Children can be disinherited under radical changes to property laws giving new power to estranged, de facto and surviving partners. The “last will and testament” is no longer that say legal experts who want an overhaul of laws relating to the division of relationship property after death. Under the death provisions of Property (Relationships) Act […]

Women who put their careers on hold to raise children or support their partner’s career are getting bigger payouts when they separate. … Changes to property laws in 2002 allow men and women to sue estranged partners for lost earning potential as a result of being in a relationship. So far most payments have been […]

A pro-fathers’ group wants to see DNA testing at birth to help men who are paying for children that are not theirs. … The suggestion comes as the Ministry of Social Development is reportedly having to pay $10,000 to a Christchurch man who was forced to pay for another man’s child. Spokesman for the Union […]

Press Release: New Zealand Law Society Parents should not be able to defend charges of assault against children by claiming they were using ‘reasonable force’ to correct a child, says the Chair of the New Zealand Law Society’s Family Law Section, Simon Maude. He was responding to the jury’s acquittal in Timaru of a mother […]

Dr Muriel Newman (ACT Party) It is a sad day for New Zealand when a government throws another $6.2 million of taxpayer’s money into the family destruction industry, instead of getting to the heart of the problem and fixing the law, ACT Deputy Leader Dr Muriel Newman said today. Dr Newman was responding to today’s […]

A New Zealand Herald columnist Sandra Paterson may last week have been the messenger with bad news the Labour-led Government does not want at the forefront of news coverage in coming weeks. It was nothing as riveting as a Ministerial resignation in the face of verbal fire from the opposition; nor an administrative scandal of […]

Early last month, convicted child molester Peter Ellis suffered a heart attack. Ellis may be a chain smoker who is partial to red meat and the odd tipple, but the most probable cause of his condition appears to be stress. Ellis has waited nearly two years for a select committee to decide whether to recommend […]

NZ Herald 14/5/05 Police are seeking nearly $5000 from a woman they claim wasted their time over a false rape complaint. The case highlights a dilemma for police, who do not want to discourage women from reporting sexual abuse. But they say that when an accusation is blatantly untrue, they will lay a charge of […]

How can we help children and young people increase their participation in society so they and everyone else might benefit from their input into decision-making processes? This is one of the key issues to be discussed at a major conference running from July 7 to 9 at the University of Otago. Children and Young People […]

As part of a comprehensive overhaul of the [Australian] family law regime, scores of new services for men will be funded in a $74 million prevention package. Mensline Australia will get a big funding boost to support more fathers and to help them become more involved with their children before and after separation. Up to […]

TVNZ has an extensive report with video on the Stephen Jelicich case: A long and public tug of love entered another phase last week when a family court judge ruled that nine-month-old Caitlin Jelicich could return to Wales with her mother. Within hours the pair were on a flight out of Auckland before Caitlin’s father […]

Firstly, welcome to any new readers who heard about MENZ Issues for the first time at the Summit yesterday. I look forward to any contributions you might be inspired to make. I have to confess that my note-keeping tailed off somewhat after the first few sessions, however if all goes according to plan there will […]

A father prepared to go to any lengths necessary to regain contact with his children (including enlisting the services of NZ’s Wizard), recently made a one-man Hikoi to Wellington to try and draw attention to his grievances. The latest development in the long campaign by Ben Easton has seen him jailed in Auckland for breaching […]

A Wellington man has won a landmark Court of Appeal case to prove he is the father of a child he has not seen for five years. It took a $50,000 legal battle for the man to have the girl’s DNA tested, after the child’s mother – who denied the man was the father – […]

Press release by Hon Marian Hobbs: Parenthood report tackles complex issues A Law Commission report tackles complex questions about laws on parenthood, the Minister responsible for the Law Commission, Marian Hobbs, said today after the tabling of the report in Parliament. The report, New Issues in Legal Parenthood, is a comprehensive review of the laws […]

Some of us are very interested to hear from anybody who is involved with the Family Court mediation pilot project mentioned below, particularly on the North Shore. A pilot project aimed at helping troubled families resolve disputes more quickly is underway in a number of family courts. The trial gives those involved in custody, access […]

Stephen and Diane Jelicich were a couple whose split became as acrimonious as it can get. It culminated in January with Stephen running off with their baby daughter Caitlin and hiding from police for 10 days. Diane went back to Wales not knowing where her daughter was or when she would see her again. But […]

After 20 years of turning a blind eye to women blatantly ignoring Family Court orders, a father taking the same action has attracted the immediate attention of Judge Peter Boshier. In a February 1st speech to the Retired Police Members Club he said: “The much-publicised Jelicich case has recently focused public attention on a recurrent […]

De facto couples are in legal limbo after a parliamentary committee backed down on plans to give them the same legal status as couples who marry or enter a civil union. The chairman of the select committee dealing with the Relationships Statutory References Bill, Tim Barnett, acknowledged that de facto relationships would generally lack the […]

Aloha John…great site!!! …just a quick question, ever wondered why so few dads are granted joint custody, much less sole? it’s really no mystery…makes perfect sense. I want to invite your readers to my website, www.imadadmom.com … a 52 chapter how-to book on singleparenting specifically for dads. It’s the first ever book of such detail […]

Lawyer Vivienne Crawshaw wrote recently about a case of parental alienation. She suggests that the NZ Family Court is well aware of this process and is equipped to deal with it. [Hamish’s] mother Justine, was embroiled in a custody dispute with his father. Brian, his father, was not applying for full custody; his application was […]

Child Support Rip Offs Family Court Fiasco Prostate Posturing Educational Bias No Men’s Ministry… Men Don’t Like This ! ! ! Join the second Men’s Convoy, and take the message about redressing the balance of family dysfunction to the streets and Parliament. Convoy starts Auckland Saturday 5th March 2005 at 1:00 pm and concludes at […]

Stephen Jelicich, speaking publicly for the first time since coming out of hiding with baby Caitlin, said the role of the Family Court in determining parental custody was too important to be shrouded in secrecy. “I have absolutely no doubt the Family Court needs transparency because they do seem to be a law unto themselves. […]

A High Court judgment has exposed a bitter custody battle in which a woman’s false allegations of sex abuse took two years to disprove because of incompetence on the part of social services. The injustice suffered by the father was compounded when a costs award in his favour was reduced by the High Court following […]

Kia ora Folks I had a notable success in the Dunedin Family Court [recently] with the help of the precedents provided on your website. I am a self representing litigant. Three years ago after my children and I sought help from the “domestic” violence we were enduring from their mother I was taken from our […]