Except where this Act otherwise provides, jurisdiction in respect of proceedings under this Act (other than criminal proceedings) shall be exercised by a Magistrate’s Court presided over by a Magistrate appointed under this section to exercise the domestic jurisdiction of the Court.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by warrant under his hand, appoint any Magistrate to exercise the domestic jurisdiction of the Court.

In the case of the absence from duty of any Magistrate so appointed (from whatever cause the absence may arise), or in any case where there is for the time being no Magistrate appointed to exercise the domestic jurisdiction of the Court, any other Magistrate may exercise the domestic jurisdiction of the Court. The fact that under this subsection any Magistrate exercises the domestic jurisdiction of the Court shall be conclusive evidence of his authority so to do, and no person shall be concerned to inquire whether the occasion has arisen requiring or authorising him so to act or has ceased.

No proceedings under this Act or under any other Act and no order or decision in any such proceedings shall be invalid or be called in question on the ground that they were heard or determined or made by a Magistrate who was not at the time appointed or authorised under this section to exercise the domestic jurisdiction of the Court.

In any proceedings under this Act relating to any child, the Court may, if it thinks fit, request any Child Welfare Officer to make to the Court a report in writing on any matter relevant to the welfare and maintenance of the child. The officer shall report accordingly.

In any proceedings under this Act in relation to maintenance, the Court may, if it thinks fit, request any officer of the Social Security Department to make to the Court a report in writing on the means, earning capacity, and economic circumstances of any party to the proceedings and on any matter relevant thereto. The officer shall report accordingly.

A copy of the report shall be given by the Registrar to the solicitor or counsel appearing for each party to the proceedings or, if any party is not represented by a solicitor or counsel, to that party.

Any party to the proceedings may tender evidence on any matter referred to in any such report which is given or shown to him or to his solicitor or counsel. The Court may if it thinks fit on the request of any party call the person making the report as a witness.

In any proceedings under this Act (not being criminal proceedings), the Court may of its own motion call as a witness any person whose evidence may in its opinion be of assistance to the Court.

The power conferred by subsection (1) of this section shall include power to call as a witness any party to the proceedings or the wife or husband of any party to the proceedings.

Any witness called by the Court under this Act shall have the same privilege to refuse to answer any question as he would have if he had been called by a party to the proceedings.

Any witness called by the Court under this Act may be examined and re-examined by the Court or by any solicitor or counsel assisting the Court, and may be cross-examined by any party to the proceedings.

Sections 20, 38, and 39 of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, shall apply with respect to every person called as a witness by the Court under this Act as if he had been called by a parity to the proceedings.

The expenses of any witness called by the Court under this Act, in accordance with the prescribed scale of witnesses’ expenses, shall be paid in the first instance out of the Consolidated Revenue Account from money appropriated by Parliament.

In any proceedings under this Act (not being criminal proceedings) the Court may, if it thinks fit, appoint any barrister or solicitor of the Supreme Court to assist the Court in the proceedings.

Any barrister or solicitor so appointed may call any person as a witness in the proceedings, and may cross-examine witnesses called by any party to the proceedings.

The fees and expenses of any such barrister or solicitor shall be paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Account from money appropriated for the purpose by Parliament:

Provided that, if the Court thinks proper, it may order any party to refund to the Crown such amount as the Court specifies in respect of those fees and expenses. That amount shall be recoverable as a debt due to the Crown.

There shall from time to time be appointed under the State Services Act 1962 one or more Maintenance Officers for every Magistrate’s Court possessing civil jurisdiction and for such other Magistrates’ Courts as may be considered necessary.

The office of Maintenance Officer may be held in conjunction with any other office not deemed inconsistent therewith.

In case of the absence from duty of a Maintenance Officer appointed for any Magistrate’s Court (from whatever cause that absence may arise), any other officer of the Public Service or any constable may act for him while the absence continues, and shall while so acting have all the powers, duties, and functions of the Maintenance Officer. The fact that any such person acts for a Maintenance Officer shall be conclusive evidence of his authority so to do, and no person shall be concerned to inquire whether the occasion has arisen requiring or authorising him so to act or had ceased.

Any Maintenance Officer and any person acting for him pursuant to subsection (3) of this section may act in proceedings in any Magistrate’s Court on behalf of a Maintenance Officer appointed under this section for any other Magistrate’s Court.

