Family legislation statutes
by Gubb and Partners – 2005
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Family legislation in New Zealand is now spread between a variety of statutes. The main family law statutes and the areas they cover are:
- Adoption Act 1955: Adoption of children
- Adult Adoption Information Act 1985: Access by adult adoptees to information about birth parents and access by birth parents to information about children placed in adoption birth parents
- Adoption (Intercountry) Act 1997: Inter-country adoptions
- Age of Majority Act 1970: Sets the age of majority (the age at which children become adults) at 20 years
- Births, Deaths, and Marriages Registration Act 1995: Recording of information regarding births, deaths, and marriages, and access to that information. The Act also sets requirements and procedures for change of name
- Child Support Act 1991: Financial support for children
- Civil Union Act 2004: Creates a new status of civil union available to same-sex and different-sex couples aged 16 years or older, and sets out the procedures for entering into a civil union
- Domestic Violence Act 1995: Enables the Family Court to make protection orders to give children and partners protection from spouses, or partners or persons with whom they are or have been in a domestic relationship (including a same-sex relationship)
- Family Courts Act 1980: Establishes the Family Court and sets criteria for the selection of Family Court judges. This Act incorporated recommendations of the Royal Commission on the Courts 1978
- Family Proceedings Act 1980: Provides for counselling, conciliation, and mediation, and establishes procedures for proving paternity of children. It sets out the grounds and procedures for dissolution
- Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004: Regulates use of human assisted reproduction, bans commercial surrogacy, and provides access by donor offspring to information about their biological parents
- Marriage Act 1955: Sets out what consents are necessary for marriage and establishes formal requirements for marriage
- Property (Relationships) Act 1976: Sets out the rules that apply to the division of property on separation or death of partners to a marriage, civil union, or de facto relationship (including a same-sex relationship)
- Social Security Act 1964: Financial support for single parents and for persons who are not being supported by their spouse or partner
- Status of Children Act 1969: Establishes a presumption that the husband of a woman who gives birth to a child during her marriage, or within 10 months of dissolution, is the father of the child. It gives the High Court power to make a declaration of paternity. It also sets rules determining the parental status of gamete donors and recipients, and their spouses or partners in respect of children born as a result of assisted human reproduction (donation of sperm, eggs, or embryo).
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