Speakers

Vicki is the director of Vicki Ammundsen Trust Law. In addition to providing trustee services Vicki advises on all areas of trust and estate law and practice including contentious trusts and estates. Vicki is the author of a number of texts including Taxation of Trusts, Trustee Liability, the Trustee’s Handbook, The Residential Care Subsidies Handbook and A Practical Guide to Legal Issues for Older People. As well as being a highly regarded conference and webinar presenter, Vicki also maintains the blog Matters of Trust.

Sam has worked in private practice accounting since 1993 and has been a partner since 2001. He specialises in assisting small to medium-sized legal firms with profit improvement strategies and succession planning. Sam provides valuation and litigation support, particularly in section 15 economic disparity calculations. He is regularly appointed by the Court or parties to a dispute as an independent trustee to assist with Trust management and reach resolution regarding the sale of trust assets.

Lance spent 22 years in the NZ Police, 13 as a crisis negotiator. He brings experience from training in New Zealand, Australia, England, and the USA with the elite units of police, prisons, emergency services, the military, and the FBI. Lance has a Master of Arts majoring in Terrorism, Safety, & Security, a Diploma in Policing, a Diploma in Business Studies, and is completing a Diploma in Positive Psychology and Wellbeing. He is a published author of the bestselling books Behind The Tape and Dark Side of the Brain. His third book Anxiety is a Worry was released in August 2024. Lance also makes regular media appearances.

Stella is a partner at Forest Harrison. Before co-founding the firm in 2006, she gained extensive experience working at several prominent law firms in Auckland. Stella specialises in property development and other property related transactions. She is a longstanding member of the TLANZ Property Law Committee and is an Accredited Property specialist with the Property Law Section of the New Zealand Law Society. In addition, Stella has presented on commercial leases for the New Zealand Law Society and spoken on property purchases, property development, trusts and other legal topics to various private organisations within her community.

Stewart is an industry expert on the law relating to human infertility, assisted reproductive technology, and family creation. He frequently advises a broad range of clients and fertility clinics on embryo/egg/sperm donations, domestic and international surrogacy, and adoption. Stewart was an expert adviser to the Law Commission when reviewing New Zealand’s surrogacy laws. He has three children with his male partner through surrogacy, and therefore has both real-life and professional experience when it comes to surrogacy. Stewart also has experience in representing clients at the Immigration and Protection Tribunal, Family Court, District Court and High Court. He is the former Chair of TLANZ’s Immigration and Refugee Law Committee. Stewart is experienced in all aspects of immigration and refugee law, assisting clients with complex visa applications, deportations, humanitarian appeals, and refugee claims.

Riaan is a barrister and advises a number of high-profile companies, individuals, accounting and law firms on income tax, GST and Customs issues.
Before joining the bar, Riaan was a tax dispute specialist for PwC, and worked in senior roles in Inland Revenue. 
Prior to immigrating from South Africa, Riaan practised as a solicitor and was a litigation partner from 1999.

Anthony is an Auckland barrister who specialises in the laws concerning Trusts and Estates. He acts as counsel in Trusts and Estate litigation and gives advice on Trust structures and constructive ways to resolve disputes involving Trusts and Estates. He is a regular contributor to LawNews on new developments involving Trusts and Estates and delivers papers at legal conferences on these topics.

Sandra is a senior commercial and civil barrister, with over 30 years’ experience in litigation. She is a member of Paladin Chambers, practising from Auckland and Queenstown. She appears in all the senior courts on a regular basis. Her specialties include trusts, estates, relationship property, business, and land litigation.

Jennie, a director at Haigh Lyon Lawyers, co-leads the firm’s vibrant and effective family law team. Certified Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers, she’s recognised by Doyle’s Guide as a foremost expert in New Zealand on relationship property and family law. Jennie has 20 years’ experience in family law and is a contributing author to Westlaw’s family property and family procedure chapters.

Kimberly specialises in complex estate and trust matters, with a focus on providing technical legal opinions, strategic advice, and minimising risks for executors and trustees who are involved in disputes or in litigation.

Colette has extensive experience in all aspects of estate planning, including trusts, estates, relationship property, wills and EPAs. Alongside strategic asset planning advice, she specialises in designing bespoke structuring arrangements to meet client needs and minimise future disputes.

Tammy McLeod is the Managing Director at Davenports Law. She is a trust and asset structuring specialist with over 25 years’ legal experience specialising in the areas of personal asset planning, trust law and the Property (Relationships) Act.

Tony has worked in courts for many years in various roles and as technical registrar at the High Court, Auckland, from 2000. As registrar and sheriff, Tony leads a team of 4. Tony and his team exercise delegated powers of the High Court to consider common form applications for grants of administration.

Helen practises in all areas of family law, including relationship property, trust and estate claims, spousal maintenance, care of children and family violence. She has been on TLANZ’s Family Law Committee since 2018 and the NZLS’ Family Law Section Advisory Panel since 2019. Helen regularly presents seminars on family law topics. Helen is a legal aid provider.

Having worked in law for close to 40 years, Denise is an acknowledged authority on, and has an in-depth knowledge of, the area of deceased estates. Prior to forming her company Robins & Co in 2005, she  held a number of positions, the last being Senior Estates Manager for a High Street law firm. Through her business, she is engaged by many practitioners around New Zealand as a drafting specialist, drafting in their name all manner of High Court documents to obtain Probate, Letters of Administration et al. As well as offering general estate guidance for practitioners, she was the go-to commentator on Radio Live covering estates and will matters that made their way through our courts system.

Andrew has over 35 years’ experience in litigation in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Previously a partner at Chamberlains, then a partner at Martelli McKegg Lawyers from 2006 to October 2020, he then left to join the independent bar as a barrister sole specialising in trust and estate disputes. He has been Convenor of ADLS’ Civil Litigation Committee and is presently a member of TLANZ’s Trust Law Committee. He has presented seminars for NZLS, ADLS, STEP, Legalwise and CCH on a variety of property, trust and estate-related topics and has written a number of articles on trust-related topics for the LawNews and other publications. He is the lecturer for and examiner of the estate litigation component for the STEP diploma.

Emma is an experienced commercial property lawyer who advises clients on a broad range of property issues. Her clients include landlords and tenants, private developers, landowners in the sporting and leisure industry, schools, and unit title bodies corporate. Emma also has experience in the property finance sector, advising banks and other funders in relation to lending and enforcement on property assets, as well as their own property needs. Emma was a Senior Associate at Kensington Swan in Auckland and has also practised overseas.

Jennifer is an experienced litigator and family law expert with an extensive international family law practice. Over the course of her career, she has successfully litigated cases on novel issues in international surrogacy and inter-country adoption, advised clients and counsel around the world on conflicts of law, and appeared in courts at various levels throughout New Zealand. Jennifer began her career as the Judges’ Clerk to the Principal Family Court Judge, before advising the New Zealand Government in anticipation of its United Nations examination on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. For more than a decade now she has been a practising family lawyer and has successfully led cases in all areas of family law from international relocations, surrogacies and adoptions, to complex relationship property and estate cases spanning multiple Courts.

Simon has been practising in the field of Asset Protection Planning since 1993, both offshore and in New Zealand. He has extensive experience advising clients on asset protection strategies, including Contracting-Out Agreements, Trusts and Wills. He has presented numerous seminars and workshops on the interface between Trusts and the PRA. Simon is a member of TLANZ’s Trust Law Committee and the STEP education committee.