Dawsons Lawyers

24/08/2026

A will works when you're gone. An EPA works when you can't.

An enduring power of attorney lets someone you trust make decisions for you if you lose the ability to make them yourself. There are two: one for property, one for personal care and welfare. Most people need both, and most people have neither.

The mistake is waiting. An EPA can only be set up while you still have capacity, so leaving it too late means your family has to go to court instead.

Our plain-English guide explains how they work and how to set them up. Link in comments.

21/08/2026

Some of our team enjoyed The Law Association of New Zealand East Auckland lawyers' lunch this week. Great food, great company, and a wonderful chance to catch up with fellow members of the East Auckland legal community.

Pictured (left to right): Chris Chak (Senior Solicitor), Parisa Feyz (Solicitor), Sammie Harris (Solicitor), Claire Endean (Director), and Nav Kaur (Senior Solicitor).

16/08/2026

The legal side of retirement does not get talked about as much as the money and the lifestyle, but it is much easier to sort while life is calm.

Claire has written a five-point checklist for Verve: review your will, put enduring powers of attorney in place, check how your property is owned, ask whether your family trust still earns its keep, and talk to your family before anyone needs to step in.

The one people leave too late is the EPA. It can only be set up while you still have capacity, so it is worth doing early rather than in a crisis.

If a retirement village move is on the horizon, do the review first, since selling the family home changes the whole picture. Read the full checklist:

Retirement planning tends to focus on money and lifestyle, but there is a legal side too.

14/08/2026

Myth: assets in a trust are automatically safe.

Not quite. A trust only protects what it holds if it is administered properly. One that is never reviewed, with no trustee meetings and no records, can be looked through if it is challenged.

And poor admin is just one thing to check. The Trusts Act 2019 changed trustees' duties, gift duty was scrapped in 2011, the care rules have tightened, and your own circumstances have moved on since you set it up.

A trust that isn't looked after can cost more than it protects. After a proper review the answer is sometimes to keep it and tidy it up, and sometimes to wind it up. Either way it should be a decision, not a default.

If yours hasn't been reviewed in the last few years, it is worth a look. Our plain-English guide walks through what to check. Link in comments.

08/08/2026

What a morning at the The Bays Kids Market. Our team loved meeting so many local families, spinning the prize wheel, and chatting about how we help protect what matters most.
A special mention to all the young entrepreneurs who ran their own stalls with such energy and confidence. It was wonderful to see the next generation showing off their creativity and hard work.
We even had our own future leader on hand. Oscar has big plans to take over the firm one day, and we think the Dawsons legacy is in good hands.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by our stand and entered to win a free Will. Supporting our community is at the heart of what we do.

04/08/2026

Let me guess. You’ve been meaning to sort your will for a while now. Maybe you’ve got kids but no guardian named, or you assume your partner automatically inherits everything (they might not). If a few of these hit close to home, that’s your sign. It takes less time than you think. Book a chat.

04/08/2026

Proud to be supporting a great local event.

Building Bright Futures in a Digital Age brings together leading researcher Dr Samantha Marsh (The Reclaim Project) and elite sports physio Robert Knight to share the latest on how digital technology is shaping our children’s brains, bodies and learning. Essential listening for any parent or educator.

📅 Thursday 13 August
🚪 Doors 7.10pm, speakers 7.30pm
📍 Kohimarama Presbyterian Church
🎟️ $15, includes a cocktail/mocktail and nibbles

Dawsons Lawyers is delighted to help make this evening possible. Supporting our local community is at the heart of what we do.

Tickets are limited, so grab yours soon.

04/08/2026

"Should we put the house in a trust?" We get asked this every week.

The Trusts Act changed the rules. Trustees now have legal duties they can't opt out of, beneficiaries have a right to information, and running a trust properly takes work every year.

Some trusts are still worth it. Others cost more than they protect.

If yours was set up before 2021 and hasn't been reviewed since, it's worth checking which one you've got. Plain-English guide on our website, link in comments.

20/07/2026

Did you know getting married can cancel your existing will? It's one of five life events that quietly change what your will actually does, and most people miss at least one. New article on the blog covers all five, including the separation trap that works the opposite way to what people expect. Link to the blog in the comments.