You, Divorce, And Meccano
by Bruce Neilson.
WARNING This article contains
specific language and will offend some readers.
If you wish to retain your
Meccano, assume nothing and trust nobody.
You will find plain English
information about the Property (Relationships) Act at the Internet site www.familylaw.org.nz/media/release050401.asp
run by the New
Zealand Law Society.
Some of the paragraph headings
include:
1 - The new Property
(Relationships) Act came into effect on 1 February 2002 and will apply to anyone
who is married or who lives in a de facto
relationship.
2 - A de facto relationship
begins when both parties are over 18 years of age and they are living together
as a couple.
3 - If you do not want to share
everything equally, enter into a contracting-out agreement. If the agreement is
too one-sided, it may be subject to review by the Court.
4 Future maintenance can be
payable after separation for caring for children; maintaining the standard of
living while the couple lived together; or undertaking education to increase one
partner's earning capacity.
5 The partner who looks after
the children can retain for a period of time all or part of the other partner's
half share until the youngest child starts school or turns 14.
6 Transferring property to a
trust can be taken into account if it is considered that the transfer has the
effect of defeating the sharing of relationship property.
7 - Generally, property owned before the relationship began and inherited property (in both cases, except for home and furniture and car) are not shared but relationship debts are shared.
If you have been buying Meccano
using your joint credit card or cheque book, and showing your spouse your computerised inventory list and the latest 'through the roof' increased
valuations from eBay, you are in trouble. After being divorced, you could find
yourself living in a cardboard box with some of the Meccano as your half share
of the assets, while your spouse retains everything else as her half share of
the relationship property.
If you have or are likely to
have considerable valuable Meccano assets, a survival strategy should be
considered along the lines of:
Form a trust and transfer
ownership of assets before the relationship commences.
Make gifts to clear the trust
indebtedness to you.
Make gifts of cash to the trust
for future purchases.
Minimise the paper trail of
purchases and sales to reduce hard evidence and keep the essential remainder out
of sight or off the premises.
Keep all records on removable
media and off the computer hard drive.
Do not discuss individual items
and their financial history/value with anybody (especially your nosey in-laws).
The process of dissolving a
relationship can turn vicious. If 'darling' turns to 'bastard' then an immediate
plan is needed:
Employ a good lawyer.
Move most (but not all) of your
Meccano off the premises in sealed boxes to your various mates for out of sight
safe keeping. Get a receipt.
Claim everything of the spouse's
as a bargaining chip even if you don't want it including half of the shoes (the
left foot ones J ).
This article relates to New Zealand law at March 2004 and is subject to alteration by politicians.
