Megathread: Legal resources

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping to get a better understanding of how NZ de facto relationship law works so I can help my mum. She has engaged a lawyer, but we’re trying to understand the bigger picture before going back with more questions. I know no one here can give legal advice, but I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been through something similar or knows how these situations are generally viewed.

Timeline
Relationship started: June 2017
Moved in together: March 2020
Mum moved out: July 2022
Attended his niece’s wedding together: 16 July 2022
Relationship counselling: 21 July 2022 (plus a few more sessions during the separation)
Mum moved into another residence: 31 July 2022
Dinner together: 11 August 2022
Family overseas holiday: 16 Sept – 1 Oct 2022
Mum moved back in after the holiday: October 2022
Domestic holiday together: 21 October 2022
Mum moved out again: January 2024
Reconciled and moved back in: July 2024
Final separation: April 2026

I have a couple of questions.

1. Before they moved in together
They didn’t officially move in together until 2020 because my younger sister was still at high school near Mum’s rental, while his house (where she eventually moved) was much further away.

Is it worth trying to gather evidence that they were already in a de facto relationship before they officially lived together? Mum has heaps of Facebook posts, photos, holidays together, etc. What sort of evidence do courts actually find persuasive? Messages? Witness statements? Travel bookings? Something else?
They never had joint bank accounts or bought property together. They also didn’t have a shared household account. Instead, he generally paid the utilities while Mum consistently paid for groceries and day-to-day household items. Does that kind of informal arrangement carry any weight?

2. The separations
The first separation happened before they’d been living together for three years. Although Mum moved into another residence, as you can see from the timeline they continued seeing each other, attended counselling, went on an overseas holiday together, and ultimately reconciled a few months later.

They separated again in January 2024, reconciled in July 2024, and then finally separated in April 2026.
Would a court potentially view those earlier separations as temporary breaks within one continuous relationship, or is each move out more likely to be treated as ending the relationship and restarting the clock?

The relationship lasted almost nine years overall, and unfortunately he’s refused to engage in reaching a fair agreement, so Mum has had to involve lawyers.
Any insight into what evidence is most helpful, or how NZ courts tend to look at temporary separations and reconciliations, would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks so much!

Hi guys

I parked at Jetts carpark which is owned by a company that looks after parking and Has a 2 hour parking limit.

I got in my car to leave with 30 mins left of time but realised my car wouldn’t turn on. Completely dead.

To make a long story short I had to call a tow which didn’t come for another hour.

I got a 150 dollar fine and appealed it saying my car was dead therefore I couldn’t not move it but my Appeal was denied.

Is that fair?

Hi guys, just after a bit of advice on where I stand and how to proceed.

So last Thursday I had a job interview through WINZ and ended up getting the job after going out that day and doing a trial day to see if I liked it and was a good fit, which I was. So after the longest time of searching I was stoked and didn't want to appear ungrateful so I probably didn't ask as many questions as I should of.

So I got the Friday off to get things sorted, like safety boots and gear. I then started work on Saturday and Sunday with no written agreement or contract being signed as it was going to be put in front of me on monday. All good as I say I'm finally working and don't want to be too fussy.

Monday comes around and he says the lawyers are mucking around and the contract will be ready on Tuesday, Tuesday turns to Wednesday which is annoying because I want to see the terms of the contract.

I didn't even know what days I was working. On Tuesday he says to me if we keep up working how we are we'll have the weekend off. Then yesterday (Wednesday) he just casually mentions what our work plans are for Saturday as if I had agreed to it or that I even knew I was working Saturday.

The other part of the contract I've been waiting to see was if I was on the clock for our travel from his house which is his headquarters where he keeps most of his equipment to our actual job sites which are 2 hours 40 round trip away(an hour 20 each way)

Got sick of waiting for the contract to be put in front of me today so first thing I asked him was if I was being paid for our travel to worksites. I was not so I quit on the spot.

