In a recent case, the High Court has provided important clarification on the treatment of retention monies, reinforcing the statutory trust obligations under the Construction Contracts Act 2002 (CCA).

Retention monies under the CCA are trust property. In Burt v Grant [2025] NZHC 2486, the High Court has held that as a consequence, retention monies are to be held separately from a company’s assets in liquidation. Liquidators cannot treat recovered retention sums as company assets, nor apply them to their fees or use them to satisfy other creditors. The Court reinforced that retention monies are held on trust for a subcontractor from the moment it is deducted from a payment, regardless of whether it is held…

Michael Duke Thomson remembers leaving the high-limit blackjack room at the Aria Resort & Casino around midnight with a few thousand dollars in chips. He doesn’t remember anything else after that.

Thomson, according to a federal lawsuit deal detailed by The Independent, allegedly went on an epic The Hangover-style rager that he doesn’t remember at all—because he may not have actually done it.

According to a federal complaint, the next thing Thomson knew, he was waking up the next morning, handcuffed in a casino security holding area. He had been banned from the property and would eventually face felony charges tied to $75,000 in casino debt he insists he never knowingly accrued.

Thompson is a 64-year-old licensed…

(InvestigateTV) — It is scary when a credit card bill is due and there is not enough money to make a payment.

Cherry Dale, the vice president of financial education at Virginia Credit Union, said the worst thing to do is not address it.

Dale said don’t pretend like it isn’t happening and think this through. Is this a one-time situation or a larger problem that going to keep happening?

“Because if it’s one time in a month, you can call your creditor, tell them the kind of situation, most creditors will work with you and help you,” she shared. “If this is something happening every single month, that you’re having an issue paying your bills or a bill, you need to come up with another plan.”

If this is a bigger issue and…

Inland Revenue made applications to wind up more than 120 business in November, as it draws to the end of a year in which it moved to liquidate almost 900 businesses with tax owing.

Keaton Pronk, an insolvency practitioner at McDonald Vague, said the 167 winding up applications in November, including 127 from IRD, was the highest in six years. It included a group of 45 sushi companies.

For the year to November, Inland Revenue (IRD) applied to wind up just under 900 companies.

“In January they had advertised 100 which was massive compared to what they had done in previously Januaries.

“They always ramp up towards the end of the year…

(InvestigateTV) — It is scary when a credit card bill is due and there is not enough money to make a payment.

Cherry Dale, the vice president of financial education at Virginia Credit Union, said the worst thing to do is not address it.

Dale said don’t pretend like it isn’t happening and think this through. Is this a one-time situation or a larger problem that going to keep happening?

“Because if it’s one time in a month, you can call your creditor, tell them the kind of situation, most creditors will work with you and help you,” she shared. “If this is something happening every single month, that you’re having an issue paying your bills or a bill, you need to come up with another plan.”

If this is a bigger issue and…

(InvestigateTV) — It is scary when a credit card bill is due and there is not enough money to make a payment.

Cherry Dale, the vice president of financial education at Virginia Credit Union, said the worst thing to do is not address it.

Dale said don’t pretend like it isn’t happening and think this through. Is this a one-time situation or a larger problem that going to keep happening?

“Because if it’s one time in a month, you can call your creditor, tell them the kind of situation, most creditors will work with you and help you,” she shared. “If this is something happening every single month, that you’re having an issue paying your bills or a bill, you need to come up with another plan.”

If this is a bigger issue and…

(InvestigateTV) — It is scary when a credit card bill is due and there is not enough money to make a payment.

Cherry Dale, the vice president of financial education at Virginia Credit Union, said the worst thing to do is not address it.

Dale said don’t pretend like it isn’t happening and think this through. Is this a one-time situation or a larger problem that going to keep happening?

“Because if it’s one time in a month, you can call your creditor, tell them the kind of situation, most creditors will work with you and help you,” she shared. “If this is something happening every single month, that you’re having an issue paying your bills or a bill, you need to come up with another plan.”

If this is a bigger issue and…

(InvestigateTV) — It is scary when a credit card bill is due and there is not enough money to make a payment.

Cherry Dale, the vice president of financial education at Virginia Credit Union, said the worst thing to do is not address it.

Dale said don’t pretend like it isn’t happening and think this through. Is this a one-time situation or a larger problem that going to keep happening?

“Because if it’s one time in a month, you can call your creditor, tell them the kind of situation, most creditors will work with you and help you,” she shared. “If this is something happening every single month, that you’re having an issue paying your bills or a bill, you need to come up with another plan.”

If this is a bigger issue and…