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Family Proceedings Act 1980

Overseas maintenance - Steps to be taken if respondent not residing in New Zealand

143: Steps to be taken by Secretary if respondent not residing in New Zealand

You could also call this:

"What happens if someone who must pay maintenance lives outside New Zealand"

Illustration for Family Proceedings Act 1980

If you are dealing with a maintenance order from a Commonwealth or designated country, and the person who must pay is not living in New Zealand, the Secretary will send some documents to the right people. You need to know the Secretary will send a certified copy of the maintenance order and any changes to it. The Secretary will also send a certificate showing how much money is owed and any information they have about where the person is. If the documents are sent to a different country, the Secretary will tell the original country where they were sent. The Secretary will send these documents to the responsible authority in the country where the order was made or to another country if that seems right. The documents will include any other relevant information the Secretary has.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM41453.

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Part 8Overseas maintenance
Steps to be taken if respondent not residing in New Zealand

143Steps to be taken by Secretary if respondent not residing in New Zealand

  1. If a maintenance order made by a court in a Commonwealth or designated country has been registered or confirmed in New Zealand, and it appears to the Secretary that the respondent against whom the order is made is not residing in New Zealand, the Secretary must send the documents specified in subsection (2) to—

  2. the responsible authority in that Commonwealth or designated country; or
    1. the responsible authority in any other Commonwealth or designated country if, having regard to all the circumstances, the Secretary thinks it proper to do so.

      1. The documents that the Secretary must send are—

      2. a certified copy of the maintenance order, together with a certified copy of every order varying that maintenance order; and
        1. a certificate of the amount of the arrears (if any) owing under the maintenance order; and
          1. a statement giving any information that the Secretary possesses about the whereabouts of the respondent; and
            1. any other documents in the possession of the Secretary that are relevant to the case.

              1. If the documents specified in subsection (2) are sent to a responsible authority in a Commonwealth or designated country other than the one in which the maintenance order was made, the Secretary must inform the responsible authority in the country in which the order was made of where the documents have been sent.

              Notes
              • Section 143: replaced, on , by section 7 of the Family Proceedings Amendment Act 2000 (2000 No 66).