Tēnā koe C A,

Thank you for your OIA request to the Department of Internal Affairs (included with this email)

The Department will provide its response to your request as soon as practicable and within twenty working days. The 20th working day is 17 August 2023

Please note that in cases where the Department’s response provides information that is identified to be of general public interest, the response may also be published on the Department of Internal Affairs website. If the Department publishes its response to your OIA request, all personal information, including your name and contact details, will be removed.

Nāku, nā

Michelle Reed (she/her)
Lead Advisor Official Correspondence | Information Management and Privacy
He Ringa Manaaki | Workplace Services Group
He Pou Aronui | Organisational Capability and Services
Te Tari Taiwhenua | Department of Internal Affairs
Level 3, 45 Pipitea St | PO Box 805, Wellington 6140, New Zealand | http://www.dia.govt.nz/

-----Original Message-----
From: C A Mattheiss <[FOI #23549 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 20 July 2023 3:29 pm
To: OIA <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - Successor of Charitable Trust after Grantor Dies & Other Related Questions

[You don't often get email from [FOI #23549 email]. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific... ]

Dear Department of Internal Affairs,

1. Please inform me who is/was the legal person in 2012 overseeing charities at your government department. Please provide their full legal name, including middle name.

2. Please inform me who is/was the legal person in 2013 overseeing charities at your government department. Please provide their full legal name, including middle name.

3. Please inform me who is/was the legal person in 2014 overseeing charities at your government department. Please provide their full legal name, including middle name.

4. Please inform me who is/was the legal person in 2015 overseeing charities at your government department. Please provide their full legal name, including middle name.

5. Please inform me who is/was the legal person in 2016 overseeing charities at your government department. Please provide their full legal name, including middle name.

6. Please inform me who is/was the legal person in 2017 overseeing charities at your government department. Please provide their full legal name, including middle name.

7. Please inform me who is/was the legal person in 2018 overseeing charities at your government department. Please provide their full legal name, including middle name.

8. Please inform me who is/was the legal person in 2019 overseeing charities at your government department. Please provide their full legal name, including middle name.

9. Please inform me who is/was the legal person in 2020 overseeing charities at your government department. Please provide their full legal name, including middle name.

10. Please inform me who is/was the legal person in 2021 overseeing charities at your government department. Please provide their full legal name, including middle name.

11. Please inform me who is/was the legal person in 2022 overseeing charities at your government department. Please provide their full legal name, including middle name.

12. Please inform me who is the legal person in 2023 overseeing charities at your government department. Please provide their full legal name, including middle name.

13. Please provide me with information about what the Prime Minster's role is in overseeing Charities Services and charities in New Zealand.

14. When did the Ministry of Economic Affairs merge with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment?

15. Who oversees Charities Services at the minister level?

16. Who oversees Charities Services' operations?

17. How does Charities Services determine who is the successor of a charitable trust after the grantor of the trust has died?

18. Are there any areas on the form for registering a charitable trust that specify who the grantor is and the successor trustee who would take the grantor's place if they should die or not be capable of operating the trust?

19. How does Charities Services determine who the grantor of a trust is, meaning what titles are permitted to explain who the grantor of a charitable trust is on your website profile page for each charitable trust? For example, chairperson, treasurer, secretary, etc... Please be specific on all terms accepted.

20. Is it required by Charities Services or MBIE that the charitable trust's deed explain who the grantor is and who the trustee successor is at the time it is made?

21. How many legal persons are required to be trustees for a charitable trust for it to be considered legitimately in operation?

22. Are there any requirements by Charities Services for a legitimate trust to remain active?

23. How long can a trust remain inactive before it is not allowed to be registered anymore?

24. How long can a charitable trust remain inactive before it is deregistered?

25. How does Charities Services handle charitable trust registration forms?

26. Are the lawyers/barristers/brokers or accountants who sign off as registered Crown agents allowed by Charities Services to automatically administer charitable trusts once the trust becomes a trust estate?

27. Where on the charities registration form does it state or explain that a charitable trust is a type of will of the grantor making the trust?

28. When a charitable trust is registered and a lawyer/barrister/broker/accountant signs off on it to register it for the grantor of the trust are they automatically considered to be the administrator of the trust because they are a Crown agent and registered?

29. Are all names of trustees or chairpersons for a charitable trust to be legal names or can they be non-legal names?

30. Can alias names be used in place of legal names on charitable trust registration forms?

31. Can alias names be used in place of legal names on charitable trust deeds?

32. Can alias names be used in place of legal names on charitable trust rules?

33. Can you please inform me what 'charity financial irregularities' mean? Please provide your definition of financial irregularities.

34. Do you have any areas on the forms you require for a charitable trust to be made or on the trust deed that specifies what type of trust the charitable trust is supposed to be, such as a revocable trust, an irrevocable trust, an accumulative trust, or if it is to be a testamentary trust? Please explain in full detail.

35. If a trust is unable to fulfill its contract or deed, do you deregister the trust or do you allow it to continue to operate? If you allow it to continue to operate under what conditions is it allowed?

