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- Title
New Zealand property rights legislation.
- Authors
Parker, Wendy
- Abstract
The article examines the matrimonial and de facto property law reform proposals that look set to become law in New Zealand in 2001, and explores the arguments and the philosophical shift behind them. For the last twenty-five years, the property rights landscape in New Zealand has remained relatively unchanged. Formerly married couples have been able to access the Matrimonial Property Act 1976 to resolve their property issues, whether through court action, or by bargaining in its shadow. De facto couples, in the absence of statutory provisions, have used the law of trusts, and in doing so, have, over time, built up a substantial body of case law. It is difficult to predict whether the new mix of rules and discretion, the enhanced measures to alleviate post-relationship economic disparity, and the extension of statutory coverage to de facto and same-sex couples and the widowed, all built on the bedrock of the 1976 Act, will be a stable and successful blend. For now, they provide a more enlightened and modern reflection of notions of justice. Time will tell if indeed the New Zealand way might be worthy of imitation.
- Subjects
NEW Zealand; MARITAL property; PROPERTY rights; LAW reform; POSSESSION (Law); UNMARRIED couples
- Publication
Family Matters, 2000, Issue 57, p62
- ISSN
1030-2646
- Publication type
Article