Ward Adams Bryan-Lamb are rural law specialists with strong links to rural communities, particularly those in Southland.  We have been part of the Southland landscape for over 100 years and are the only law firm currently servicing the predominantly rural Western Southland area. We visit our office in Riverton on a weekly basis and our roots and commitment to the area are very important to us.  

We offer legal services to a wide range of rural based clients. Our lawyers can help you with any legal issues in relation to the rural sector, from buying and selling farms and other rural assets, leasing arrangements, succession planning, as well as all kinds of disputes within the industry.  

It is important to receive the right legal advice when acquiring or disposing of what is likely to be your biggest asset, whether it is a deer, sheep, beef farm, dairy or grazing unit, forestry block, an orchard, or a vineyard.

We really enjoy working with clients throughout the entire purchase and sale process, helping to identify all of the issues that affect a particular transaction and assisting you to achieve the best outcomes possible. From our perspective, it is never too early to include us in your purchase or sale decisions and we are always happy to look over an agreement before you sign it to make sure all the conditions and legal issues affecting your transaction are covered.  

The large amounts of money involved and the wide range of complexities that come with rural property ownership, such as tax issues, local authority resource consents, dairy company shares, employees, plant and machinery, livestock, overseas ownership issues and the financing of it all mean there can be a lot to work through to get to your end result.  

One of the first decisions when buying is who is actually going to complete the purchase. We will give you easy to understand advice about the different ownership types, such as sole trader, partnership, company or trust, and work with you to ensure the ownership structure you use fully suits your needs and most importantly that you understand it.

We aim to keep the documents you will need to sign as simple as possible and, most importantly, in plain English so everyone can understand them (not just lawyers!). There are a large range of legal matters that need to be considered and it is important that you are given the right advice when considering what needs to go into your grazing, sharemilking or lease agreement. Our team is here to give you that right advice.

In the rural area estate and succession planning can be particularly significant, with a number of farms being owned within a family for over 100 years. As land values increase the challenges of maintaining this tradition continue to grow. In addition the old traditional concepts of inheritance, such as where the eldest male child takes all, are usually no longer appropriate. When the bulk of your wealth is tied up in one asset this creates a unique set of challenges to consider when thinking about your future and how to deal with your assets on death or retirement.

It is important not only to plan for your immediate future, but also to think about what you want to happen in the long term or if you have an anticipated or unexpected change in personal circumstances, for example retirement or death of you or a loved one.  

When employing staff it is important to comply with the requirements of the Employment Relations Act 2000, which starts off by requiring that every employee has a written employment agreement setting out the terms and conditions of their employment. It should be signed by all parties, however it can still be valid even if this hasn’t actually happened.  

When it comes to recording the terms of the employment arrangement there are certain things that have to be included in your agreement in a certain way and then there are optional provisions where you make choices and work out what benefits you want to offer your specific employee. As an employee you also have choices and can try and negotiate better terms than may have been offered to you to start with.  

Employment law is a reasonably fast moving area of law with the government making regular tweaks to areas that may be covered by employment agreements and it is important that your agreements remain up to date and that you remain aware of the changes as they happen.  

Whether you are an employer or an employee, if you need help negotiating the terms of your employment agreement, advice and assistance in preparing an agreement, or working with you to resolve an issue or dispute that may have arisen in your employment relationship we can assist you.

Occasionally disputes with others may occur in your life and we recognise these are likely to be both emotionally draining and time consuming.

Even if it is a situation you are able to resolve for yourself, we always recommend that you discuss the issues with us so we can make sure you confidently know the correct legal position. This can be a huge advantage for you.  

If you are unable to resolve the situation yourself we have members of our team who are experienced in all areas of dispute resolution law. This includes direct negotiations, employment law, mediation and arbitration, and court hearings in relation to any matter affecting your rural business including commercial and company disputes, debt collection, bankruptcy and liquidation, sharemilking agreement issues and estate family protection claims.

You may at some stage decide to subdivide your existing rural property. This might be as simple as a small boundary adjustment with a neighbour or a complex multi-title development with lots of additional requirements, including easements, esplanade strips and land covenants. You may also be buying a property that is being subdivided first and need advice about what happens before you buy.

We can help you with all of the legal requirements throughout the subdivision process, including:

Finance arrangements can be complicated but we can help you through the process, making sure you understand the requirements of your lender and advising you generally in relation to all banking and financing issues. If you provide us with a copy of your finance offer we can advise you before you are committed to the transaction you have applied for finance for.

We will advise you and ensure all documentation is completed for any family loans or related party loans if another entity you are a part of is providing some of the money for your transaction.  

We also deal with any security requirements your lender might have and will advise you in relation to any mortgages, Credit Contracts, Personal Property Security requirements, guarantees as well as completion of loan documents and all other supporting information that your lender requires.  

The Resource Management Act 1991 was introduced to help local Councils manage and protect our environment. Each Council has a plan for their area and certain activities that you may want to carry out in your rural location will be allowed and others may require a resource consent before you can do them. For an example if you looking at doing any earthwork there may be regulations as to how those earthworks are completed. There can be a complicated process to go through to gain consent from your local council which can be timing consuming and costly if you don’t get it right. At Ward Adams Bryan-Lamb we can help you work through what is required to meet the council’s requirements.