36. Are legal partners of a trust grantor, whether married, civil or de facto, required to be informed of any trust instrument being made that may affect their property or shared property with the grantor?

37. Does Charities Services take into consideration USA FATCA tax regulations and requirements which the New Zealand Government has agreed to abide by when it comes to USA citizens and their spouses, civil union partners or de facto partners who hold New Zealand citizen status that must abide by these tax laws regarding property or income/donations made for any trust of over $10K? Please inform me of how Charities Services acknowledges this status and what they do by law to enforce FATCA laws when it comes to charities and USA citizens and spouses/partners of these citizens holding property in a charitable trust that may be legally considered shared property due to corpus and anima practices coming into place with the property as well as real property.

38. Is there any informed consent forms in place by Charities Services to inform those who are grantors making trusts that a trust is considered to be a will and also that a trust will supersede a will at the time it is made if there is no other will already in place? Please provide me with any forms required by law that inform grantors or partners/spouses of grantors that share this information.

39. What requirements by law are in place in New Zealand to inform alien spouses/legal partners of the charitable grantors making trust that their spouse or legal partner may be affected by a trust being made by them as well as their personal property? Are there any requirements by law that require the grantor to know this information? Are lawyers/barristers/accountants required by law to share this information with the grantor and the grantor's significant other before signing to make a trust before the trust is registered?

40. How often are trusts that remain inactive audited having no donations or income after 1 year?

41. Are Charitable Trust viewed as irrevocable once the grantor of the trust dies?

42. Once the charitable trust is irrevocable, does Charities Services allow the remaining trustees to change the status of other trustees by removing some trustees and adding others as they like?

43. How does Charities Services know who the trustee successor is for a registered charitable trust? Please clearly explain or provide forms if there are any available.

44. Please provide Charities Services' definition of what an irrevocable charitable trust is once the grantor of the trust has died or becomes legally incapacitated.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to your response at your earliest convenience but no later than 21 working days.

I would have appreciated being able to legally justify this document but I was not able to.

Cordially,

C A Mattheiss

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Kia ora C A Mattheiss,

 

Please find attached the response to your Official Information Act
Request.

 

Ngā mihi

 

Huey Lim| Advisor Official Correspondence
Te Pāhekoheko, Kāwai ki te iwi | Operations, Service Delivery and
Operations

Te Tari Taiwhenua  The Department of Internal Affairs
7 Waterloo Quay, Wellington

[1]www.dia.govt.nz

 

References

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Kia ora C A Mattheiss

 

Thank you for your email.

 

As advised in our response dated 15 August 2023 to your official
information request, legal questions are not within the mandate of
Charities Services. Many of your questions were akin to legal advice and
we are unable to help you with these matters. Which is why you were
advised to seek independent legal advice on these matters.

 

Should you be interested, for the purposes of the Official Information Act
1982 (the Act), the definition of “Official Information” is outlined in
section 2 of the Act.; [1]https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/publ...

 

You have the right to seek an investigation and review of our decisions
about your request by the Ombudsman pursuant to section 28(1) of the Act.
The Office of the Ombudsman can be contacted by writing to PO Box 10-152,
Wellington or by email to [2][email address].

 

Nâku noa, nâ

 

Micheala Ngaia [3](ia/she/her)| Official Correspondence Manager
Te Pâhekoheko, Kâwai ki te iwi | Operations, Service Delivery and
Operations

Te Tari Taiwhenua  The Department of Internal Affairs
[4]www.dia.govt.nz

 

 

-----Original Message-----

From: C A Mattheiss <[5][FOI #23549 email]>

Sent: Sunday, October 1, 2023 11:33 AM

To: SDO Official Correspondence <[6][email address]>

Subject: Re: Official Information Act Request OIA 2324 0037 - Mattheiss

 

Dear SDO Official Correspondence,

 

There appears to be some withholding of information from the Department of
Internal Affairs about truthful information regarding the trust creation
processes that appear to be of a highly unethical and unprofessional
nature in New Zealand or can be. This not only includes charitable trusts
but also other trusts. By international standards of law when making a
trust, the trustmaker or settlor as often called in New Zealand is to be
notified they are the trustmaker and not the lawyer or other registered
professional to conceal this information from them and give them a phony
or false title to detract them from knowing the truth, that they are the
trustmaker of their trust. The registered lawyer, barrister, broker or
accountant appears in New Zealand to take over this role for their client
to exploit and abuse their client's trust estate once they are dead and
gone, whether that be a charitable trust or another type of trust. They
tend to also make their friends or associates the co-trustees or the
successor trustee of the trust without telling the actual trustmaker-
their client what they are doing. I do not believe this is a fairly
widespread or common practice in any other Western countries except for
maybe Australia and Northern Canada. Laws have been changed in the UK to
inform the creator of the trust of the terms and conditions of making a
trust as well as the definitions of roles. This does not seem to be common
practice in New Zealand and, therefore, the entire trust process can be
used as an operation to take advantage of the client of all their property
and assets, especially if they use their home address as the trust address
and the lawyer or other registered professional signs off on the
registering process and the Attorney General, who at this time is Mr David
Parker, seals it. This allows them to be the Trust Administrator without
ever informing their client of it, who most likely does not know the
appropriate titles when making trusts- this is why they hire a supposed
professional to help them, not to scam them or to provide them false and
misleading information.