Pretty sure he isn't going to pay me for the weekend work as he kept mentioning it was part of my training and I didn't bother to ask about it because I was just stoked to have a job.

On top of all this he would chain smoke in the van for all of our travels and called me soft when I mentioned it. Would go on racist rants about many different ethnicities. And just generally unpleasant to be around. I tried to put up with it as he was talking about getting me into my own van and I would be on my own soon enough but who knows with his compulsive lying ways.

So anyways if you made it through my Bible of a post have any laws been broken? Thanks in advance

Hi folks, thanks in advance for any assistance, I have never been in this situation and the stress is eating me up.

TLDR: The car broke down a few weeks after the sale and the new owner is taking me to the disputes tribunal and seeking the entire cost of the car + an additional $10500 for completed and on going repair costs.

I was straight forward and honest with the buyer about the car and have never had any mechanical issues with the car, nor any indication of potential issues, aside from a problem with a suspension sound that was described in detail and offered to fix before sale and then just add the cost to the sale price, that way it wasn't and unknown for them, they declined this offer.

A little more info and context for anyone interested.

I had owned the car for a few years and had it tuned by a reputable tuner. The car had been sitting unused for about a year due to not needing it and the cost of fuel (our other car is electric), during this time the battery had died but I had charged it up and had been driving every now and then without any issues before about a month before the sale.

Before the sale, the buyer was advised of the modifications, and the current condition of the car including the fact that the car been sitting unused for about a year, the battery having died, and an issue with a bumping sound coming from the front right suspension. I have extensive txts to the buyer describing all of this.

I offered to repair the the suspension issue before the sale with the understanding that the price would go up by the amount it would cost, but they were hesitant. I then offered to bump up the sale price by $1000 and pay for the repair out of pocket, regardless of the price, again they declined. We settled on lowering the sale price by $500 and they would fix at their own cost.

17 days after the sale I get an email advising that they had run into an issue and they suspected the battery would need to be replaced. I apologized and mentioned that I haven't encountered that before myself and agreed that the battery would be the likely culprit due to the car having sat for a year. The next day they had replaced the battery but were now getting error messages and the car was going into limp mode. I was away on holiday at the time but said to call me any time and I would help as best I could.

Over the next few weeks the car was in for repairs at a local mechanic but they were having trouble identifying the problem. I had numerous emails and calls with the buyer and I did my best to provide any information that could be useful, I also called the mechanic and spoke with them to see if I could help in any way. Once I got back home I visited the mechanic to chat with them and to try help speculate and provide info that could point them in the right direction but I wasn't really able to assist much as I had never had any issues with the car before.

The buyer contacted me and said that they wanted me to take the car back and refund them, I advised that I understand their frustration but they were purchasing a 2nd hand modified car, which is an inherent risk, and that I had never had any issues with the car and couldn't rule out that they did something the cause the issue. I wasn't interested in taking the car back but I would continue to help as best I could with finding the issue.

The buyer continued to push and demand I take the car back, and I eventually stopped responding because it was stressing me out so much. Fast forward to now and they are taking me to the disputes tribunal for the cost of the car ($23500) plus an additional $10500 in ongoing repairs.

I can't afford this at all and have no idea where to even begin preparing for the dispute. I truly never had any engine issues with the car and felt like I did everything I could to help when they ran into trouble.

Sorry for the long post, I hope I didn't ramble too much but I feel like context is always important. Thanks in advance for your help!

Hi, I just started a full time position and my contract says minimum 30 hours per week.

I have been rostered for 29.5 hours across 4 days this week and exactly 30 hours for next week.

However, if I take unpaid meal break during each shift. I will only get 27.5 paid hours this week.

Is this right? I thought 30 hours minimum means 30 paid hours.

Hello. For those with experience of MBIE mediation do you know if the materials sent to the mediator in advance (required one week prior) are shared with the other party?

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice on a Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA) claim and whether I have a strong enough case for the Disputes Tribunal.

