New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

De facto relationship duration

Legal area

Court

31 Oct 2017

CRAIG v KEITH [2017] NZHC 2664

Citation

[2017] NZFLR 899
Court

High Court

Appellant was entitled to costs on appeal because he succeeded; no adequate evidence of respondent's impecuniosity was provided so costs were not reduced or refused; overall appeal categorised 2B but preparation of the case on appeal (item 55) warranted 2C not 3C; only one case management conference attracts costs because the other conferences resulted from appellant's non-compliance with Family Court orders; valuation and printing disbursements claimed by appellant are recoverable in specified amounts; Family Court costs order is set aside and costs in the Family Court are remitted for deter…
25 Jul 2017

CRAIG v KEITH [2017] NZHC 1720

Citation

[2017] NZHC 1720
Court

High Court

The appeal court held the Family Court judge erred in making an adverse finding that the appellant misrepresented the duration of the relationship without evidential basis or notice, thereby breaching natural justice and failing to give adequate reasons; because that error was pivotal to the maintenance outcome the Family Court decision was set aside and the matter remitted for rehearing on duration and maintenance.
17 Feb 2015

HAYES v PARLANE [2015] NZHC 112

Citation

[2015] NZHC 112
Court

High Court

Applied the general rule that costs follow the event; plaintiffs entitled to scale category 2B ($37,611); the defendant's procedural non‑compliance, pursuit of an unmeritorious argument, refusal to accept settlement on notice and late filing of evidence justified a 20% uplift under r 14.6(3)(b) and Holdfast, and the claimed disbursements and witness fees were reasonable, resulting in a total award of $51,488.

New Zealand Case Law

CRAIG v KEITH [2017] NZHC 2664

CRAIG v KEITH [2017] NZHC 1720

HAYES v PARLANE [2015] NZHC 112