Edmonds Judd

Family Court

What happens to your children when you separate?

Kids, Relationships
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Goodwill and good process will help prevent turmoil

The time following a separation can be highly emotional – for you and your spouse or partner, and for your children.

 

In this fraught environment, disputes can easily arise about the day-to-day care arrangements for your children or other vital issues such as where they will live, schooling, medical care, religious/cultural choices and so on. These are formally called guardianship matters.

 

In cases where the children are safe in their respective parent’s care, there are numerous ways in which care arrangements can be resolved and guardianship decisions made, without the need to involve the Family Court. A co-parenting relationship extends well beyond the uncertain period following a separation.

 

The best case scenario? Parents agree to ongoing care arrangements and guardianship matters between themselves and cooperatively focus on what is in the best interests of their children.

 

These best case scenarios, however, are not always possible, especially when disputes arise at a sensitive or acrimonious time for separating parents.

 

Can’t reach agreement?

What happens if parents cannot agree? Either parent can initiate the Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) process:

  • This is a mediation service, without lawyers, that deals specifically with care and guardianship disputes
  • A mediator is assigned to work with both parents, individually and/or collectively, to achieve an agreement, and
  • If agreement is reached, this can be documented in a mediated agreement.

 

If parents cannot reach agreement from the FDR process, then either parent can pursue the matter through the Family Court. Importantly, FDR is a prerequisite to attend the Family Court, unless there are urgent concerns for a child.

 

Some parents rely on third party assistance:

  • In many instances, parents can reach agreement after receiving (and following) advice and guidance
  • Using a third party can give conflicting parents an objective perspective, particularly at such an emotional time, and
  • Such support can be obtained through lawyers, counsellors and/or personal support networks such as family and/or friends.

 

Formalising the arrangements

Once you’ve reached agreement, some parents like (or it may be necessary) to have their children’s care arrangements formalised. This can be done with a parenting agreement; this document outlines the specific care arrangements and/or relevant guardianship provisions for children that both parents sign and (should) adhere to.

 

Alternatively, parents can consent to the terms of their agreement with a parenting order; this is a court-sealed document that collates the agreed terms and can be enforced if there are unconsented breaches.

 

Whatever the care provisions, it is in a child’s best interests for arrangements to be tailored to their age, stage and needs. Such arrangements should evolve with each child’s needs and stages and be regularly reviewed. Lawyers and counsellors who specialise in family and child disputes are often well equipped to provide advice on age appropriate arrangements and options.

 

Last resort is the Family Court

A Family Court hearing can be an expensive process – not only financially, but it can also take a significant toll emotionally and on the time of both parents, their children and their support networks. It also involves placing the decision regarding your children in the hands of a third party, the judge.

 

Obviously, having the parents cooperate and reach agreement is always going to be the best outcome for a family. However, there will be some situations where using the Family Court is necessary and preferred, such as when parents cannot reach agreement, where there are safety concerns for a child in either (or both) parents’ care or if urgent intervention is required (for example, preventing a child from being taken out of New Zealand).

 

If you are separating and need guidance about arrangements for your children, it’s important to get advice from a specialist family lawyer. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if this happens to you.

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: All the information published in Fineprint is true and accurate to the best of the authors’ knowledge. It should not be a substitute for legal advice. No liability is assumed by the authors or publisher for losses suffered by any person or organisation relying directly or indirectly on this newsletter. Views expressed are those of individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect the view of Edmonds Judd. Articles appearing in Fineprint may be reproduced with prior approval from the editor and credit given to the source.
Copyright, NZ LAW Limited, 2022.     Editor: Adrienne Olsen.       E-mail: [email protected].       Ph: 029 286 3650

Polyamorous relationships

Property, Relationships
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Supreme Court confirms that the Property (Relationships) Act can apply

In a split decision, the Supreme Court recently confirmed by 3:2 that polyamorous relationships (that is, relationships between three or more people) can be subdivided into two or more qualifying relationships, to which the provisions of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 (which applies to relationships between two people) can apply.

