The Law

After 3 or more years together as a couple, what the two of you own is put in one pot and shared equally. It does not matter who earned more or who paid the bills. Raising children and running the home count the same as earning money.

A trust owns the house, not either partner. A properly run trust, with independent trustees, usually sits outside the pot. Courts only reach inside in a few cases, shown in the first chart.

Trust property can come back into play in four ways: the trust is a sham, one partner can use it like their own, relationship property was moved into it and that defeated a claim (s 44C, with any payment coming from the other partner or trust income, never trust capital), or one partner's contributions earned an interest in it (a constructive trust). Trustees must act on the deed, so an informal family promise only counts if the deed, a trustee decision or an enforceable agreement says so.

Furniture and appliances are shared equally. They are valued at what they would sell for second-hand today, not what they cost new.

Only the growth during the relationship is shared. KiwiSaver cannot be cashed out to settle, so it is usually balanced against other items.

Debts taken on for the family, or together, come off the pot before it is shared. A debt taken on for one person's own purposes stays with them.

If one person keeps paying the mortgage or other costs of relationship property after separating, they can ask to be compensated. Where a partner lives in the home alone, the other may ask for rent. Both are discretionary and usually offset against each other.

Child support is set and collected through Inland Revenue. It is not part of the property deal and should not be subtracted from it.

A partner in a de facto relationship has 3 years from when you stopped living together to apply to the Family Court. The court can extend that.

A property agreement is binding only if it is in writing, signed by both of you, each of you had your own lawyer, each signature was witnessed by a lawyer, and each lawyer certified that they explained what it means. Treat separate firms as a must. A deal recorded only in an app or by text is a record of what you both intended, not a binding agreement. Even a compliant agreement can be set aside for serious injustice.