The Situation:
I bought a bed heater from a well-known NZ retailer 3 years ago. It came with a standard 3-year warranty.
The power cord is now faulty and has visible burn marks on it, which is obviously a massive fire/safety hazard.
The failure happened exactly 20 days after the 3-year warranty expired.

The Retailer's Response: I called their head office to request a remedy under the CGA, arguing that a product like this should have a reasonable lifespan and certainly shouldn't develop burn marks just outside the warranty window. The representative flat-out refused, stating that because it is outside of the warranty, they cannot help me. They told me to go to CGA, which is not a thing.

The Evidence: I recorded the entire phone call from the beginning. I was a direct party to the conversation, but I did not ask for the representative's consent to record the call.

My questions for the community:
Do I have legal ground and a medium-to-high chance of winning at the Disputes Tribunal? Given the nature of the fault (burn marks/safety) and the fact that it only missed the warranty by 20 days, does the CGA's "acceptable quality" and "reasonable lifespan" provision give me a strong case?

Remedies: I want a full refund. I also want to recoup the Disputes Tribunal filing fee since I have to take it this far. Is it realistic to be awarded both the refund and the filing fee?

Call Recording: Can I use my recording of the head office call as evidence in the Tribunal even though I didn't get their consent?

Any advice or similar experiences with the Disputes Tribunal would be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance!

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Forgive me, I'm not well acquainted with Wills and Trusts, etc.

My mother passed away a week ago, and her assets (kiwisaver and life insurance) are to go into the family trust. The family trust has nothing in it and hasn't for a long while, and we don't believe there is any bank account existing for it.

We saw the lawyers on Monday, and we all agreed the Trust was more or less defunct.

The lawyers instructed us to open a bank account for the trust so that kiwisaver and life money would go into it, but that it would actually go to lawyers first? Then from the bank account we'd split the funds to beneficiaries and close the account.

Mum and dad have been with kiwisaver for years, but we don't have a branch in my city so we tried ANZ. The lady we spoke to thinks we should be able to avoid a bank account situation entirely, especially considering we'd only be opening it just to close it.

We do see the lawyers tomorrow, so I can seek clarification then, but wondered if anyone else had advice or an opinion?

This is all new and confusing and I'm aware it's not going to be some quick process.

My gradfather recently passed away, on 5/7/26. My Mother (his daughter) passed away in 1997, She has 4 four siblings, 3 of which remain alive. I estimate his estate to be roughly worth around $500k. Im unsure if probate has been granted yet or not but am on speaking terms with the executor who informed the estaste will be distrubted to only living children. I have one brother (40 and 42 years of age) him and i have been considering the family protection act, and if we were entitled to our mothers portion of the estate based on moral duty? would like to hear relevant thoughts on this particulary around how we are both adults now and wether the court would consider this.

I just don't know what to do anymore.

On 16th of June I had my benefit cancelled because I was unable to meet my obligations. This, partly, was due to a medical condition. I filled out a review of decision, on the 18th spoke to the operations manager of the local branch.

They said if I wanted to continue, I'd need to get a medical certificate (impossible from GP as they are some distance, I had the petrol light already on, and $2.11 in my account. They then decided it would be easiest to just start the jobseeker application again at that point.

After conversations with the Operations Manager, I confirmed that would mean the date of application starting would be the 18th, and she also confirmed it. She advised nothing will be paid between the 16th and the 18th and this made sense. Two days isn't going to kill me. Tighten the belt, but everything will be fine.

Sure enough, I had to go through the jobseeker fiasco once more, meeting with a new case manager, job seminar etc... All that took up until the 9th of July.

Cool, everything should be smooth sailing. I'll get backdated to the date of application, and repay my exceedingly anxious landlord.

Then a week passed. 15th of July came around. Nothing. Called the WINZ call centre 4 times - once each day except Monday - requesting information as nothing was showing up on MyMSD. Each time I was given a new piece of information, advised of a new way to get help. Some days, was just thrown to the side without care depening on the person.

Every day I asked them to get the case manager, or someone from the office to call me. They said they'd send an e-mail leave a Teams message and CC in the case manager's supervisor.

