DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE IN NEW ZEALAND
We have served countless applications for dissolution of marriage over the years and have extensive experience handling with sensitivity the service of these proceedings. We work closely with the family court so are very familiar with their process and understand their requirements.
We have compiled an FAQ, covering a variety of queries we get asked all the time. Please note though, for specific legal advice we recommend you seek out an experienced lawyer to offer guidance on your personal situation.
frequently asked questions…
– You need to be separated for two years or more
– One of you needs to live in New Zealand permanently
– You need to apply to the family court (either on your own, or together with your ex-partner) for a dissolution order
APPLICATION – takes approx. 2-4 weeks for the family court to process.
Then the next part will depend on the type of application you have made….
JOINT APPLICATION (applying together)
Applying by Post – A registrar will check your forms and make the dissolution order. Your divorce will take effect 1 month after the order is made.
Appearing in Court – The judge makes the dissolution order on the day. The delay here can be in obtaining a court date.
ONE PARTY APPLICATION (applying on your own)
First, you need to notify your ex-partner about the application.
Once your e-partner has been served…
Applying by Post – A registrar will check your forms and make the dissolution order. Your divorce will take effect 1 month after the order is made.
Appearing in Court – The judge makes the dissolution order on the day. The delay here can be in obtaining a court date.
It is not usually necessary to appear in court to get a dissolution order. You can choose to appear in court if you want to. You may also be required to appear in court if your spouse or civil union partner opposes the application.
You must be separated for 2 years before you can apply to get divorced.
No. Although in New Zealand you can initially file an application for a divorce if you don’t know where your ex-partner lives.
Then you must show evidence that all efforts have been made to locate and notify them about the proceedings. The court may then make an order that allows you to notify them by another means. For example, through a family member, by Facebook messenger or email.
Only in very extenuating circumstances will a dissolution order be made without your ex-partner being notified and given the opportunity to contest the application.
Many counties follow similar rules to ours for documents service, so yes, in these counties you can serve your ex-partner. Some countries, where English is not the first language, are more difficult, as documents may need to be translated.
At Docuserve we have experience serving dissolution of marriage documents in a number of countries overseas, including, but not limited to, Australia, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, USA and Canada.
If you both live overseas (for example working on a long term contract), but New Zealand is the permanent home for at least one of you (i.e. you do not plan to live overseas indefinitely), you can apply to dissolve your marriage or civil union in New Zealand.
If New Zealand is not the permanent home of either of you, you will need to follow the dissolution process for the country where you now live. The country you live in might have their own residency rules (for example you might have to have lived there for a minimum period). You might also need a lawyer who specialises in marriage or civil union dissolution.
If you are living in Australia indefinitely, you can apply for a divorce through the Australian court after being separated for 1 year, not 2 as in New Zealand. The process is very similar to that of New Zealand.
If you get divorced overseas it still applies if you return to New Zealand or move to another country to live.
No, you do not need to have sorted out your relationship property before your marriage or civil union can be dissolved. The Family Court do not take into account relationship property when considering a dissolution order. However, if you can’t come to an agreement about how your relationship property should be shared and you need the Court’s help, you must apply within 12 months of the dissolution order taking effect.
You cannot serve the documents on your ex-partner yourself. You can ask a friend or family member to do this for you. However, this can sometimes be awkward and put people in an uncomfortable situation.
Issues can arise of your friend doesn’t complete the documents correctly afterwards, detailing how the service took pace. This is where using a professional can help. They are impartial to the proceedings, and they understand the courts expectations and the required paperwork to compete the process.
You do not need to have to have a lawyer to apply for a dissolution of marriage order.
But you may wish to get advice from a specialist family lawyer for dividing up your relationship property or agreeing to custody arrangements of children.
This is where you may need some help to try and locate your ex-partner. There are resources we can use to try and locate them for you. Depending on what information you do have will depend on the course of action. We can make enquiries using a variety of tools to complete a search.
If this is unsuccessful you may be able to apply to the court for a special order (known as an order for substituted service) to serve them by another means. Options include giving the documents to a family member, or another common method is service by private Facebook messenger. Docuserve has a Facebook account that we can use to serve dissolution of marriage documents. Once we have served the document, we draw up an affidavit of service, exhibiting relevant screenshots highlighting the recipient’s profile, and the time and date the document was sent.
This indicates that your spouse applied for dissolution order to the Family Court. Once you receive the documents you have 21 days (calendar days, not working days) to defend the application. You have slightly longer if you were served the papers outside New Zealand – 30 days if you are in Australia, or 50 days if you are in another country.
If you agree to the marriage dissolution
You do not have to do anything. After the time period of 21, 30 or 50 days has passed, the court will consider the application. As long as one of you lives in New Zealand permanently and you have been living apart for at least two years, the court will make a dissolution order and one month later you will be officially divorced.
If you do not agree to the marriage dissolution
You can apply to the court to challenge your ex-partner’s application (within the time period mentioned above). To do this, you need to file a Notice of Defence and an affidavit. The court will send a copy of the documents you filed to your spouse (or their lawyer, if they are using one). Then you and your spouse will have to attend a hearing before a Family Court Judge. At the hearing, the Judge will hear both of you and then decide whether to make the dissolution order final.
There are very few grounds where an application for dissolution of marriage will not go through. These may include
· That you cannot demonstrate that you have been separated for more than 2 years
· That one of you does not live in New Zealand permanently
For ONE PARTY applications: That the person who served your documents on your ex-partner, notifying them of the application
· did not serve the documents in accordance with the family court rules
· did not complete the affidavit of service correctly
· could not locate your ex-partner
Please let our team know if you still have unanswered questions. Or click here for our step by step guide to applying for a dissolution of marriage.