De Facto Relationships (or Maybe Not) in New Zealand

Abstract

The New Zealand Property (Relationships) Amendment Act 2001 signified a radical shift in New Zealand relationship property law, by extending matrimonial property principles to de facto relationships. In this article, the author analyses the legislation and distills some general jurisprudential principles to determine whether the courts are giving effect to Parliament’s intent and society’s expectations. The article concludes that the inclusion of de facto relationships under the property sharing regime is problematic as a de facto relationship has no clear boundaries and cannot therefore be an appropriate basis for a rigid code of rules.