Once in-love couples can spend years in court and tens of thousands of dollars fighting over the spoils. Photo / Getty Images
The New Zealand Herald is bringing back some of the best premium stories of 2021. Today we take a look at New Zealand's divorce system.
Fighting for a fair share with your ex in a divorce
Warring separated couples can spend years and eye-watering amounts fighting over relationship property throughNew Zealand courts.
Those working in the industry speak of anger and frustration at a system that enables unfair tactics: money, property and businesses protected in trusts; delaying tactics that push up costs; controlling money so the other side is forced to give up; not revealing assets under discovery. The list goes on.
Couples can find themselves locked in court battles over relationship property for years. Photo / Getty Images
Trusts targeted as relationship property
It doesn't take Lady Deborah Chambers, QC, long to rattle off how she'd fix the dysfunctional legal system separated couples face when trying to resolve a relationship property dispute.
She, backed by others working in the industry, would start with the Family Court - bogged down by complex rules of procedure and poor case management. Badly in need of a revamp, she says.
Others in the industry want to see a fairer system to make sure both sides have enough money for legal representation. And they want outdated anomalies fixed, like section 182 of the Family Proceedings Act 1980 which has been the go-to trust-busting tool.
In the second of a two-part series looking at the nightmare faced by couples locked in acrimonious relationship property disputes, Jane Phare asks experts what they'd do to change a 'brutal' system that leaves some Kiwis facing financial ruin.
Lady Deborah Chambers, QC, thinks Family Court judges need to be tougher with penalties for non-compliance. Photo / Supplied
Grappling with shock revelations after a divorce or breakup
Their voices over the phone betray the emotion behind the stories. They want to talk, to let others know what it's like. A warning. They are, or have been, embroiled in multi-year legal battles over who gets what and/or the custody of kids. They're exhausted, sick of it, and they know the people around them are sick of it too
In response to the Herald's investigation into what some describe as New Zealand's "broken" system of resolving relationship property disputes, readers contacted us with their heartbreaking stories of grappling with shock revelations after a divorce or breakup.
