Couples who live together and are not married live in what is called a de facto relationship.
Sometimes it is difficult to decide whether a qualifying de facto relationship exists. It can often be important to establish if there is a de facto relationship for the purpos...
The need for spousal maintenance often arises alongside division of property and arrangements for the children.
A classic situation is a wife and mother in need of financial support as a result of the breakup of a relationship. She may not be able to look after herself...
When a husband and wife live apart this is their separation date which can be important for property division purposes. A couple could be separated even though they are still living in the family home.
Either spouse may apply to the Family Court to have the marriage dis...
When one partner dies, the survivor still has an entitlement to division of relationship property.
The surviving partner needs to either negotiate that entitlement with the Executors or Administrators of the deceased partner’s estate, or apply to the Family Court within...
Your relationship property is usually divided on a 50:50 basis after a marriage or committed relationship that lasts three years or more. Couples in a relationship of less than 3 years can in some circumstances have their property divided on the ba...
Both parents have a continuing obligation to financially support their children even though the parents and their children will no longer be living together as a family.
Parents can agree on how they will do this in the changed circumstances. But if agreement cannot be...
Sadly woman and children are all too often subjected to physical or psychological abuse. The Police and the Family Court take domestic violence very seriously. The first port of call for a victim of domestic violence is Women’s Refuge www.womensrefuge.org.nz.
A person of sound mind can make a Will leaving their estate to whom they wish.
However if their Will means a breach of moral duty, perhaps owed to a dependent spouse or child, the Family Court can intervene to rectify the breach. Similarly if a Will f...
When parents live apart it is usually best for children to continue their relationship with both their parents.
Issues that typically need to be resolved revolve around their day to day care, arrangements over the time they are going to spend in each parent’s care, thei...
