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Planning for Retirement Living? Make Sure Your Will Keeps Up

As more New Zealanders choose the lifestyle, security, and community of retirement villages, it's important to make sure your estate planning reflects this shift, especially if you or your partner may one day want to enter into an Occupation Right Agreement (ORA) at a retirement village.An ORA is the most common way people purchase the right to live in a retirement village unit, villa or apartment but here's the catch: your Will may not automatically give your surviving partner the authority to ...

Point of View - I don’t have enough time to do my Will

Busy parents - we hear you! You're juggling a million things, and the last thing on your mind is getting a Will sorted. You might be thinking, “I don’t have time,” or “I don’t have the mental capacity for that right now.”But imagine the unthinkable happens — you're no longer here to fix things like you always do. Would people know what you’d want for your kids? Who should care for them? How should your assets be handled?Our team is here to make the process simple and stress...

Event - Legal Planning for Life

Gallie Miles is holding a free 'Legal Planning for Life' session at the Te Awamutu & District Memorial RSA. Date: Wednesday, 23 July 2025Time: 7:00 PMVenue: Te Awamutu RSA Join our team for an informative evening covering key legal topics to help you plan for the future with confidence.Bring your questions – we’re here to help!...

Sue signing off

After 21 years at Gallie Miles, Sue Garmonsway is signing off from the firm in mid-June. She is looking forward to spending more time with family and friends and focusing on some of her other passions including teaching law. We’re looking back on her career, where she’s seen the firm go from dictating on a tape recorder to embracing technology and developing a new generation of Lawyers. Read on below. As a Law Graduate, Sue Garmonsway spent the first two years of her legal career working in ...

Extended Easter / ANZAC Office Closure

Our offices will be closed for an extended Easter and ANZAC break, to give our team a well-earned rest. Our last day of work will be on Thursday 17 April and we will re-open on Monday 28th April 2025....

Free Presentations for community - Legal Planning for Later Life

Help your retired community to understand their rights, have peace of mind and ensure their affairs are in order.  We are available to provide your retirement village, retirement home or elderly community group with a free educational presentation to keep you up to date on elder law....

Subdividing your land for inter-generational living

More and more, different generations of the same family are choosing to live near each other to provide support for ageing parents, or help children get onto the property ladder. Subdividing your land can be a great option to help multiple generations to live near each other while maintaining their own personal space....

Landlords – there are changes to Tenancy law

Are you a landlord? There are some changes to the Residential Tenancy Act (1986), designed to make the rental process clearer and fairer for everyone involved. Here’s what’s changing....

2024-2025 Holiday Hours

Our last day of work will be on Thursday 19 December 2025 and a skeleton staff will be back in the office from Monday 6 January 2025. We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season and look forward to connecting with you again soon. ...

Capable Kathryn

Gallie Miles Senior Legal Executive Kathryn Horton started her career out as an Office Junior almost 28 years ago and worked her way up to her current role. We catch up with her on her background and how she came to work at Gallie Miles.Born and raised in Te Awamutu, Senior Legal Executive Kathryn Horton first got a taste of the office life straight out of high school.“My typing teacher at College knew I wasn’t keen to do 7th form and the school was approached by a local firm looking for an ...

Divorce Law Change – Family Violence Survivors will be able to get divorced without waiting the required two years after separation

A recent change in legislation now means that people in family violence situations, who have obtained a final protection order against their spouse or civil union partner, now have the option to dissolve their marriage or civil union without having to wait two years after separation.  What is the law change?Nicknamed "Ashley's law", the Family Proceedings (Dissolution for Family Violence) Amendment Bill allows a party with a final protection order the option to apply for a court order disso...

Man likely to lose more of family home after second relationship ends, despite legal protection

The New Zealand Herald reports about a case where a man put his family home in a trust to prevent his new partner from being able to claim a share of it if the relationship ended. They separated after 10 years together and the woman has successfully challenged her right to a claim on the property.A man who claimed his home was his “life’s work” placed it in a family trust when his marriage ended.He thought that would protect it from any claim by a future partner.Now, his equity in the home...

Getting to know Georgia

Known for her patient and friendly nature, Georgia Read has recently joined the Gallie Miles Hamilton team as an Associate. Here we get to know her a little bit better.Growing up in Pukekohe, Georgia was always drawn to subjects like English at school. Keen to study in Otago, she enrolled in Law at Otago University.“It was that or health sciences!” she laughs.After graduating she joined a private practice in Pukekohe, working for a couple of years on property and personal legal matters, befo...

Getting the basics right – Wills and Enduring Powers of Attorney

It’s Wills Month in September and it's a good time to review your basic “life” documents and make a time to talk through any changes. At the top of this list should be your Wills and Enduring Powers of Attorney....

