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Family Proceedings Act 1980

Overseas maintenance - Maintenance of children in respect of applications from persons in Convention countries

145D: Limitations on liability as father

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"When you don't have to pay for a child if you're not married to their mum"

Illustration for Family Proceedings Act 1980

You are not liable to pay maintenance for a child if you are not married to the child's mother. You must not have been married to the mother or in a civil union with her before the child was conceived. However, you can be liable if a court says you are the father. You can be considered the father if a court declares you as such. A court can also make you a guardian of the child, which means you are responsible for the child's care. The court can make a paternity order against you, which means the court says you are the father. Your name must be on the child's birth record under the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021 as the father. You can also be considered the father if you acknowledge in writing that you are the father. A court order from another country can also say you are the father. The Governor-General can decide which court orders from other countries are valid in New Zealand. Some countries, like the Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau, are considered outside New Zealand for this purpose. Any orders made under this section must follow the rules set out in Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM41473.

Topics:
Family and relationships > Children and parenting
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Part 8Overseas maintenance
Maintenance of children in respect of applications from persons in Convention countries

145DLimitations on liability as father

  1. No person who is not married to, or in a civil union with, the mother of a child, and has never been married to, or in a civil union with, the mother, or whose marriage or civil union to the mother has been dissolved before the conception of the child, shall be liable as a father to maintain the child unless—

  2. a court has declared him to be the father of the child; or
    1. a court has appointed him to be a guardian of the child, or has declared him to be a guardian of the child, by reason of being a parent of the child; or
      1. a court has, before or at the time of making a maintenance order against him, made a paternity order against him; or
        1. his name has at any time been entered in the registry under the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021 as the father of the child; or
          1. he has been declared to be the father of the child by an order made in a country outside New Zealand (being an order to which this section applies pursuant to subsection (2)); or
            1. he has, in any proceedings before the court, or in writing signed by him, acknowledged that he is the father of the child.

              1. The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, declare that this section applies to orders made by a specific court or public authority in a specified country outside New Zealand.

              2. For the purposes of this section, the Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau shall be deemed to be countries outside New Zealand.

              3. An order under this section is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

              Notes
              • Section 145D: inserted, on , by section 21 of the Family Proceedings Amendment Act 1991 (1991 No 144).
              • Section 145D(1): amended, on , by section 44(1) of the Civil Union Act 2004 (2004 No 102).
              • Section 145D(1): amended, on , by section 44(2) of the Civil Union Act 2004 (2004 No 102).
              • Section 145D(1)(d): amended, on , by section 147 of the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021 (2021 No 57).
              • Section 145D(4): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).