Family Focus
The FDR Centre was established in 2013 as a specialist centre for providing a full range of private dispute resolution and conflict management services for all types of family and relationship disputes. We provide a holistic wrap-around service that includes everything from Family Law Arbitration, Mediation and Arb-Med for relationship property, trusts, wills, and estates disputes to FDR Mediation (including child inclusive mediation), conflict and communication coaching, and counselling. Our aim is to achieve positive and lasting outcomes for parents and guardians, children and other family/whānau members – all without stepping foot in the expensive, public arena of a court.
As part of our services, we strive to foster and participate in discussions and positive debate concerning all matters relating to the effective resolution of family and relationship disputes. This blog helps us to do so. We hope you enjoy the content.
How To Stay Calm During Difficult Conversations
No-one really likes difficult conversations. But they are everywhere. They can be at work, the dentists’ office (it cost how much?!), the hairdressers (uh, yes, it looks great!) and of course, at home. The conversations are all floating out there, always waiting for...
A child’s right to participate in family dispute proceedings
A child's right to participate in family dispute proceedings is recognised in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and has been given effect to in legislation such as the Care of Children Act 2004 (COCA). The recently passed Family Court (Supporting Children...
Supreme Court Provides Valuable Guidance on Relationship Property Disputes
By Melissa Perkin. Case Overview The Supreme Court has recently released its decision in Preston v Preston[1], providing valuable guidance in relationship property disputes and the application of section 182 of the Family Proceedings Act 1980, which empowers a court...
Grandparents and FDR Mediation
By Hannah Aziz. It is widely recognised that grandparents play an important role in the lives of their grandchildren. When family disputes arise, grandparents can often feel left out in the cold and unsure of their legal options, or what access they may have to...
Bill to better support children in the Family Court passes third reading by a majority!
By Maria Cole. In a recent Beehive press release the Justice Minister announced that the Family Court (Supporting Children in Court) Legislation Bill (the Bill) has passed its third reading and is set to come into law. Justice Minister Faafoi said “The Bill will...
The Trusts Act 2019: keeping it in the family
By Maria Cole. No-one likes to have their dirty laundry aired in public. Sadly, it has been all too common for parties in family trust and estate disputes, to find their private family affairs made public and become the topic of law journal articles and gossip at...
Penalties and child support – What the new law means for you
By Nashi Ali and Melissa Perkin. The child support scheme affects approximately 135,000 carers, 166,000 liable parents and 185,000 qualifying children. In 2019 it was reported that there was $2.2 billion in child support debt. A crippling $1.6 billion of this debt was...
FAQ’S – Penalties and child support – What the 2021 law changes mean
Following the 2021 changes to child support laws, there are potentially significant changes to the way liable parents are now exposed to penalties under the child support regime. We have created a series of FAQs with answers to help understand the changes. When do the...
Preston v Preston “…this case is everything relationship property litigation should not be.”
By Melissa Perkin and Melt Strydom. Overview Mr and Mrs Preston were married for five years. Sadly, the legal proceedings that followed their separation have lasted almost as long and might not be over yet, as an application for leave to appeal was recently filed in...
The Trusts Act 2019: What you need to know
By Melissa Perkin and Melt Strydom INTRODUCTION Although exact numbers are unknown, it is estimated there are hundreds of thousands of trusts in New Zealand. The new Trusts Act 2019 came into force on 30 January 2021. It brings a number of significant changes to trust...
School’s in! – learning from home during lockdown
School's in! - learning from home during lockdown Tomorrow is the start of the second term of the school year - a term that is looking unlike any other we have seen. The Ministry of Education has been working quickly to introduce a package of options to ensure...
Tips for Managing the Shared Care of Children During the Covid-19 Lockdown Period – part 2
Tips for Managing the Shared Care of Children During the Covid-19 Lockdown Period – part 2 Self-care, finances and working co-operatively Your personal health and safety is important You must take care of yourself in order to care for your children. ...
Tips for Managing the Shared Care of Children During the Covid-19 Lockdown Period – Part 1
Tips for Managing the Shared Care of Children During the Covid-19 Lockdown Period – part 1 Based on our experience of working with thousands of families over many years we have put together a few tips that we hope help you better understand what options are...
Navigating unchartered waters: co-parenting through COVID-19
Navigating unchartered waters: co-parenting through COVID-19 The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus is presenting us with challenges unseen in most of our lifetimes. We are faced with changes on a daily basis as to how we conduct our lives and there is no timeframe being...
