Exclusive: Step By Step Process on How to “Do it Yourself” Divorce
July 21, 2014 | Events
Step By Step Process on How to “Do it Yourself” Divorce in New Zealand
The application for dissolution may be made by one party to a marriage or civil union alone (one party application), or by both parties together (joint application).
In both cases, the party or parties filing the application can choose whether they have the application dealt with in their absence by a Registrar, or appear in Court. If the Registrar makes the order, it does not come into effect until one month after that date, whereas if the order is made by a judge, it becomes effective immediately. The option of appearing in Court to have an order made will be subject to the availability of judges and the workload of the Family Court.
Application documents should be filed with the Family Court, either by hand or post and will include an application form, a sworn (sworn in front of and signed by a registrar, lawyer or Justice of the Peace) affidavit, and an information sheet. The affidavit will state that you have been living apart for two or more years and that arrangements have been made for your children (under 16 years) or that there is good reason why those arrangements have not been made. Include a sworn copy of your marriage certificate with the application.
Serving documents on a spouse or partner
This is where we come in. If a one party application is necessary (i.e. where the other party doesn’t agree) then once you’ve filed the application, the court will provide you with a set of documents that need to be served upon your spouse or civil union partner.
The court will provide you with advice on this, but unless otherwise directed, dissolution documents need to be personally handed to the other party by a person other than you. If the other party refuses to take the documents, they may be placed down in front of them. These documents cannot be served on a Sunday, Christmas Day, New Years Day, Good Friday or ANZAC Day.
If your spouse or civil union partner is not in New Zealand you will need to make an application to the court for permission to serve the documents overseas. There is an extra cost and delay associated with this kind of service.
You should complete the following forms:
Following the serving of the documents, the person who served the documents needs to fill out an Affidavit of Service which details when and where the documents were served and how it is known that the correct person was served. This affidavit will need to be signed and returned to the court.
If the spouse or partner decides to defend the application within 21 days, a defended hearing will take place before a Family Court judge who will hear both sides and decide whether grounds for dissolution are made out.
How can we help?
We will serve the proceedings on the respondent party for you anywhere in the world.
You can contact us by phone on (09) 3576644 or send us an email here.
The Investigators would like to acknowledge the assistance of the New Zealand Ministry of Justice in compiling the material. For more information, visit: http://www.justice.govt.nz/courts/family-court/.
This information does not substitute legal advice. We recommend that you consult with a lawyer to understand your rights. The Investigators is providing this site, the information, listings, and links contained herein only as a convenience to you. Sites listed as hypertext links herein are not under the control of The Investigators. The Investigators can make no representation concerning the quality, safety or suitability of the content of these sites nor can the fact that The Investigators has included any such link serve as an endorsement or approval by The Investigators of any of those sites. The material in this website could include technical inaccuracies or other errors. Your use and browsing of the site is at your risk. The Investigators assume no liability for the use or interpretation of information contained herein. This website is provided "as is" and “as available” with any and all faults and without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied.
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