It shall be the duty of a Maintenance Officer to take all such proceedings as may be necessary under this Act for the recovery of money payable under any maintenance order or otherwise for the enforcement of any such order:

Provided that a Maintenance Officer shall not take proceedings for the recovery of any money under a maintenance order, or otherwise for the enforcement of any such order, if the applicant in the original proceedings or the person to whom or for whose benefit the money is payable pursuant to the order requests in writing that such proceedings shall not be taken by a Maintenance Officer.

The fact that a Maintenance Officer takes any proceedings as aforesaid shall be conclusive evidence of his authority so to do; and no person shall be concerned to inquire whether or not there has been a request under subsection (1) of this section to refrain from taking proceedings, or shall question the authority of the Maintenance Officer on the ground that he may not be the Maintenance Officer whose duty it is to take the proceedings.

All money recovered under this section shall be applied—

A Maintenance Officer may, on behalf of the applicant in the original proceedings or the person to whom or for whose benefit money is payable under any maintenance order, appear in any proceedings for the discharge, variation, or suspension of the order.

No action shall lie against the Crown, or against any Maintenance Officer or other person, in respect of anything done or omitted to be done or purporting to have been done by the Maintenance Officer or any other person pursuant to any duty or authority imposed or conferred by this section, unless he has not acted in good faith or has acted without reasonable care.

In all proceedings under this Act between a husband and wife, it shall be the duty of the Court and of every solicitor or counsel acting for the husband or wife to give consideration from time to time to the possibility of a reconciliation of the parties, and to take all such proper steps as in its or his opinion may assist in effecting a reconciliation.

On application ex parte by any married person stating that unhappy differences have arisen between the applicant and his wife or her husband and that the applicant desires to effect a reconciliation, the Court may order that the matter be referred to a conciliator appointed by the Court or to be nominated by an approved marriage guidance organisation to endeavour to effect a reconciliation.

On an application for a separation order, the Court shall refer the case to a conciliator appointed by the Court or to be nominated by an approved marriage guidance organisation to endeavour to effect a reconciliation, and shall adjourn the proceedings accordingly:

Provided that the Court may, subject to any rules of procedure made under this Act, dispense with such a reference if, having regard to the facts on which the application for a separation order is based, the length and circumstances of any separation of the parties, any prior attempts at reconciliation, and such other matters as the Court thinks fit, the Court is satisfied that an attempt at reconciliation would be inexpedient.

On an application for a maintenance order in favour of a husband or wife (other than an order for interim maintenance), or an order under Part V of this Act, or an order for custody under the Guardianship Act 1968, the Court may, if it thinks it expedient so to do, refer the case to a conciliator appointed by the Court or to be nominated by an approved marriage guidance organisation to endeavour to effect a reconciliation.

Notwithstanding that the case may already have been referred to a conciliator under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section, if it appears to the Court at any stage of any proceedings under this Act, either from the nature of the case, the evidence in the proceedings, or the attitude of the parties or of either of them, that there is a reasonable possibility of a reconciliation, the Court may adjourn the proceedings to afford those parties an opportunity to become reconciled, and may order that the case be referred to a conciliator appointed by the Court or to be nominated by an approved marriage guidance organisation to endeavour to effect a reconciliation.

If, not less than twenty-eight days after a case has been referred to a conciliator under subsection (1) or subsection (2) or subsection (3) of this section, either of the parties to the marriage requests that the hearing be proceeded with, the hearing shall, unless the Court otherwise directs, be commenced or resumed:

Provided that where in any case the Court considers that special circumstances exist, the Court on the application of either party may commence or resume the hearing before the expiration of the said period of twenty-eight days.

Where any case is referred to a conciliator under section 14 or section 15 of this Act, the following provisions of this section shall apply.

The conciliator shall be some person with experience or training in marriage counselling or conciliation, or in special circumstances some other person.

The conciliator may make such arrangements to meet the parties at such times and at such places (including the home of any party) as he thinks fit. He may at any stage, by notice in writing, request any party to attend before him at a time and place fixed by him.

If that party fails to attend at the time and place so fixed for his attendance, or at such other time or place as may be arranged between the party and the conciliator, a Magistrate may, on the request of the conciliator, issue a summons requiring that party to attend before the conciliator at a time and place specified therein. Section 20 of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957 shall apply accordingly as if the summons were a witness summons issued under that section.