Nothing. Radio silence.

Friday evening hits, and my stomach sinks as I've received a very strange payment of around $302.

I have to wait until the 20th (Monday) to call and I find out... That was my first WINZ payment. I am nearly in tears almost immediately, and I ask how that's possible. It's because it was backdated... to the 9th of July. I went cold and that cold kinda... didn't stop. I'm still cold. I was told I could do a Review of Decision but I stupidly forgot to ask them to allow document upload, so I need to wait until tomorrow.

I just can't.

I'm expecting a payment of $526 tonight, but even if I gave my landlord all of my pay it'd take 2 months of living on photosynthesis to no longer be in arrears.

I'm also a flatmate to my landlord. I don't have a tenancy agreement. A bond. Years of a good relationship has been dwindling and I can't even face him anymore.

Life at home is miserable, but I have no idea what to do.

I reached my wit's end last week without contact, this week I can't even feel anything anymore. I feel like I died in some way and my mind is just catching up with that.

I just... Idk, if anyone knows a genie, a magic lamp, something so I don't need to be drowning in misery waiting for this Kafkaesque system to break me any further, I'd love to know.

got fined $150 for parking in a P120 limit space 7 minutes after I parked. what to do?

So I’ve worked in my industry for 15+ years and worked at three companies now and have built relationships over the years.

My current company I have been at for 5+ years.

I took on a new role in the company 3 years ago and my pay never moved. I got lots of excuses to review it at a later date. So I just rolled with the punches.

Long story short it’s 3 and half years later and still no change in pay from my old role. I have brought it up and spoken to them and got excuses.

Rather than moping and doing the obvious and looking for another job I decided to start a side hustle.

My wife can only work 10-15 hours a week due to our son’s disability.

So my idea sells to customers in the same industry but doesn’t sell any competing products or services. The only crossover is same niche customers.

I approached work before launching this and they have said I cannot operate a side business in the same industry of customers, that is a clear conflict of interest and they own this industries customers.

Now they want me to shut down my business (which hasn’t launched yet) or give it to them to pay me commission on while already doing my overloaded work plate at work.

Is this a conflict of interest if there is zero competing products or services and would be managed completely outside of work hours. No poaching no chasing. Nothing dodgy just a service the industry has been asking for an a way for my family to make an extra 100-500 a month to put groceries on the table.

Hi all 👋🏽

I've been having suspicions around whether my landlord may have tapped into my power somehow, and was wondering what I should do.

For context:

My landlord lives on the same property as me, and comes and goes living here some of the time and going elsewhere. I've noticed that whenever they've returned, my power seems to spike.

My normal day can vary between $6-$9 in the winter, dependant on how long I shower, cook, and have the heat pump on. Lately, some days have been reaching up to $13 with no difference in my routine.

I'm a student, so I am away from 6-8 for the gym, study from home half the day, go to class for the afternoon, and am back by 6. During the times I'm gone, the power is unreasonably high for no lights/heat pump/general usage, but goes back to normal once I'm home.

I'm fairly proactive when it comes to turning switches off because I'm scared of fires and I have a cat, so normally when I'm gone it's just my wifi box, the fridge, and the hot water cylinder left on at the wall.

The house is a unit, and pretty diy in many aspects, including electrical and plumbing, so I originally thought it may be my hot water cylinder (which has some suspicious tape around it and doesn't look quite up to code), but it doesn't peak a lot during the night or most of the day. There's also random light flickers and a couple of the outlets have popped out of the wall.

I'm unsure what to do with this. I'm on a periodic tenancy, and have lived here for almost 2 years, and my previous tenancy power was no where near as high even with double the space/rooms. I also don't want retaliation because the market is tight right now and moving is an expense I'd rather have to avoid.

I also don't have access to my meter box, have no idea where it is.

Any tips or suggestions on how I should proceed with this?

