When two or more people buy property together in New Zealand, they must decide how the property will be legally owned. The two main options are joint tenancy and tenancy in common. Each can have major consequences for couples, families, and relationship property disputes. In family law matters — including separation, estate planning, and blended families — the way a property is owned can significantly affect what happens to the home or investment property.

When you are juggling the emotions of a separation and negotiating your parenting and financial matters with an ex, it can be tempting to put off looking at your will to “another day”. But attending to your will, powers of attorney and how the ownership of your home is recorded are important aspects of comprehensively getting things sorted in order to avoid future problems for you and those you care about most. Here’s why -

Sometimes as family lawyers we must rain on people’s parade. We can’t always tell clients what they want to hear. This was one of those times. Despite the fact the home and mortgage were in Rebecca’s sole name, she was dismayed to learn that, by law, the home was relationship property. The principal family residence is given special status in law as the “family home”.