Blackwood Montagna

12/09/2026

It started with the parking. Then the notes in the letterbox. Then someone standing at the end of the driveway at ten at night, saying nothing, just standing there.

Nobody arrives at this situation all at once. It builds, one small thing at a time, and because each incident on its own sounds minor when you say it out loud, most people never mention it to anyone. They assume the law is for something worse than what is happening to them.

It is not. Under the Harassment Act 1997, harassment is a pattern of behaviour directed at you on at least two separate occasions within a 12-month period. Repeated calls, texts or emails. Following, watching or loitering near your home or workplace. Repeated visits that cause distress. Confrontational conduct that escalates over time. None of it has to be violent, and it most often arises between neighbours, over boundaries, noise, parking, pets or property use.

If the District Court is satisfied the harassment has occurred and is likely to continue, it can make a restraining order stopping contact, stopping the person approaching your property, and stopping the behaviour. Breaching that order is a criminal offence carrying a fine or imprisonment. That is what gives it teeth.

Our solicitor Ashley Smith has written the full picture, including what the Court weighs up and what evidence helps: https://bmlegal.co.nz/harassment-and-restraining-orders-in-new-zealand-civil-harassment/

If you are in immediate danger, call 111.

09/09/2026

People use the two terms as though they mean the same thing. They do not, and applying for the wrong one costs time you may not have.

A protection order is for someone you are or were in a family relationship with. A partner, an ex-partner, a family member, someone you have lived with. That goes to the Family Court under the Family Violence Act 2018.

A restraining order covers everybody else. A neighbour, a colleague, a former friend, a stranger. That goes to the District Court under the Harassment Act 1997, and it needs a pattern of behaviour: at least two specified acts within the past 12 months.

The relationship determines the door. Everything else follows from that.

Not sure which applies to your situation? A short conversation with us will tell you. https://bmlegal.co.nz/contact/

05/09/2026

Happy Father's Day to the dads, stepdads, grandads and father figures across Franklin.

The ones up before dawn for Saturday sport. The ones who've rebuilt the same deck three times. The ones everyone rings first when something goes wrong.

Today is yours. From all of us at Blackwood Montagna, enjoy it.

05/09/2026

On 26 May this year, stalking became a stand-alone criminal offence in New Zealand for the first time.

Before that, someone following you, watching your house or flooding your phone left you with mostly civil options, and a wait. That has changed, and most people do not yet know it has.

The civil route has not gone anywhere, and for many people it is still the faster one. What has changed is that there are now two doors, and knowing which one to walk through is the difference between months and weeks.

If you are in immediate danger, call 111.

If this is happening to you, there are more options than there were three months ago. Talk to us: https://bmlegal.co.nz/contact/

03/09/2026

Nobody sets out to be in a dispute with the person next door. It usually starts small - a branch, a fence post, a dog, a stereo.

It becomes serious when neither party knows what the rules actually are, so both assume the worst of the other.

Here is where the law sits on the four that come up most often, and where each one is dealt with if it cannot be settled over the fence.

The single most useful thing you can do at the start is put it in writing. Not a legal letter. A dated note of what happened, kept somewhere you can find it. It costs nothing and it is worth a great deal if the matter ever goes further.

Our full article on neighbour disputes is on the website: https://bmlegal.co.nz/property-disputes-between-neighbours-what-are-your-rights/

31/08/2026

Misunderstanding your property boundaries is a common theme between neighbours, and it usually pops up when one neighbour wants to sell.

The boundary is where the survey plan says it is. The fence is where somebody once put it. If the two do not line up, the position needs sorting before it becomes a condition on somebody’s sale and agreement.

The Fencing Act gives you a straightforward process for building a new fence. It does not fix a boundary. That is a separate exercise, and it is worth doing properly the first time.

If you are not certain where your boundary sits, we can tell you. Call us on 09 283 8432 to get the conversation started.

Introduction

29/08/2026

The fence has been there 40 years. Everyone assumes it marks the line. Then someone orders a survey, and it turns out the boundary runs a metre and a half the other way.

Nobody has done anything wrong. A fence is a fence, and a boundary is a line on a survey plan but the two don't always align and it usually surfaces at the worst possible moment; when one of you is trying to sell.

The full article on neighbour disputes is on our website.

26/08/2026

Most people sign the biggest contract of their life without understanding a single sentence of it.

These documents are written for the lawyer on the other side, and for a court that might one day have to read it but we can tell you what it actually means before you sign it, in the words you would use yourself.

You cannot make a good decision about something you do not understand.
Debunking the legal jargon along the way is the part of our job.

Got a document in front of you that you do not fully understand? Bring it in.

20/08/2026

Signing is not the finish line. It is the start of a stretch where a number of things still have to go right.

Most buyers know that a conditional agreement can be cancelled. Fewer understand what changes the day it goes unconditional, and fewer still know what it costs to change their mind after that. It is not a small number.

None of that is a reason to panic. It is a reason to know, before you sign, which conditions are protecting you and which ones you have quietly given away.

We have written up the full picture, including what happens to your deposit and where you stand if settlement does not happen on the day over on our blog.

Read the full article on our website before you sign anything: https://bmlegal.co.nz/can-a-property-sale-fall-through-after-signing/