Hi all so im looking for some helpful advice, after leaving my employer MSD 4 weeks ago 23/06/26 I was just sent an email this morning 22/07/2026 that due to payroll accidentally paying me for my last day and them unable to stop this im now in debt of $600+ and expected to pay this back immediately

Any help is greatly appreciated

My ex is requesting over 40k in spousal maintenance as part of our separation division of assets.

We have been separated for over 2 years now.
1 child, 50/50 care
Defacto, 7 years
Renting at time of split ($650/week)
No significant assets
I had been earning about 75k at time of split
She had been doing a few under the table jobs but not earning a significant amount during split
I have come into significant inheritance 1 year after split.

If it makes a difference, my parents are wealthy and help us out financially from time to time.

She moved out to her parents’ 2 weeks after the breakup even though I told her she can keep staying for up to 3 months.

The letter from her lawyer basically demands this or they wish to take us to court at our costs. I feel this is most unreasonable. My lawyer thinks they have no grounds for asking for it and to give them nothing.

I feel worried… any advice about how to proceed and if she can demand it? We had a modest-slightly struggling lifestyle during our relationship.

Hey LANZ,

Am seeking advice in regards to a FWL.

For protection of my privacy I cannot include the FWL as I plan to contest it.

Legally, what should be in a FWL and what would make it deemed incorrect or unlawfully.

My FWL seems like a last minute draft up and I asked via Google Gemini which gave me advice that I could contest it and challenge it.

It also has no sender details! It was obv given to me by management but shouldn’t it say at the bottom whom it’s from?

What should I do? I do not trust my HR but I will not back down as I feel like I’m getting rub out.

I also have already signed it so have I made a mistake?

I need some direction here.

I'm applying for a role where I'd be a strong candidate and have a positive history with the company (I was employed there previously over a decade ago and left on good terms).

I've been presented with a form that asks two things that I'm not comfortable with:

• Previous employer's contact details
• Have I ever raised a personal grievance?

I have raised a personal grievance before due to false redundancy, however I don't think it's any of this employer's business or even lawful to ask. Likewise I also don't think it's lawful to contact my former employer. At the same time, leaving these blank feels like a huge tell, and I can be terminated for lying on an application form.

What's the best move here? I'm thinking about leaving them blank and just trying to solve it conversationally if it comes up, but it's starting to look like I've left half the form blank like I don't know how to complete one.

Edit: thanks everyone for your responses. I'm going to include my past grievance in the form as it seems like I can explain it reasonably and it shouldn't be a barrier to employing me if everything else works out.

Hi all, I find myself wrongfully accused of family violence (without the violent part - apparently you can just claim to be traumatised!)

Any suggestions for a lawyer that is not expensive, but not crap like that lawyer from "Anger Management" movie? I am not far off minimum wage. The police was nice to deliver me a midnight care package.

Hi everyone,

Looking for guidance on where we stand legally and what avenues we have left. We own and live in a townhouse. For months, we have been dealing with severe, documented, and ongoing disturbances from a neighbouring rental property in our complex. Please also note that our complaints have been validated and confirmed by the neighbour on the other side.

This is a summary of the situation, the tenant violations, and the property manager’s handling of it:

Escalating tenant violations:

• Noise and nuisance: Started with persistent, unreasonable, and chronic noise disruption affecting quiet enjoyment during all hours of the day and night.
• Illegal activity and child welfare: Issues have escalated to include documented, active illegal drug use on the premises, including instances occurring directly in front of children.
• Dismissive responses factually flawed arguments: When we first raised the excessive noise, the PM completely dismissed our complaints as "neighbours not happy with close quarter living."
• PM inaction: Despite months of detailed logs, police event numbers, photo/video evidence, and formal written complaints regarding both noise and illegal substance use, the PM failed to take standard procedural actions (no 14-day breach notices or Section 55A anti-social behaviour notices under the RTA).
• Financial conflicts of interest: Correspondence suggests the PM/landlord is resistant to taking hard enforcement steps or terminating the tenancy, seemingly prioritising continuous rental income/management fees over their legal and ethical obligations to address severe breaches. They have stated this pretty plainly in correspondence.
• Body corporate process: Our society/body corporate constitution clearly states that members (owners) are liable for the actions of their tenants, and rules strictly prohibit acts causing a nuisance or disturbance. The Committee has now initiated a formal dispute resolution process under our constitution.