 

Background

Brett and Lilach Paul married in 1993. In about 1999, Brett and Lilach met Fiona. The three formed a triangular relationship in 2002.

During their 15-year relationship, all three lived on a farm at Kumeu that was registered in Fiona’s name. Lilach separated from Fiona and Brett in 2017. Fiona and Brett separated a few months later in 2018.

 

Family Court

In 2019, Lilach brought an application in the Family Court, in which she sought orders determining the parties’ respective shares in relationship property, including the Kumeu farm.

Fiona objected to the court’s jurisdiction, on the basis that the parties were not in a qualifying relationship for the purposes of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 (PRA).

The Family Court sought guidance from the High Court about its jurisdiction to hear the case.

 

High Court

In the High Court, Justice Hinton held that the Family Court did not have the jurisdiction to determine the property rights of three people in a polyamorous relationship, because the requirement, under section 2D of the PRA that the parties be living together as a couple, excluded a scenario where all three people are participating in a multi-partner relationship.  Lilach appealed and the case went to the Court of Appeal.

 

Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal disagreed with the High Court’s framing of the question put to it and found that jurisdiction could exist in the case of a polyamorous relationship.

The court agreed that the PRA was concerned with relationships between two people, meaning that polyamorous or multi-partner relationships are not qualifying relationships under the PRA. The court noted, however, that sections 52A and 52B of the PRA specifically provide for claims where a person is in multiple contemporaneous qualifying relationships. It found that the PRA does not require exclusive coupledom.

Within that context, the court held that the relationship between the parties could be viewed as three separate, but contemporaneous, qualifying relationships – a marriage between Brett and Lilach, a de facto relationship between Brett and Fiona and a de facto relationship between Lilach and Fiona.

Fiona appealed to the Supreme Court.

 

Supreme Court decision in June

In a decision released in June 2023,[1] the Supreme Court (by a 3:2 majority) dismissed the appeal and confirmed that the PRA could apply to polyamorous relationships.

Specifically, the court held that:

  1. A triangular (three-party) relationship cannot itself be a qualifying relationship, but
  2. A triangular relationship can be subdivided into two or more qualifying relationships.

In reaching this conclusion, the three Supreme Court judges who were in the majority noted that it was not contentious that the PRA applied to what it referred to as ‘vee’ relationships. A vee relationship is one where party A is married to party B, and A is also in a consecutive or concurrent de facto relationship with C, but where parties B and C may not know about each other, and may or may not live in the same residence.

The question was then whether the ‘triangularity’ of the relationship (ie: the existence of a relationship between parties B and C) makes any difference to the analysis. The majority held that it did not.

As noted, the Supreme Court decision was spilt 3:2, with the minority indicating that they would have allowed the appeal.

 

Practical implications

Following this decision, there may be increased interest by parties in polyamorous relationships in having contracting out agreements put in place. There are also likely to be claims under the PRA following the breakdown of a relationship, or on the death of a party to the relationship.

As all the decisions to this point have dealt only with the question of jurisdiction, no decisions have been made yet about the division of property between Lilach, Fiona and Brett. That issue will be sent back to the Family Court.

[1] Mead v Paul [2023] NZSC 70.

 

 

DISCLAIMER: All the information published in Trust eSpeaking is true and accurate to the best of the authors’ knowledge. It should not be a substitute for legal advice. No liability is assumed by the authors or publisher for losses suffered by any person or organisation relying directly or indirectly on this newsletter. Views expressed are those of individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect the view of Edmonds Judd. Articles appearing in Trust eSpeaking may be reproduced with prior approval from the editor and credit given to the source.
Copyright, NZ LAW Limited, 2022.     Editor: Adrienne Olsen.       E-mail: [email protected].       Ph: 029 286 3650