Why You Need a Will in New Zealand

What Happens If You Die Without a Will?

A will is the only legal document that lets you decide who inherits your assets, who raises your children, and who manages your estate after you die. Without one, none of those decisions are yours. The court and a rigid statutory formula take over, and the results rarely match what people assume.

For anyone with dependants, property, or a KiwiSaver Scheme balance worth preserving, a will is effectively essential for most households. In our experience advising New Zealand households, the gap between what people expect will happen when they die and what actually happens under the law can be one of the most expensive misunderstandings in personal finance. Roughly half of all New Zealanders have no valid will, according to Public Trust research. The reasons are predictable: too young, too healthy, too busy, too few assets. None hold up under scrutiny.

The Intestacy Rules: Who Gets What When There Is No Will

Dying without a valid will is called dying "intestate." When this happens, the Administration Act 1969 applies a fixed formula based on which family members survive you. There is no room for discretion, personal context, or common sense. The court appoints an administrator (someone you may never have chosen) to manage the process.

Here is the full cascade:

• Spouse or partner, no children, no parents: your partner inherits everything.
• Spouse or partner plus children: your partner receives personal chattels, a statutory legacy of $155,000 (plus interest from the date of death), and one third of the remaining estate. Your children share the other two thirds equally.
• Spouse or partner plus parents (no children): your partner receives personal chattels, the $155,000 statutory legacy (plus interest), and two thirds of the residue. Your parents share the remaining third.
• Children only (no surviving spouse or partner): the estate is divided equally among your children.
• Parents only: the estate passes to your parents equally.
• No spouse, children, or parents: siblings, then extended relatives, are entitled in a statutory order of priority.
• No identifiable relatives at all: the estate goes to the Crown.

The $155,000 Problem

That statutory legacy figure deserves attention. It was set by the Administration (Prescribed Amounts) Regulations 2005 and has remained unchanged for over two decades. In a country where the median house price sits well above $800,000, this figure is remarkably low. If your partner needs to buy out other beneficiaries' shares in a family home, $155,000 plus a third of the residue may force a sale.

Blended Families and Stepchildren

Intestacy is particularly harsh on blended families. Stepchildren have no automatic entitlement under the Administration Act 1969. Only biological and legally adopted children inherit. If you have raised stepchildren for years but have not formally adopted them, they receive nothing under the intestacy formula. A will is the only way to provide for them.

We regularly see families where the surviving partner assumed they would receive everything, only to discover the intestacy formula entitled the children to two thirds of the residue, held in trust, with legal and accounting costs attached, and no flexibility to adapt to the family's actual needs.

A Worked Example: What Intestacy Looks Like in Practice

Consider Sam and Alex, married with two children aged five and eight. Sam dies without a will. Their assets:

• Family home: $900,000 (held in joint names as joint tenants)
• Sam's KiwiSaver Scheme balance: $85,000 (no nomination on file; the provider's default is to pay to the estate)
• Sam's savings account: $25,000
• Sam's life insurance: $300,000 (Alex named as beneficiary)
• Car: $15,000

The house passes to Alex automatically by survivorship because it is held as a joint tenancy. Life insurance pays directly to Alex as the named beneficiary. Neither asset is governed by the will or the intestacy rules.

The estate subject to intestacy is the KiwiSaver Scheme balance ($85,000), the savings account ($25,000), and the car ($15,000), totalling approximately $125,000. Because that total falls below the $155,000 statutory legacy, Alex receives it all.

Now change one detail: suppose Sam also owned an investment property worth $500,000 in Sam's sole name. The estate subject to intestacy jumps to roughly $625,000. Under the formula, Alex receives personal chattels, $155,000 (plus interest), and one third of the remaining $470,000 (around $157,000). The children share the other two thirds (around $313,000) held in trust until they turn 20. That trust arrangement could force a sale of the investment property, generate legal and accounting costs, and produce a result neither Sam nor Alex would have chosen.

With a will, Sam could have left the entire estate to Alex outright. No forced sale, no trust administration costs, no court-appointed trustee. Alternatively, Sam could have established a testamentary trust with specific conditions and a trustee of Sam's choosing. The point is that Sam, not a statutory formula, would have made the decision.

Even in a straightforward family, most wealth may pass outside the will entirely. Understanding which assets are governed by which mechanism matters just as much as having a will in the first place.

What a Will Can Do

Direct who inherits your assets. You choose which people, charities, or organisations receive specific assets or shares of your estate. A caveat: New Zealand's Family Protection Act 1955 allows certain family members to challenge a will if they have not been adequately provided for, and the court regularly overrides provisions it considers inadequate. Separately, a surviving spouse or partner may elect to claim under the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 instead of accepting what the will provides. This election right generally entitles them to half of the relationship property, regardless of what the will says. Both Acts place real limits on testamentary freedom in New Zealand.

Appoint an executor. Your executor applies for probate, gathers your assets, pays debts and taxes, and distributes the estate according to your instructions. Choose someone organised, trustworthy, and genuinely willing to act. It helps if they live in New Zealand, have the time to manage the process (which can take months), and have the temperament to deal with grieving family members and institutional bureaucracy. You can also appoint a professional executor such as Public Trust or a trustee company. Without a will, the court appoints an administrator, and the process takes longer and costs more.