Given this context, we have two legal questions:

1. RTA standing for neighbouring owner-occupiers: Do we, as neighbouring owner-occupiers (who have no direct tenancy contract with the landlord or PM), have any legal standing to leverage or enforce the landlord's/PM's obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act, specifically regarding Section 40(2)(b) (unlawful purpose), Section 40(2)(c) (interference with quiet enjoyment of neighbours), and Section 16B (compliance with body corporate rules)? Or is the RTA exclusively enforceable between tenant and landlord?
2. Available options and next steps: Is there anything at all we can do directly against the property manager or landlord (e.g., via the Disputes Tribunal, REA/real estate regulatory bodies for PM misconduct, or court injunctions), or are we strictly limited to routing everything through our Body Corporate's internal dispute/arbitration process to force the lot owner to act?

Thanks in advance for any insights on legal precedents or strategies!

A few months ago I moved into an apartment, and signed up for various utilities, including power. I supplied the power company we chose with all the details they requested, including Direct Debit Agreement to charge for the power plan.

They sent me a welcome email, followed up by an email regarding a credit check saying that they hadn't found any history (which I have none as a young person).

They asked if I had a reason for this, and that if i couldn't provide a credit score history i would be put on the alternative sign up plan that would require me to pay upfront before I could receive power.

... I am yet to get back to them, because my lights are on. I am receiving power, despite not replying. (Also, it's not the previous tenant's power either because we received mail that was a power termination notice from a different company).

I am unsure if my company will notice, and back charge me for the power used if they do. I have received no calls, further emails, texts, letters, or any method of them attempting to contact me.

What sort of information would decide whether or not I will be back charged, or if I may be under their radar without risk of a lump sum of debt my way 😭

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In 2008 my parents, Dad being 75 yrs and Mum 69 were looking for a new home to buy for their old age but most properties in the town were over budget. So my brother-in-law who is an experience businessman and my sister, his wife, came along and said they could help them. A flat/apartment was found for $130,000.

My brother-in-law proposed a deal whereby my parents would put $65,000 in and he would put in $65,000. They then drew up a contract, I believe by his own long-time lawyer, that my parents could live in the flat for as long as they needed it and pay the council rates/taxes yearly and then when the flat was sold they would only get their 65,000 back and my brother-in-law and his wife, my sister, would take the rest i.e all of the equity!

This year May 2026 the flat sold for $300,000, my parents only got their $65,000 back and my brother-in-law and my sister got $230K!!

No matter which way I look at this it reeks of the opportunistic ripping off of my parents and unfortunately I was living in Australia at the time and Dad was the type of man not to discuss things like this. My parents were not experienced about financial and property related things. I believe Dad was just happy to find a place to live in not realizing what years of equity would mount up to and my mother has no financial sense at all and has a low IQ and she cant remember if she even signed the papers. Unfortunately my dad passed away a couple of weeks after sale went thru. WHEN My brother-in-law had the contract written up by his longtime lawyer and the signing was witnessed by another sister of mine and her partner, neither of whom were experienced in business or property. As yet i haven't been able to find out if my parents had any advice from their OWN lawyer but I believe they just trusted my brother-in-law to do the right thing by them.

Is this legal??

In New Zealand there is a 15-year time period to act on such things but because of some of the extenuating circumstances and the inexperience of my parents, their age and mums inability to understand the legal side of the whole thing.

I’m a male. Have a house and joint income. What are the legal cost and proceedings to leave ? I’ll probably be poor and I know what her family are like. I just can’t anymore with the emotional an anger from her lots of future faking . Deep down I wanna go to police but I know what they are like they don’t. Believe the male. She is very convincing