Applying for a divorce
To divorce your spouse or civil union partner, you can apply for a dissolution order through the Family Court. There is criteria you need to meet and an application fee when you apply.
When you can get a divorce
Marriage or civil union divorce is known as a dissolution order. You need to apply through the Family Court.
Before you apply for a dissolution order, you need to either:
- have been separated or living apart for at least 2 years — you can live together for a total of 3 months during this time if you’ve been trying to fix your relationship, or
- have a final protection order in place — either against your spouse or civil union partner, or against each other.
At least one of you must be domiciled in New Zealand. This means that New Zealand is the permanent home for either you or your spouse — even if you’ve been living overseas for a time.
Read about what domiciled means: Apply for a divorce — Ministry of Justice
If you share children, the court needs to be satisfied that arrangements have been made for the children’s day-to-day care.
Care of children — Ministry of Justice
Read more information about:
Apply on your own or together
You can apply for a divorce together when you both agree to divorce, or you can apply for a divorce on your own. Read more information on the Ministry of Justice’s website:
File the application and pay the fee
Fill in the forms
You will need to provide the following documentation:
- a joint or 1-party application for divorce, depending on whether you’re applying together or on your own
- proof that you’ve been separated for 2 years, which can be:
- a copy of your separation agreement or separation order
- other evidence that shows you’re separated
- a declaration that you’ve lived apart for 2 years
- an original or certified copy of your marriage or civil union certificate.
Apply for a divorce — Ministry of Justice
File your application
You can file your application and documents:
- in person — hand in your documents at the correct court
- electronically — use the online File and Pay service
- by post — send your documents to the correct court house by mail.
How to file your documents — Justice.govt.nz
File and Pay — Courts of New Zealand
Applying on your own
If you’re applying for a divorce on your own, the divorce documents must be given, or served, to your ex-partner. This must be done by someone else (not you) and you must prove to the court that your ex-partner was given the documents.
Learn about how to serve divorce documents and what happens if you do not know where your ex-partner is living.
- Apply for a divorce on your own — Ministry of Justice
- File and serve your Family Court documents — Ministry of Justice
What it costs
There’s an application fee for getting a divorce, this is called a court filing fee.
You may also have other costs you need to pay, such as lawyer’s fees or document preparation fees.
What happens next
Applying for a divorce together
If you’ve made a joint application and have decided to:
- not appear in court, the court will check your forms and make the dissolution order. Your divorce will take effect 1 month after the date the order is made
- appear in court together, the judge makes the dissolution order and your divorce will be official immediately.
Applying for a divorce on your own
If you’ve applied on your own, your ex-partner can choose to defend the application or do nothing. If they want to defend it, they must respond within a certain amount of time.
Time frames for responding — Ministry of Justice
If they do nothing within that time, the court will check your application, making sure it meets all the requirements, and make the dissolution order. The divorce will take effect 1 month after the dissolution order is made.
If they choose to defend the application, you’ll both have to appear before a Family Court judge. The judge will hear from both of you and decide if there are grounds to make the dissolution order.
Respond to divorce papers — Ministry of Justice
After the dissolution order takes effect
Once the order takes effect:
- a copy will be posted to you and your ex-partner
- you can remarry or enter into a new civil union.
Other things to consider after your divorce
There are other things to consider after your divorce such as re-writing your will or updating your contact information.
Other things to consider when you separate or divorce — Ministry of Justice
Update your family name (also called a last name or surname)
Most people choose to use their spouse’s name without changing their birth certificate. This allows you to use either name at any time.
If you used your spouse’s name while you were married and now want to use your birth name:
- in day-to-day life, you can simply start using your birth name
- for your passport — you need to apply to renew your passport and ask for it to be issued in your birth name as part of your application. If you were born outside of New Zealand, you also need to include your birth certificate.
- on your driver licence — you need to apply for a replacement licence in your birth name and include evidence of your name in your application.
Get or renew a New Zealand passport
Replacing your license — New Zealand Transport Agency
Name changes by statutory declaration
A name changed by statutory declaration removes your right to use your previous name. If you were born in New Zealand, your birth certificate is also changed. A statutory declaration is a written statement that is signed and witnessed.
If you changed your name by statutory declaration, you need to complete another statutory declaration to go back to your birth name.
Get a copy of your dissolution order (divorce papers)
To get a copy of your dissolution order, you need to apply to the Family Court that processed your divorce.
Who to contact for more help
If you need more help or have questions about the information or services on this page, contact the following agency.
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Ministry of Justice
Contact and agency details
Utility links and page information
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