2016 Legal Articles

Congratulations to this year’s sports scholarship winners Holly & Luke Gardner and Jordan Berry...

There has been a large amount of publicity on the Waikato Regional Council’s Plan Change 1 for the Healthy Rivers On-Farm Project. This is commonly referred to as Healthy Rivers...

A very proud moment for the BlackmanSpargo team when we scooped this year’s Regional/Suburban Law Firm of the Year award in Auckland...

The Property (Relationships) Act 1976 is legislation which regulates the rights of couples to property owned by them and especially property acquired by each of them during their relationship. The legislation is extensive and deals with all relationships that are generally considered to be a marriage...

I was chatting to a mate about mating the other day when it dawned on me that we wouldn’t know each other if it wasn’t for the Dairy Industry Awards. People enter the high-profile competition for various reasons. Some 50/50 sharemilkers and contract milkers put themselves forward...

A very interesting article by S.AG Private & Co. on investing and what the future holds: artificial intelligence, self-driving cars and veal produced in a petri dish! The Exponential Age S.AG Private & Co. Limited is an Independent Investment Advisory Firm. It provides a highly customised and...

Read Ian Blackman’s article published in the latest Dairy Exporter regarding the importance of starting your succession plan now and having the right structure Succession Planning – Trust or Company?

On 22 June, I spoke at the Bay of Plenty Young Fruit Growers competition at Mills Reef Winery. This was our first year sponsoring this event and I enjoyed our involvement of supporting another rural industry that is important to our economy and New Zealand. The...

We all realise that there has been significant change in the way we now communicate. The use of the mobile telephone and the computer allows people to communicate in writing 24/7. The nature of the communication can range from the social all the way through to...

A recent decision of the High Court about the danger of burning fires on lifestyle blocks is relevant to farmers. The danger is not only the loss of property, but also the financial liability for putting the fire out. In the New Zealand Fire Service Commission...

Ian Blackman’s article in the Coast & Country regarding planning for the future...

One of our clients has recently been recognised as a driving force behind irrigation development in the wider south Canterbury region. Glenavy dairy farmer, Robin Murphy was one of two recipients of the biennial Ron Cocks Memorial Award at Irrigation New Zealand’s conference dinner in Oamaru...

In these rather uncertain times for farmers, and especially dairy farmers, I thought you might be interested in the article by Jim Rickards entitled “Three Ways Old Money Hangs Onto Its Riches”. Jim Rickards is an American lawyer with interesting and novel views on investing...

The Inland Revenue is offering tax relief to farmers in response to the dairy price downturn. If the drop in the dairy price is having a significant impact on your financial position and you have made deposits into the income equalisation scheme, you should talk to...

The national statistics on safety in the workplace on farms are sobering. Since the Pike River mining disaster, the number of deaths on farms was greater than the loss of lives at Pike River. The farm employer’s obligations under health and safety legislation...

As from 1 April 2016, the minimum wage will increase from $14.75 per hour to $15.25 per hour. Although many employees will be paid a salary, it is important to ensure that, in any fortnightly period, the number of hours worked do not result in...

Ian Blackman, along with eight other rural professionals from around the country, was part of a roundtable discussion on succession, instigated by MyMilk. Read the recent Dairy Exporter article on farm succession: The Elephant in the Room For more information go to the farm succession website and download the...