Nominate guardians for minor children. For parents of young children, this is arguably the most important function of a will. A guardianship nomination expresses your clear preference for who raises your children if both parents die. Without one, the Family Court decides, and the outcome depends entirely on who applies and what the court considers to be in the children's best interests. The process can be contested, slow, and distressing for the children involved.

Create testamentary trusts. You can specify that a child receives their inheritance at age 25, or in staged amounts, rather than as a lump sum at 20 (the default age under intestacy). This gives you influence over how your wealth is used long after you are gone.

Record funeral and burial preferences. These are not legally binding, but they give your family clear guidance during a difficult time and reduce the likelihood of disagreements.

Provide for pets. A will can nominate a caregiver for your animals and set aside funds for their care. Without a written nomination, pets are treated as personal chattels.

Make charitable gifts. A will can direct specific amounts or percentages to charities, establishing a lasting legacy beyond your immediate family.

Address digital assets. Online accounts, cryptocurrency wallets, social media profiles, photo libraries, and digital subscriptions all need someone with access and instructions. A will (often supported by a separate letter of wishes) can nominate a digital executor and provide practical guidance for managing or closing these accounts.

What a Will Cannot Do

Several significant categories of assets and legal rights operate entirely outside your will, regardless of what it says. Misunderstanding these boundaries is where most problems arise.

Override beneficiary designations on life insurance. The payout goes directly to the person you nominated on the policy. It does not form part of your estate unless the estate itself is the named beneficiary. Keeping beneficiary designations current is essential, particularly after separation or remarriage.

Control all KiwiSaver Scheme balances. This varies by provider. Many KiwiSaver Scheme providers do not offer binding nomination forms, which means the balance typically falls into the estate and is distributed under the will (or intestacy rules). Some providers do allow nominations. Checking your provider's specific process is worth the five minutes it takes.

Override joint tenancy survivorship. Joint tenancy includes a right of survivorship: the surviving owner automatically receives the deceased owner's share, bypassing the will and the intestacy rules entirely. Property held as tenants in common, by contrast, does form part of the estate.

Govern trust property. Assets sitting inside a family trust are owned by the trust, not by you personally. Your will has no authority over them. New Zealand has a high prevalence of family trusts, and confusion on this point is common. Your will and your trust deed need to work together, and they frequently do not.

Govern Māori freehold land. Succession of Māori freehold land is governed by Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 and administered through the Māori Land Court, a separate process entirely.

Guarantee disinheritance of close family. You can write a will excluding a family member, but certain close relatives, including children and spouses, can challenge the will under the Family Protection Act 1955. The court can vary the will if it considers the provision inadequate. Complete disinheritance of close family rarely survives a legal challenge in New Zealand. Separately, someone who provided services to the deceased based on a promise of testamentary reward may claim under the Law Reform (Testamentary Promises) Act 1949.

The Probate Process in New Zealand

Probate is the legal process by which the court confirms the validity of a will and authorises the executor to act. If there is no will, the equivalent process (a grant of Letters of Administration) takes longer and requires the court to appoint an administrator.

Under amendments to the Administration Act 1969 effective 24 September 2025, the simplified estate threshold (below which a formal grant of probate is generally not required) increased from $15,000 to $40,000. For estates above that threshold, the executor applies to the High Court for a grant of probate.

Typical timelines range from around six weeks for straightforward estates to six months or longer where there are complications: missing beneficiaries, disputed claims, assets in multiple jurisdictions, or income-generating assets requiring ongoing management. The executor must also apply for an IRD number for the estate and file tax returns. Under current Inland Revenue rules, estate income is taxed at 33% for the first four income years, then at 39% unless estate income is $10,000 or less per year, in which case the 33% rate continues to apply. A statutory waiting period applies before final distribution.

Having a clearly drafted, professionally witnessed will materially reduces the time, cost, and complexity of this process for everyone involved.

How to Create a Will in New Zealand

The Wills Act 2007 sets out the requirements for a valid will. It must be in writing, signed by the will-maker (or by someone directed by the will-maker in their presence), and witnessed by two people who are both present at the time of signing. Witnesses should not be beneficiaries under the will; a gift to a witness may be voided under section 14, even though the will itself remains valid.

A common misconception is that handwritten wills are simpler or have looser requirements. They do not. New Zealand does not recognise unwitnessed handwritten ("holographic") wills of the kind accepted in some Australian states and parts of the United States. A handwritten will must meet exactly the same witnessing requirements as a typed or printed will. Missing even one requirement can invalidate the entire document.

There are three main routes:

1. ‍Online platforms. Services such as Footprint, LawHawk, and Public Trust offer guided online will-making tools. Indicative costs range from approximately $50 to $200. These work well for people with straightforward circumstances: a single relationship, no blended family, limited trust involvement, and clearly defined wishes.‍
2. A lawyer. For blended families, multiple properties, business interests, trust structures, or any degree of complexity, a lawyer is worth the fee. Indicative costs for a straightforward will prepared by a lawyer typically range from around $300 to $1,000 or more, depending on the complexity. The cost of getting it wrong almost always exceeds the cost of getting it right.‍
3. DIY templates. Will kits and blank templates are available, but they carry the highest risk of errors, ambiguities, and invalid provisions. They suit the smallest and simplest estates only.

