Changes to Legislation regarding Divorce
As you are aware from reading the latest JQ, there were changes made to the law regarding divorce last October. “Ashley’s Law” has added a Final Protection Order as an alternative to Irreconcilable Breakdown (as evidenced by a 2 year separation) as grounds for divorce in NZ. It is still a requirement that at least one of the partners is domiciled in NZ.
There are new documents available on the Ministry of Justice website here and there is a change in the language used to describe these, which may seem confusing. We understand that new packs to replace the familiar yellow packs will be available later this year.
There is now a guide “Apply for a Divorce Guide” which describes
Application 1: used to be called One Party – FP 11&12 step by step instructions on P10 &11
Application 2: used to be called Joint – FP 13 & 14 – step by step instructions on P12 &13
Application 3 (new) Forms 14a and 14b One Party with Protection Order
Application 4 (new) Forms 14c and 14d Joint with Protection Order
and each of these 4 Applications comprises an application form, an affidavit and G7 Information Sheet. We encourage all Justices to print a copy of the “Apply for a Divorce Guide” and have it available as reference in your JP bag. There is also information available in the January 2026 JQ magazine
We expect that Applications 3&4 will not be presented very often but we all need to understand what is required.