In 2001 Parliament enacted some far-reaching amendments to the Property (Relationships) Act aimed at bolstering the equal sharing regime and removing obstacles to equality to secure an equitable outcome for spouses and partners. However, the changes made to s 9A — the provision that enables...

This article, co-authored 50/50 with Professor Nicola Peart, an expert in relationship property law, discusses how New Zealand's law on the division of relationship property upon separation applies to entitlements received under New Zealand's accident compensation scheme

This article explains the concepts applying to property transfer on death under the New Zealand Property (Relationships) Act 1976. The authors discuss the relevant provisions of the Act, along with the tensions underlying the Act, such as that between the desire of executors and administrators...

The New Zealand Family Protection Act 1955 asks the courts to decide whether a will-maker has made “adequate provision…for the proper maintenance and support” of their adult child. The courts, applying these words, determine the extent to which conventional social values are applied by law...

This article considers the New Zealand High Court decision of Re Russell: Public Trust v Whyman, which was concerned with the death provisions of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 (PRA). The author analyses the decision in detail, and concludes that it reveals a disturbing level confusion...

This chapter analyses the right of spouses and de facto partners to contract out of the property sharing regime established by the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 (PRA) and focuses in particular on the changes introduced in 2001 to make it more difficult to set aside such agreements. The...

Trusts emerge regularly in relationship property disputes and they are generally well understood to take priority whenever there is a competition between the trust and a claim that the trust property otherwise falls within the pool of relationship assets available for division. Nevertheless,...

Trusts are very common in New Zealand, but they are increasingly detrimentally affecting the rights of creditors and spouses or partners when their relationship ends. This article examines the current statutory and common law remedies available to creditors and spouses or partners whose rights...

When the Matrimonial Property Act 1976 was introduced, Tony Angelo and Bill Atkin analysed the Act in conceptual terms and welcomed the change from a purely separate property regime to a community property system. It steered an acceptable middle course between competing demands. The Act operated...

Trusts often have the effect of undermining the social aims of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976. In the absence of legislative action, the courts have been sympathetic to a range of arguments aimed at accessing trust assets that would have been subject to division between the parties but...