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silverfoxesclub-digest In this issue: -NZ Gay Couples Win Divorce Rights
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Subject: NZ Gay Couples Win Divorce Rights
Ben Boxer says: I would demand my
divorce settlement in kiwis -- not
birds, but fruits -- of at least age 18,
naturally.
Headline:
(PlanetOut News Staff 11/22/00)
Text:
New Zealand's Parliament on
November 21 voted 74 - 39 to give gay
and lesbian partners of at least three
years' standing the same access to
courts for division of property or
dissolution as divorcing married
couples. Domestic partners have the
option to create their own equivalent
of prenuptial agreements to determine
division of property if they don't wish
to face the courts' general standard of
a 50 - 50 split. If as expected the bill is
passed on its final reading next week,
the new law will become effective
February 1, 2002, replacing a
24-year-old statute. The Labour
Government plans to introduce a
broader bill for legal recognition of
gay and lesbian couples within a year.
Although it was drafted with the
generic term "partner," the
committee bowed to overwhelming
popular demand and recommended
returning to the traditional "spouse,
husband, wife, marriage" terms and
to use of "de facto" to describe the
relationships of unmarried couples.
The definition of a "de facto"
relationship no longer includes the
phrase "in the nature of marriage"
and covers all those who are at least
age 18 who live together for at least
three years (couples together more
briefly could go to court only in
extraordinary circumstances).
Patterned after the new law in the
Australian state of New South Wales
(under which the first gay male couple
went to court last month), the New
Zealand bill expands judicial
discretion in determining property
division and support payments to
include consideration of the
circumstances of a relationship
including: its duration; the nature and
extent of common residence; whether
or not a sexual relationship exists; the
degree of financial dependence; the
degree of mutual commitment to a
shared life; and the care and support
of children.
The bill would also give members of
de facto couples a claim to at least a
portion of a deceased partner's estate.
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