager.
Independent Trustee Manager – The independent party who will own certain insurance policies to be used to pay owners or their estates out if they are to leave a business due to disability or death.
IBD – Interest Bearing Deposit accounts where a law firm will place specific client money if held for longer periods due to deferred settlements, etc.
J
Joint Ventures – A business or contractual structure whereby the parties are governed by a Joint Venture Agreement which identifies the relationship between them and the methods for making decisions and running the business or activity.
L
Lease - A contract granting use or occupation of property during a specified time for a specified payment.
Lessee - The entity to whom a lease is given, i.e. the tenant.
Lessor – The entity who leases property to a tenant.
LIM – The Land Information Memorandum which is the document that provides information held by the Local Council about a specific property.
Litigation - The process of filing a lawsuit and then prosecuting it or defending against it.
M
Memorandum of Wishes – A non-binding document that records the wishes of the settlor of a trust as to how the trust is to be managed and to guide the future trustees as to the original intentions of the settlor.
N
Notice of Change of Ownership – The document that records the change of owners of a property and which is sent to the local City Council, Regional Council and water rating department to update their records for future billings and communication.
O
Ombudsman - A government appointee who investigates complaints by private persons against the government or other authorities or professionals, i.e. the Banking Ombudsman.
P
Partnership - A contract (verbal or written) between two or more persons who agree to pool talent and money and share profits or losses.
PPSR – The Personal Property Securities Register, which is an official register that records whether someone has a legal interest in personal property owned by another person.
R
Redundancy – The situation where the position of employment of an Employee is or will become surplus to the requirements of the Employer's business.
Relationship Property – Property owned in a relationship between de facto or married couples including the family home and chattels (no matter when they were acquired) and other assets owned prior to the relationship if those assets were acquired in contemplation of the relationship or were intended for the common use or benefit of the relationship.
Relationship Property Agreement – A formal agreement between de facto or married couples which records what the parties consider to be separate property and relationship property.
Resource Consent - The authorisation given to certain activities or uses of natural and physical resources required under the New Zealand Resource Management Act.
S
Sale and Purchase Agreement - A formal document between a Vendor and a Purchaser recording the terms of sale and purchase for a property, business or other type of asset.
Separate Property – Property identified by parties to a relationship that is not Relationship Property.
Share - Any of the equal portions into which the capital stock of a corporation or company is divided and ownership of which is evidenced by a share certificate.
Sub-lease - A lease from one lessee to another.
T
Trading Trust – A special-purpose trust which has a business or trading activity run through it. Often used for property trading or share trading purposes.
Trust - An equitable obligation, often created in a written document, binding a person (who is called a trustee) to deal with property over which he/she has control (which is called trust property) for the benefit of persons who are called beneficiaries.
Trust Deed – The formal document recording the details of a Trust relationship between trustees and beneficiaries.
Trust Property – The assets legally owned by the trustee and managed on behalf of the beneficiaries of the Trust.
Trustee Resolution – The formally documented decisions of trustees when activity on a trust is carried out by the trustees.
W
Will – The formal document whereby a person specifies what is to happen to their estate on death.
