New Zealand Law Society - Guidelines

Guidelines

Property law related guidelines, which have been approved by the Law Society's Board, can be found here.

PLS Guidelines 

The New Zealand Law Society Property Law Section Guidelines (PLS Guidelines) were endorsed by the Law Society’s Board in October 2019. They were updated on:

  • 1 July 2020 to accommodate new provisions in the REINZ/ADLS Agreement for Sale and Purchase.
  • 25 June 2021 to reflect new settlement arrange­ments where the vendor is represented by a conveyancer, tender of settlement in the absence of bank cheques, and other miscel­laneous amendments.
  • 29 January 2024 to clarify matters that have arisen from practitioner queries and feedback and to update legislative references (with a corrected version published on 13 March, where the formula in 3.69 for settlement is repeated in guideline 5.7(c)).

This version of the PLS Guidelines is designed to be read on-screen, with hyperlinks provided to other guidelines within the document, and to outside sources of information such as legislation and case law.

PLS Guidelines January 2024 PLS Guidelines January 2024 (Flipbook)
PLS Guidelines Appendix 1 Private Individual A and I Form PLS Guidelines Appendix 2 Private Corporate A and I Form PLS Guidelines Appendix 3 Public Corporate A and I Form PLS Guidelines Appendix 4 Conveyancers Deed of Undertaking

Previous Versions

Property Transactions and E-dealing Practice Guidelines (November 2019)

PLS Guidelines (July 2020)

PLS Guidelines (June 2021)

 

Earlier versions are available on request property@lawsociety.org.nz.

Ownership and retention of records

These guidelines draw on an opinion by Andrew Beck. This was commissioned by the Law Society to provide guidance to New Zealand lawyers on the law and requirements relating to the ownership and retention of records on termination of retainer.

Ownership and retention of records - opinion (April 2014)