A family law expert has explained why many women in New Zealand still aren’t getting their fair share financially in relationship separations.
Kirsty Swadling, chair of the family law section of the Law Society shared her insight into the New Zealand Relationship Property Survey, focusing on relationship breakdowns and financial implications with TVNZ1’s Breakfast.
“The difficulty is that section 15 of the Property Relationships Act was designed to try and address the imbalance of financial positions after the breakdown of the relationship where the more traditional roles had been adopted in a relationship,” said Ms Swadling.
“The court’s really struggled to deal with that perhaps as Parliament might have intended. It was difficult to work out what the compensation should be and it was also very expensive.”
She said it can also be stay at home dads who are affected.
“It doesn’t have to be the usual gender definitions.”
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