The New Zealand Liable Parent Scheme

The Liable Parent Contribution Scheme is a reform of the law around maintenance payments where the custodial parent is on a domestic purposes benefit. It is a compromise between the non-custodial parent's duty to look after their child, and the state's responsibility to those less fortunate. This article describes the past and present law. It then evaluates the effectiveness of the scheme, as well as looking at some of the objections that have been raised to payment