Two people with identical assets can face very different levels of complexity depending on family structure, relationship history, and the types of property involved. A will costing $500 for one person could save their family $50,000 in disputes and delays.

When to Update Your Will

A will drafted at 30 will almost certainly be inadequate at 50. Several life events should trigger an immediate review:

• Marriage or civil union. Under section 18 of the Wills Act 2007, getting married or entering a civil union automatically revokes any existing will, unless the will was made in contemplation of that specific marriage. This is one of the most consequential and least widely known facts in New Zealand succession law. If you marry without making a new will, you die intestate.
• Separation or divorce. Dissolution of a marriage revokes provisions in favour of the former spouse under section 19 of the Wills Act 2007, but leaves the rest of the will standing. The will still needs a full review.
• Entering or ending a de facto relationship. Unlike marriage, entering a de facto relationship does not automatically revoke or affect your will. If your will still names a former partner, it may still apply as written.
• Birth or adoption of children or grandchildren.
• Buying, selling, or refinancing property.
• A material change in financial circumstances (inheritance, business sale, redundancy).
• Your named executor or guardian becoming unable or unwilling to act.

Reviewing your will alongside each major life transition is one of the simplest and most effective things you can do for the people who depend on you.

Beyond the Will

A will is one component of a broader estate plan. Several adjacent pieces deserve attention at the same time.

Enduring powers of attorney (EPAs). These are separate documents, governed by the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988, covering two areas: property management and personal care and welfare. An EPA authorises someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf if you lose mental capacity during your lifetime. An EPA ceases on death; it is purely for incapacity while you are alive. Most lawyers prepare EPAs alongside a will, and most online platforms offer them as a package.

Beneficiary designations. Review the nominations on your life insurance policies and KiwiSaver Scheme. These operate independently of your will and can easily become outdated after a separation or new relationship.

Trust alignment. If you have a family trust, ensure your will and your trust deed are consistent. A common issue is a will that assumes ownership of assets actually held by the trust, or a trust deed with powers of appointment that need to be exercised through the will. These two documents need to talk to each other.

A letter of wishes. This is a non-binding document addressed to your executor or trustees, providing context, reasoning, and guidance on how you would like your affairs handled. It can cover matters too personal or too detailed for a formal will, and it often prevents misunderstandings.

As Become Wealth CEO Joseph Darby observes:

"Our team regularly see estates where the will says one thing, the trust deed says another, and the life insurance nominations are years out of date. Getting these documents aligned takes a few hours. Leaving them misaligned can take years and tens of thousands of dollars to resolve."

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can make a will in New Zealand?

Anyone of sound mind who is at least 18 years old. A person under 18 may make a will if they are or have been married, in a civil union, or in a de facto relationship. Others under 18 can make a will with Family Court approval, or if they are in the military or are a seagoing person (section 9, Wills Act 2007).

How much does a will cost in New Zealand?

Online will-making platforms typically charge between $50 and $200. A lawyer-drafted will for a straightforward estate generally costs between $300 and $1,000. Complex estates involving trusts, blended families, or business interests will cost more. Enduring powers of attorney are usually prepared at the same time for an additional fee.

Can I write my own will by hand?

You can, but it must meet the same formal requirements as any other will: in writing, signed by you, and witnessed by two people present at the time of signing. New Zealand does not recognise unwitnessed handwritten wills.

How do I check whether my KiwiSaver Scheme balance will pass through my will?

Contact your KiwiSaver Scheme provider directly and ask whether they offer a binding beneficiary nomination form. If they do not (and many do not), your balance will fall into your estate and be distributed under your will or, if you have no will, the intestacy rules. If they do offer a nomination form, check it is current and reflects your wishes, particularly if your relationship status has changed.

Can I completely disinherit someone in my will?

You can write a will excluding a family member, but certain close relatives (including children and spouses) can challenge the will under the Family Protection Act 1955. The court can vary the will if it considers the provision inadequate. Complete disinheritance of close family rarely survives a legal challenge in New Zealand.

Why You Need A NZ Will

A will takes less time to create than most people spend choosing a new phone. The consequences of not having one fall entirely on the people you care about most: a rigid statutory formula, a court-appointed administrator, potential forced asset sales, and family relationships strained by ambiguity and delay.

For straightforward situations, an online platform can produce a valid will in under an hour. For anything involving blended families, trusts, business interests, or assets passing to minor children, professional advice pays for itself many times over.

If your situation involves a blended family, trust property, or assets held in more than one name, a short review of how your will, insurance nominations, KiwiSaver Scheme beneficiary details, and ownership structures interact often surfaces issues people do not realise exist. That kind of review is a core part of financial planning, and if you would like help working through it, book a consultation with our team.

^{Become Wealth is not a law firm and this content is not legal advice. For specific legal questions about wills, estates, or succession, seek the services of a suitably qualified legal professional.}