Family & Criminal Lawyer Manukau & Auckland

Family Violence

Family violence can resulting in a criminal charges being laid against you by the police such as a Male Assaults Female charge, for assault necessitating legal representation by a criminal defence lawyer.

It may also impact you in the family Court especially if the victim applies for a protection order.

Click Here to read more about protection orders.

What do Family Lawyers do

When there is a relationship breakup issues inevitably arise around the care of children, division of property, child support and spousal maintenance.
These issues are best agreed, and if agreed can be recorded in written agreements with the assistance of your lawyer. When agreement cannot be reached a Judge in the Family Court can decide the issues that you and your partner cannot resolve.

When a spouse or partner dies issues often arise over division of property, and about the property in the deceased persons estate.
These are typical situations when you need a good and experienced family law lawyer.

Make an appointment with Auckland Family Lawyer Naomi Cramer call 0210 2964 279 today .

As a criminal lawyer appearing at all Auckland Courts including Manukau we also assist with criminal charges provide court representation and advice with police matters.

Practical tips

Professional legal advice and assistance can be expensive and so you should do what you can to ensure your family law lawyer can work with you efficiently.

There are things you can do to make the task simpler and easier for your lawyer and therefore less costly for you.

You want your lawyer carrying out legal work for you, rather than administrative work which you can often do yourself.
Provision of information to your lawyer in a coherent and helpful way means your lawyer can work efficiently for you.

An example is providing your family law lawyer with basic necessary information as is on the checklist at the foot of this document.

If your situation is complicated, then providing your family law lawyer with well presented information sorted chronologically results in less administrative work for your lawyer, more timely advice for you, and less cost for professional services.

You need your lawyer to help you get to the stage when matters are resolved as well as they can be for you, and as soon as possible. There are sensible and practical things you can do to assist that process.

The earlier you can find out how it all works and what is likely to happen on your relationship breakup the better. You are likely to make better decisions with that information and knowledge.
So you should consult your family law lawyer at an early stage.

Make an appointment with Auckland Family Lawyer Naomi Cramer call 0210 2964 279 today.

 

Division of relationship

Following separation your relationship property is usually divided on a 50:50 basis after a marriage or committed relationship that lasts three years or more. Couples in a relationship of less than 3 years can in some circumstances have their property divided on the basis of their contributions.

While that sounds simple enough, working out what it means in your case may not be straightforward.

The family home and family chattels are to be divided equally, and in practice it is usually the same equal division for other property.

Values

When it comes to entering into Agreement or having the Court order a division of property, it is usually the current value of property that is used. However some property, such as your bank account balances and superannuation entitlements, may have an earlier valuation date, usually the date the relationship ended with separation or living apart. The rationale is because at the living apart date the partners or spouses ceased to be in partnership and have now gone their own way financially.

The half division of a Superannuation or Kiwisaver entitlement is of its relationship component, in other words what property was built up between the start of the relationship and when the parties ceased to live together.
Professional valuers may be needed when values cannot be agreed. This may be a Registered Valuer for real estate, an Actuary for superannuation, and increasingly Forensic Accountants to value interests in a business, company or Trust.

Economic disparity

Sometimes a relationship breakup means one partner’s income and living standards are likely to be significantly higher than the other because of what has happened during the relationship. One such scenario is a mother out of the workforce caring for children, while the father’s career has taken off and his earning potential has increased.
In these circumstances the Court can award a lump sum to be paid to the so disadvantaged partner out of the other party’s relationship property entitlement.

A recent Supreme Court decision has bolstered the entitlement of the disadvantaged party to this remedy. Sometimes expert accounting advice is necessary to calculate and quantify this likely entitlement.

Occupation Orders

On living apart one partner may need continued occupation of the family home as an interim measure. If agreement cannot be reached, the Family Court can order an Occupation Order. This usually happens when there are children who need the continued security of a stable home environment.
In some circumstances the occupying parent may need to later reimburse the other owner for what is termed an occupation rental.

Agreements

For an Agreement about your relationship property to be binding there are some formalities. It must be in writing and the independent lawyers for each party must sign a certificate on it that says you have received advice and you know what you are doing.

Other Agreements, for example about the children’s care arrangements, spousal maintenance or child support do not need that certificate. Everything that is agreed can still be put in the one Agreement which has the lawyer’s certificate.

Make an appointment with Auckland Family Lawyer Naomi Cramer call0210 2964 279.

Child support

Both parents have a continuing obligation to financially support their children even though the parents and their children will no longer be living together as a family.

Parents can agree on how they will do this in the changed circumstances. But if agreement cannot be reached, either parent can apply to Inland Revenue Child Support for what is called a Formula Assessment of child support. This assessment works out how much one parent needs to pay the other having regard to their respective incomes, and the amount of nights the children are in their care.

Your likely Formula Assessment can be calculated by visiting the www.ird.govt.nz website. The benefit of an annual Formula Assessment rather than an Agreement is its flexibility, as the needs of the children and the resources of their parents change over time.
A Formula Assessment may not work in your circumstances, perhaps because even though the paying parent has plenty of money, a low taxable income is used in the formula. There is an Administrative Review process to change a formula assessment in such situations.
In some situations a Family Court Judge can decide how much child support is appropriate.

Make an appointment with Auckland Family Lawyer Naomi Cramer call 0210 2964 279 today ( consultation fees apply).