By Fiona McGeorge - 14 Mar 2019
Recently I had a new client who in our initial meeting
said "my friends have told me I can get more than 50% of the
assets". How many people going through a separation have heard the
same thing from friends or family who have either gone through it
themselves, or heard about "someone" who got more than
50%?
In my client's case she was not entitled to claim more than 50%
because of the facts of her case, but in some cases it will be
appropriate to make a claim for more than 50%. It's important to
note this is not a blanket rule nor one that can be claimed by
anyone or everyone, it must have a legal basis.
The ability to claim more than 50% of relationship property is
most often based on a claim for economic disparity under section 15
of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976. In order to be able to
make this claim you must first satisfy the following criteria:
- After relationship property has been divided,
will your income and living standard be
significantly lower than your former
partner's?
- Is the reason your income and living standards are
significantly lower than your partner's because of
choices/decisions you and your former partner made
during the relationship while living together? For
example, during the relationship did you take time out of the work
force to raise children or in order to support your former
partner's career or business?
If the answer to the first question is no, then you do not have
the grounds on which to claim more than 50% based on economic
disparity.
If the answer to the first question is yes then you must also
satisfy the second criteria. If the only reason your former
partner's income and living standards are higher than yours are
because they are in a higher paid job and this has not come about
due to you helping them achieve that position then you will not
have a claim for economic disparity.
If you or someone you know is separating and there might be
grounds to make a claim for economic disparity then contact me on
fiona@martellimckegg.co.nz
or on 09 300 7638 or another member of our family law team.
Contact
Fiona
McGeorge