These Standard Terms of Engagement (“Terms”) apply in respect of all work carried out by Mackie and Co Limited, Lawyers for you, except to the extent that we otherwise agree with you in writing.
The services we are to provide for you are outlined in our engagement letter.
We will hold in confidence all information concerning you or your affairs that we acquire during the course of acting for you.
We will not disclose any of this information to any other person except:
(a) To the extent necessary or desirable to enable us to carry out your instructions; or
(b) To the extent required by law or by the Law Society’s Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers
(c) Pursuant to our statutory obligations with reference to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009
Confidential information concerning you will, as far as practicable be made available only to those within our firm who are providing legal services for you.
We will, of course, not disclose to you confidential information which we have in relation to any other client.
We have procedures in place to identify and respond to conflicts of interest. If a conflict of interest arises, we will advise you of this and follow the requirements and procedures set out in the Law Society’s Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers.
Our duty of care is to you and not to any other person. Before any person may rely on our advice, we must expressly agree to this.
We maintain a trust account for all funds which we receive from clients (except monies received for payment of our invoices). If we are holding significant funds on your behalf we will normally lodge those funds on interest bearing deposit with a bank. In that case we will charge an administration fee of 5% of the interest derived.
You may terminate our retainer at any time.
We may terminate our retainer:
1) In any of the circumstances set out in the Law Society’s Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers;
2) Where you fail to provide information requested by us in accordance with the requirements of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Finance of Terrorism Act 2009.
3) For any reasons outlined in our letter of engagement, for example, non-payment of invoices for a period exceeding twenty days.
If our retainer is terminated, you must pay us all fees due up to the date of termination and all expenses incurred up to that date.
You authorize us (without further reference to you) to destroy all files and documents for this matter (other than any documents that we hold in safe custody for you) 7 years after our engagement ends, or earlier if we have converted those files and documents to electronic format.
Fees
The fees we will charge or the manner in which they will be arrived at, are set out in our engagement letter.
We reserve the right to request payment of a retainer prior to commencing work for you
Disbursements and expenses
In providing services, we may incur disbursements or have to make payments to third parties on your behalf. These will be included in our invoice to you when the expense is incurred. We may require an advance payment for the disbursements or expenses which we will be incurring on your behalf.
GST (if any)
is payable by you on our fees and charges
Invoices
We may send interim invoices to you, and on completion of the matter, or termination of our engagement. We may also send you an invoice when we incur a significant expense.
Payment
Invoices are payable within 7 days of the date of the invoice, unless alternative arrangements have been made with us. We may require interest to be paid on any amount which is overdue. Interest will be calculated at the rate of 5% above our firm’s main trading bank’s 90-day bank bill buy rate as at the close of business on the date payment became due. If you fail to pay our invoice when it is due, you agree to pay all costs and expenses, including all debt collection and legal costs (on a solicitor/client basis) we may incur in recovering the overdue invoice from you.
Please note that our firm does not accept payment by way of cash.
Our invoices include reference to the bank account details for our trust account.
We advise that any payments received from unidentified third parties will immediately be reversed.
We reserve the right to refuse payment in circumstances where we have reason to believe that the said payment may compromise our obligations pursuant to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009.
Security
We may ask you to pre-pay amounts to us, or to provide security for our fees and expenses. You authorize us:
(a) to debit against amounts pre-paid by you; and
(b) to deduct from funds held on your behalf in our trust account
any fees or expenses or disbursements for which we have provided an invoice.
Third Parties
Although you may expect to be reimbursed by a third party for our fees and expenses, and although our invoices may at your request or with your approval be directed to a third party, nevertheless you remain responsible for payment to us if the third party fails to pay us.
The Bright Line Test provides that any property that is not your main home that is sold within ten years of purchase is subject to income tax on any capital gain. There are exceptions of this rule which we can discuss with you.
If the property being purchased is not your Main Home and/or you are purchasing through a Company or Trust we strongly recommend that you discuss any tax implications with your accountant or tax advisor.
You should carefully consider the ownership entity which we can assist you with.
In any event you will need to apply for an IRD number if you, your Company or Trust do not currently have one before the transfer of any property can take place whether you are selling or purchasing.
New Zealand has passed a law called the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (we will call it the AML/CFT law). The purpose of the law reflects New Zealand’s commitment to the international initiative to counter the impact that criminal activity has on people and economies within the global community.
Recent changes to the AML/CFT Act mean that from 1 July 2018, lawyers are required to comply with its requirements. This law requires lawyers to do a number of things to help combat money laundering and terrorist financing, and to help Police bring the criminals who do it to justice. The AML/CFT law does this because the services law firms and other professionals offer may be attractive to those involved in criminal activity.
The law says that law firms and other professionals must assess the risk they may face from the actions of money launderers and people who finance terrorism and to identify potentially suspicious activity.
To make that assessment lawyers must obtain and verify information from prospective and existing clients about a range of things. This is part of what the AML/CFT law calls “customer due diligence” (‘CDD’).
CDD requires a law firm to undertake certain background checks before providing services to clients or customers. Lawyers must take reasonable steps to make sure the information they receive from clients is correct, and so they need to ask for documents that show this.
We will need to obtain and verify certain information from you to meet these legal requirements. This information includes:
· your full name; and
· your date of birth; and
· your address.
To confirm these details, documents such as your driver’s licence or your birth certificate, and documents that show your address, such as a current bank statement will be required.
If you are seeing us about company or trust business, we will need information about the company or trust including the people associated with it (such as directors and shareholders, trustees and beneficiaries).
We may also need to ask you for further information. We will need to ask you about the nature and purpose of the proposed work you are asking us to do for you.
Information confirming the source of funds for a transaction may also be necessary to meet the legal requirements.
If we are not able to obtain the required information from you, it is likely we will not be able to act for you.
Before we start working for you, we will let you know what information we need, and what documents you need to show us and let us photocopy.
Please contact Kelvin Mackie if you have any queries or concerns.
From 22 October 2018 if you are purchasing residential land you will need to complete a Residential Land Statement to ascertain as to whether the transaction requires consent from the Overseas Investment Office.
Residential land means land, including bare land, that has a property category of residential or lifestyle in the relevant district valuation roll. It includes a residential flat in a building owned by a flat-owing company.
This applies whether the interest acquired is a freehold estate or leasehold, or any other interest for a term of three years or more (including rights of renewal, whether of the grantor or grantee) and whether you are purchasing the property personally, through a company, partnership, trust or other entity.
In the event that you are not a New Zealand citizen, we recommend that you contact the Overseas Investment Office to check as to whether you will require consent prior to signing any Agreement for Sale and Purchase.
An interest includes a legal or equitable interest and is generally acquired when an unconditional Agreement for Sale and Purchase is signed by both parties. Therefore you need to be particularly careful to make sure you have the relevant consent prior to signing any unconditional Agreements or purchasing property through the auction process.
Please contact Kelvin if you have any doubts as to whether you will require consent to purchase residential land in New Zealand.
Please note that we provide copies of all documents and statements to you either during and/or on the completion of your transaction. Should you (or any other professional authorized by you such as your accountant) require further copies at a later date, we reserve the right to charge an additional administration fee for our attendances in locating the file in archives, reviewing same, photocopying and faxing, emailing or posting documents.
These Terms apply to any current engagement and also to any future engagement, whether or not we send you another copy of them.
We are entitled to change these Terms from time to time, in which case we will send you amended Terms.
Our relationship with you is governed by New Zealand Law and New Zealand Courts have non-exclusive jurisdiction
For more information please contact us or you can request a quote.
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