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Articles about Family Court Decisions

These articles were written by Family Court lawyer Debra Sturm. They are 'historical', but still typical and relevant examples of the day to day matters brought to the Family Court.

ADOPTION

May 2003
"My life is a lie. I want to find out who I am."

May 2002
The question of who is "fit and proper" to adopt a child was recently tested in the Family Court when a couple who had run a brothel attempted to adopt a teenage girl.

CARE AND PROTECTION

July 2004

Children in need of care and protection through the Family Court will not always be the victims of physical abuse. In one recent case the Court had to decide whether two children who were being emotionally neglected by their parents should remain in the care of those parents.

October 2002
The physical disciplining of children by a parent or guardian may be regarded as physical abuse. Under what circumstances will the Family Court decide such children are in need of care and protection?

July 2002
Cases involving children in the care of the Department for Children, Young Persons and their Families (CYFS) can be "relentlessly gritty" and can be some of the most difficult for the Family Court to decide.

CHILD SUPPORT

November 2003
A mother of 12 children to two different men recently sought an increase in child support payments through the Family Court arguing in part that the size of her family created special "circumstances".

June 2003
A young girl leaves home without her parents consent to live with another family. Should the girl's parents pay child support to the other family ?

CUSTODY AND ACCESS

October 2004

In Family Court proceedings for children that have been living away from their natural parents, there will always be a question of how much the Court should consider the "biological tie" between natural parent and child.

May 2004

The child's welfare and safety come first in disputes between parents about the care of their children. If one parent has an alleged history of domestic violence the Family Court must examine those allegations and consider future safety of the child before deciding whether to grant unsupervised access or custody.

April 2004

The Family Court will often have to decide how much contact a child should have with a parent in circumstances where the child has deeply-rooted psychological issues about that parent.

December 2003
What constitutes a "family" in New Zealand society today? Should priority be given to some family relationships over others? These questions were the focus of a recent child custody case in the Family Court.

November 2002
The Family Court is often asked to decide what contact a parent has with a child, even when the Court and Child Youth and Family agree the child cannot live permanently with that parent.

September 2002
The Family Court will take firm and decisive action in child custody cases where it is proved one parent has emotionally abused the children by alienating them against the other parent.

April 2002
Complex and brittle family relationships often test the Family Court's mettle in child custody disputes. One recent case was further complicated by uncertainty over a child's parentage

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

November 2004

A recent case before the Family Court determined that a protection order granted against a father had been a course of "annoyance, dispute and frustration" and problems for the family concerned might be lessened if the order was no longer in place.

September 2004
The Family Court will be asked to make decisions on domestic violence cases that can range from physical and psychological abuse between married couples and in families, to abusive situations in friendships that have turned sour.

January 2003
A domestic violence case in which the husband was described as having an obsession for his wife, was heard by the Family Court in Wanganui.

March 2002
The definition of domestic violence by the Family Court in New Zealand has widened to include the threatening use of email messages and Internet chat rooms following a recent watershed case.

FAMILY PROCEEDINGS

August 2002
The expression "that marriage is a sham" could describe any number of circumstances within the ancient institution, but in the Family Court it involves a legal principle that has been tested over and over.

FAMILY PROTECTION

October 2003
The question of whether a person might owe another person a "moral duty" to provide for them in their will has recently been tested in the New Zealand Family Court.

GUARDIANSHIP

August 2004
Guardianship of a child is a serious responsibility, and usually both parents are guardians. But if they are not married and not living together at the birth of a child, the father is not a guardian. He can ask the Family Court to appoint him as one.

July 2003
Parents are guardians of their children, as well as their caregivers. Sometimes the Family Court is asked to help decide on guardianship issues, such as where a child should go to school or whether a child should be immunised.

December 2002
The first New Zealand case involving the parental rights of an artificial insemination donor was recently heard in the Family Court in Auckland.

JURISDICTION

March 2004
When children move to another country with one parent while the other parent remains in New Zealand, should the New Zealand Family Court continue to have "jurisdiction" over those children and be able to make orders about their care?

MATRIMONIAL/ RELATIONSHIP PROPERTY

August 2003
Short de facto relationships that last less than three years face additional tests in law if one partner wishes to make a claim under new Property Relationships Act provisions.

April 2003
A new provision in relationship property law allowing for compensatory payments to an estranged partner has been applied several times in the Family Court since it became law in February 2002.

June 2002
For those who think acrimonious marital property disputes are not for the faint-hearted, the Family Court can provide some colourful examples.

MEDIATION

March 2003 (Care and Protection)
The care of a child suspected to be suffering from shaken baby syndrome was recently agreed by mediation in the Family Court, rather than by a Judge's decision.

PATERNITY

February 2004
In paternity cases where the respondant refuses to have a blood test, the Family Court might base it's decision on whether his fathering of the child was simply "probable."

PERSONAL AND PROPERTY RIGHTS

June 2004

The Family Court may sometimes be called on to make important life choices in relation to certain people. One recent case involved an application for an order to terminate the pregnancy of a 29-year-old intellectually disabled woman.

PROTECTION OF PERSONAL AND PROPERTY RIGHTS

February 2003
The living arrangements for intellectually disabled brothers were recently decided by the Family Court when their welfare guardians asked for them to be moved to new accommodation.

RELOCATION

September 2003
The Family Court will sometimes need to decide what happens to the children of split marriages when one of the parents wants to relocate to another town or city, or overseas.