Responsive Rachael

Recently promoted to Associate Legal Executive, Rachael Tyler has been working in law ever since leaving school. Born and bred in the Waikato, she’s built a reputation for her attention to detail and being responsive to client needs. Here we get to know her a little better.Growing up on a Waikato dairy farm, Rachael Tyler didn’t always imagine a career in law. Wanting to leave school as a teenager, it was more about finding a job somewhere in town.  “I hated school, so my mum said I c...

Many Happy Years

Meeting as 18-year-olds at the Starlight Ballroom in Hamilton, Alan and Tricia Wallace have spent the past 67 years together. Loyal clients of Gallie Miles since 2002, their latest legal matter was an update of their Wills with Renee Dunn, whilst residing at Highfield Country Estate Retirement Village. In this blog we learn more about their lives and what it means to the elderly couple to have all their legal affairs in order.The year is 1957 and Rock’n’Roll is playing. 18-year-olds Alan Wal...

The Consequences of Not Having an Enduring Power of Attorney

An Enduring Power of Attorney (“EPA”) is a legal document that allows you to appoint one or more trusted individuals to make decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated. There are two types of EPAs:Enduring Power of Attorney for Property: This type allows you to appoint someone to handle your financial and property matters, including managing farm assets, investments, and other property. In a rural context, this is crucial for ensuring that agricultural operations and farm managemen...

Georgia Read joins Gallie Miles

Property and Commercial Lawyer Georgia Read has joined Gallie Miles as an Associate. Based in the Hamilton office led by Bryce Bluett, Georgia’s existing clients will benefit from access to an even broader range of legal expertise within the firm, while Gallie Miles Hamilton will be able to service even more clients with expert legal advice provided by Georgia.Working as a private client lawyer since 2007, Georgia has had an extensive legal career working at law firms in Pukekohe, Auckland, Lo...

If our relationship ends, how will our relationship property be divided?

In New Zealand, if a relationship has lasted at least three years, the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 applies (“the Act”). The division of relationship property is generally 50/50, regardless of what has occurred. Here we explain more about relationship property and how it’s divided....

Top tips when providing farm accommodation

Moving Day (1 June) has been and gone which means that not only do the cows have new homes, many employees will also have new accommodation on farm. Understanding your rights and obligations when providing, or receiving, farm accommodation is crucial to a smooth working relationship.On farm accommodation that is provided in connection with employment is governed by a Service Tenancy – the tenancy applies for so long as the person is in the role. While Service Tenancies may have different notic...

Top tips when separating

We were recently contacted by our client Alan who has separated from his wife Sarah of 35 years.While things are reasonably amicable now, Alan is concerned at how they will split their assets which include a grazing block, the home farm that Alan inherited from his parents and a bach in Coromandel.It is never easy when a relationship ends, but there are things you can do to protect your position while remaining amicable....

With us all the way

When Gallie Miles clients Blair and Rosie Shaw began the hunt for their first home around eight years ago, life looked a little different.Fast forward to 2024 and the couple have two children, a thriving handyman business and are happily living in the Kihikihi house they purchased back in 2016.Gallie Miles Director Alex McIvor has been there throughout the journey, guiding them through their legal matters. “Blair and I started looking for our first home in Te Awamutu about eight years ago...

Welcome Tabatha

Welcome to Tabatha Brill, who has joined the Gallie Miles team and an expert in Estate Administration.   Tabatha is a Senior Registered Legal Executive and has more than ten years of experience working in local Te Awamutu law firms.Tabatha is an expert in estate administration, assisting clients throughout the entire estate administration process from drafting probate or letters of administration to administrating the sale of property and distributing the estate.Tabatha also has extens...

Failure to settle property deal costs woman $200,000

A recent case reported by Stuff has cost one woman more than $200,000, after she failed to pay the full amount by a property settlement date.The Kāpiti Coast property was originally listed as part of a 64-townhouse development in May 2021.The purchase price for the property was $833,000. A deposit of $83,800 was paid by the woman, and as per the sale and purchase agreement, she was required to pay the balance on the settlement date.Work on the development commenced in March 2022 and the propert...

Introducing Anna

Anna is a Registered Legal Executive who has worked at Gallie Miles since late 2023. She is an expert in Property law and Estate Administration. She has had an extensive career in law spanning more than 22 years, starting as an office junior before becoming a qualified legal executive.For nine years Anna worked for a rural law firm Matamata doing residential and farm work, then moved to Hamilton and worked for a mid-sized firm doing residential conveyancing including settlements for large proper...