Mr Parker was asked to step down as the Attorney General for falsifying
legal documents on his company's registration forms to save only a few
hundred dollars per annum. he is now back in the saddle again. Under the
DIA, both Mr Parker and the Prime Minister are accountable for these
significant trust discrepancies to be allowed within the legal system and
under the Acts and laws of New Zealand. Under the Charities Acts, I would
like to find out why the trustmaker is not required to be informed of
their role by law, that they are the actual trustmaker of their trust.
This appears to be a severely deceptive practice to me and would fall
under a breach of the Fair Trading Act 1986 for any professional to do
even the Attorney General who is actually responsible.

Instead of regulating charities or charitable trusts, the former Prime
Minister, Ms Jacdina Aadern, deregulated them further to not have to
report their fund spending even more than before when there were few
regulations in place to begin with and few audits made.

Although New Zealand has signed an agreement with the Americas to follow
FATCA laws and to enforce them in New Zealand, Kiwi legal partners or
spouses are still not informed of having to be provided information to
report to the IRS in America if their significant other trust yields more
than $10,000.00 per annum as the American Citizen of Kiwi partners or
spouses who are legally affected by this. Your DIA seems to not care about
what New Zealand has agreed to do to maintain good relations with the US
Government.

I would like this matter about trustmakers not being told they are the
trustmakers. which I have also struggled with, to be publicly known in the
international community so that people are aware of the dangers of giving
funding to or making a trust in New Zealand and also of the lack of
appropriate informed consent not required when making a trust. There
appear to be underdeveloped practices and policies for the most part in
New Zealand that do not even meet up with other Western Nations.

The questions I needed answered were stated to me to be legal questions by
the DIA but the Attorney General should be able to answer those questions
for me since he is an attorney who oversees all registered attornies in
New Zealand. I would like to receive answers to my previous questions
about trusts from the current Attorney General, who is also a part of the
DIA and is the protector of all charities in New Zealand. The Attorney
General has publicly announced he is the protector of charities in New
Zealand. Yet, the charities are not required by law to state who their
trustmaker is. So who is the Attorney General actually protecting? Is it
the idea or framework of a charity, or is it the trustmaker of the charity
who owns all the assets and property of the charity? Does the Attorney
General make the claim of protecting charities because he believes the
Government and their registered professionals have a right to take over
any charity and make themselves the trustmaker of it, or is it the
trustmaker he is to be protecting who made the charity and owns all its
assets and property? Is the AG protecting the registered professionals to
make this claim with a vested interest in the profits or proceeds of the
charity or trust once the trustmaker is dead and gone so he himself and
others can cash in on the charities' properties and assets on behalf of
the New Zealand Government? Is this possibly how the former Prime Minster,
Ms Jacnda Ardern went from being worth $1 million to $17 million in 2
years or similar acts to these? By law, who is protecting charities'
trustmakers in New Zealand? In other jurisdictions, this is to be the
Attorney General but apparently not in New Zealand because he appears to
allow exploitation and abuses of trust processes to take place and also
their assets and property to be taken by registered supposed
professionals, including the Police under the Ministry of Justice and
their other departments such as Coronial Services who often refer to
medical staff as overdosing patients at hospital to be "a natural causes
of death."

 

This may have to do with their trust estate and the supposed professionals
getting ahold of it, which I refer to as neocolonialism or a modern-day
form of Naziam happening in New Zealand today. It is highly questionable
for the DIA not to answer my questions because they are stated to be legal
questions that re-confirm the discrepancies happening or being allowed to
happen by the DIA and the Attorney General in New Zealand. This is with
regard to trusts and the processes of making one and what happens to them
after the trustmaker dies who was never told by the supposed registered
professional they were the trustmaker.

 

I therefore appeal the DIA's unwillingness to answer all of my questions
and require the Attorney General to answer the ones they have referred to
as being "legal" and unanswerable because of it.  Those questions are on
my first OIA request letter and the DIA answered they would not answer
them in their response. I am very concerned that the New Zealand
Government is operating in a cartel-like fashion under the current Labour
Government and their DIA, especially when it comes to trusts and their
making processes.

 

I must mention that there is a conflicting interest with the current
Attorney General in an estate case or shall I say Trust Legacy case I am
involved in, who has literally threatened me in an email which I hold.

 

Thank you for your time.

 

Cordially,

 

C A Mattheiss

 

-----Original Message-----

 

Kia ora C A Mattheiss,

 

 

 

Please find attached the response to your Official Information Act 
Request.

 

 

 

Ngâ mihi

 

 

 

Huey Lim| Advisor Official Correspondence  Te Pâhekoheko, Kâwai ki te iwi
| Operations, Service Delivery and  Operations

 

Te Tari Taiwhenua  The Department of Internal Affairs

7 Waterloo Quay, Wellington

 

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