MODERN LAW: EFFECTIVE, PERSONAL AND TIMELY

No contracting out agreement

Three years of living together and the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 applies. The starting point is equal sharing, and the family home is shared even if you owned it before the relationship began. All income earned during your relationship, including KiwiSaver contributions, is shared too, even if it is in your personal bank account.

No will

The Administration Act 1989 divides your estate by formula: fixed shares between your partner and your children. Before anyone can even deal with your assets, the court must appoint an administrator, a process that typically costs two to three times more than going through similar process with a Will. And your family untangles all of it while they grieve.

No enduring powers of attorney

If you lose capacity, no one has automatic authority to act for you, not even your spouse. Your family must apply to the Family Court for the right to make your decisions, a process that typically costs two to three times more than having enduring powers of attorney prepared alongside your will.

No separation agreement

Dividing things between yourselves feels settled, but until the division is made legally binding it can be revisited. The assets you keep, and everything they grow into, remain exposed to a claim from your ex partner. A separation agreement done at the time of your separation could have prevented those issues.

This is where we come in

We understand how overwhelming it feels to think about the future, and we know you want to do right by the people you love. You don't need to work any of this out before you call. Bring us the situation as it is, it is our job to give you clarity and to guide you when you are making decisions.

The firm is led by Polina Kozlova, who has been guiding clients faced with issues concerning relationship property, wills, trusts and estates, including estates and prenuptial agreements concerning assets in more than one country for just over a decade. Polina holds the STEP Advanced Diploma in Trusts and Estates and the STEP Advanced Certificate in Cross-Border Estates.



Your matter is never passed around. It is looked after by a specialist who knows your file properly, from the first conversation to the last, and you will always know exactly what the next steps is.

A no obligation 15-minute Introduction Call

Tell us what is going on. We will tell you what applies to your situation, what it will cost, and how we can guide you to your desired outcome. It is also how both sides confirm the fit, because for work this personal the fit has to be right.

Share the details when it suits you

Through our secure client portal you complete our client intake forms, upload documents and answer our questions whenever suits, at 10pm after the kids are in bed if that is what your week looks like. Everything is reviewed before we speak again, so no time is spent on paperwork.

Book a Comprehensive Meeting

For simpler matters, the call and the portal are often all we need. Where there is more to work through, which is applicable where matters concern a separation, a trust, a blended family, assets in more than one country or a complex prenup, you will book a meeting with us via Zoom or in person. Because the groundwork is already done, the meeting is spent on structure, options and advice.

We prepare your documents

Plain english drafts you can actually read, drafted with the intention to withstand challenge and future-proofed, so they still protect as much as possible as you as circumstances change. You review, we refine.

Signing

Sign electronically through the portal or through AVL software we use where AVL witnessing is required, or in person where the documents require it.

Protecting what you are building

Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, trust structures, and asset protection —for people who want to address difficult conversations at the beginning of relationship and for people with something to protect.

Planning for what comes next

Wills, enduring powers of attorney, and estate planning — done properly, with your specific circumstances and legacy in mind.

When things become complex

Separation, relationship property settlements, and estate disputes — specialist support when the stakes are high.

01

Intentionally proactive

We own the timeline. Your file moves because we move it, we chase what needs chasing, and you know the next step and when it is happening before you have to ask.

02

Intentionally specialist

Relationship property and private client law, exclusively. We do not take on anything else, because depth in one field is what produces advice you can rely on.

03

Intentionally modern

Plain english documents,  a client portal, Zoom meetings and digital signing, and costs known upfront. Legal work designed to fit around your life, wherever you are.

Most people have a version of this story: you instruct a lawyer, something gets produced, a draft, a letter, an initial position, and then, without anyone deciding it, the matter stops moving.

The draft sits in your inbox. The other side hasn't responded. Your lawyer hasn't chased. You're busy. They're busy. Months pass.

It's not incompetence. It's what happens when your matter is one file among hundreds, where the next step only happens when you call and ask or when the other side gets impatient enough to push.

"We own the timeline. Every matter has a next step, and it's our job to make it happen, not yours to remind us."

At pk law, every matter is actively managed. We set the pace, we follow up, and we tell you when something requires your attention  before it becomes a problem.

"Polina identified all the potential risks and engaged in extensive negotiations with my partner's lawyer for months until we reached an agreement that truly worked in my favour. I consider her an absolute weapon."

— Olga Safonova