Arbitration and mediation of disputes involving trusts get the green light in New Zealand
In July this year, the New Zealand Parliament passed the Trusts Bill which contains unique and important provisions that expressly provide for arbitration and mediation of internal and external disputes involving trusts, including for court-ordered arbitration or...
Father’s Day
Where does Father's Day originate from? In New Zealand we have celebrated Father's Day since at least 1929 when it was first observed in a service at St Matthews Church in Auckland, following the tradition of a Mother's Day service which had already been established....
FDR Centre Panellist, Tom Stodulka, named Resolution Institute Australian Mediator of the Year
Congratulations to FDR Centre Panellist, Tom Stodulka, who was named Mediator of the Year at the prestigious Australasian Law Awards earlier this year. Tom was one of eight finalists from throughout Australia who were nominated for the Resolution Institute- Mediator...
Ten years of litigation says private dispute resolution for relationship property disputes is a smart option
In a judgment released yesterday the Supreme Court in Scott v Williams [2019] NZSC 80 [25 July 2019], dismissed an application by Ms Scott for an extension of time for applying for leave to appeal against two earlier costs judgments. There is nothing particularly...
Law Commission recommends out of court dispute resolution for relationship property disputes
This week Justice Minister Andrew Little tabled the Law Commission’s final report on its review of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 (the Act). The Act sets out how relationship property should be divided when a relationship ends by separation or death. The report...
The Brain Science of Conflict
Yesterday, we at the FDR Centre were delighted to co-host with NZDRC two sessions with Kathryn Berkett learning all about the neuroscience behind conflict. Sounds complicated? Luckily Kathryn is absolutely brilliant at communicating the science in a completely...
Independent Panel’s Report on Family Justice System welcomed
Yesterday the Minister of Justice, Hon. Andrew Little, released the much-awaited report by the Independent Panel established to consider the 2014 family justice reforms. The Panel, headed by former Human Rights Commissioner, Ros Noonan, and comprising...
A (sad) Tale of Four Sisters, a Property Magnate, Two Wellington Professionals and a Liquor Baron
Disputes over inheritance and division of relationship property leave parties reeling and broke and the public entertained at their expense The late William (Bill) Walker took over farming his parents’ farm, Hazeldale, in 1950. He developed it into a much...
Giving children a voice in FDR Mediation
By Catherine Green, Executive Director FDR Centre Since early 2015, the FDR Centre has been offering child inclusive FDR Mediation, where children have the opportunity to share their views with a Child Inclusion Specialist, who attends the mediation in the...
Understanding anger and high conflict personality
By Nicola Hartfield Nicola Hartfield, mediator and workplace mentor, discusses how anger influences certain personality types and the importance of understanding and managing anger to better engage with clients in stressful situations. While engagement and...
Aging In Place
Kate Hursthouse A question commonly asked by and of family members reaching their senior years is whether or not to continue living independently at home. For some, it is undoubtedly the best option to move to assisted living. However, for those who do not...
Family Justice Reform Consultation
The Family Justice Reform panel has released its second consultation paper which examines the 2014 family justice reforms. The panel’s research has shown that for those who have engaged in FDR, it can be a ‘quick, affordable and effective process’. They...
Relationship Property Disputes: a fresh approach
- by Catherine Green Tried mediation? Thought about arbitration? How about taking a whole new approach and considering Arb-Med? Earlier this year, the FDR Centre launched its 2018 revised suite of Mediation, Arbitration, and Arb-Med Rules for Family Law...
Mediation power imbalances: weighing the arguments
- by Nigel Dunlop It is commonly said that power imbalances in mediation render it unfair. The image is conjured up of a hapless party being cajoled into an unfavourable settlement by a more powerful party. Better to go to court, it is said, where...
Elder Mediation Specialist Accreditation: Gerard Sullivan
We are delighted to announce that Gerard Sullivan, one of our highly experienced mediators, has successfully completed the Elder Mediation International Network (EMIN) Elder Mediation Certification Program. Gerard is the first mediator in New Zealand to...
The Centrality of Proportionality
- by Catherine Green “Proportion is the heart of beauty” - Ken Follett (The Pillars of the Earth) In an ideal world the time and cost investment in adopting private dispute resolution processes would always be directly proportional to the value and...
Arbitration Amendment Bill: is trust arbitration on its way?
- By Jeremy Johnson, Partner, Wynn Williams Introduction The Justice Select Committee has recently been considering the Arbitration Amendment Bill (Bill) which passed through its first reading in April 2017. The Bill intends to make three changes to the...