Regulations may be made under section 131 of this Act in respect of the payment of the expenses of any person so summoned, and prescribing by whom those expenses shall be paid.

The conciliator shall as soon as is reasonable furnish to the Court a report that the endeavour to effect a reconciliation appears to have been a success, or appears to have been unsuccessful, as the case may be, with such recommendations (if any) as the conciliator thinks proper.

If the conciliator reports that the effort to effect a reconciliation appears to have been unsuccessful, he may state in his report whether in his opinion the parties are likely to become reconciled.

A copy of every such report shall be given by the Registrar to each party or to his solicitor or counsel.

Where the conciliator to whom any case has been referred under section 14 or section 15 of this Act reports that the parties appear to have become reconciled, and that they have come to an agreement which the Court should approve, the Court may, if it thinks fit, approve the agreement, notwithstanding that it may not be binding in law. No such approval shall render any such agreement binding in law and no failure to seek or obtain approval shall derogate from any effect in law that the agreement would otherwise have.

No evidence of any information received by, or of any thing said or of any admission made to, a person appointed pursuant to section 14 or section 15 of this Act in the course of an endeavour to effect a reconciliation under either of those sections shall be admissible in any Court or before any person acting judicially.

Every person appointed pursuant to section 14 or section 15 of this Act who, except in so far as it is necessary for him to do so for the proper discharge of his functions under either of those sections, discloses to any person any information received by him or any statement or admission made to him in the course of an endeavour to effect a reconciliation under either of those sections commits an offence, and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding four hundred dollars.

The Court may, in its discretion, on the application of any married person, make a separation order on any of the following grounds:

The grounds on which a separation order is made shall in every case be specified in the order.

So long as a separation order remains in force, neither party to the marriage shall be under an obligation to cohabit with the other party, but, except as provided by this Act or any other enactment, the order shall not otherwise affect the marriage or the status, rights, and obligations of the parties to the marriage.

Subject to section 26 of the Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1963 (which relates to the effect of a resumption of cohabitation with a view to reconciliation), a separation order shall cease to have any force or effect if—

Without limiting the provisions of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section, the wife or the husband may apply to the Court for the discharge of the separation order on the ground that it has ceased to have effect pursuant to that paragraph, and, on proof that the order has ceased to have effect as aforesaid, the Court shall discharge the order.

The Court may at any time, on the application of either party, discharge any separation order if the Court is satisfied that the circumstances have so changed since the making of the order that it is reasonable that the order should be discharged:

Provided that the Court shall not discharge the order if a petition for divorce has been filed by either party, whether based on the separation order or not, and is pending.

Where the Court makes a separation order, it may at the same time or at any time thereafter while the separation order remains in force, on the application of either party, if it is satisfied that the making of the order is necessary for the protection of the applicant or of any child of the family, make a non-molestation order.

Where a husband and wife are living apart (whether under a separation agreement or not), either party may apply to the Court for a non-molestation order, and the Court, if it is satisfied that the making of the order is necessary for the protection of the applicant or of any child of the family, may make a non-molestation order.

Where a non-molestation order is in force, the person against whom it was made—

Every person who does any act in contravention of any non-molestation order under this section commits an offence, and is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to a fine not exceeding four hundred dollars, or to both.

A non-molestation order shall cease to have any force or effect if any separation order or separation agreement in respect of which it was made ceases to be in force or, as the case may be, the husband and the wife, with the free consent of both parties, have resumed cohabitation as man and wife, or if the Court, on the application of either party, orders that it be discharged.

As from the date of a separation order, and so long as the order remains in force, any property which is acquired by or devolves upon the wife shall not be affected by any restraint upon anticipation attached to the enjoyment by the wife of any property under any settlement, agreement for settlement, will, or other instrument.

If, while a separation order is in force, either the husband or the wife dies intestate as to any property, that property shall devolve as if the survivor had predeceased the intestate.

Notwithstanding anything in subsection (2) of this section, in any case to which that subsection applies the Supreme Court, on the application of the survivor made within the time specified in the Family Protection Act 1955 in relation to applications under that Act, may, at its discretion, order that such provision as that Court thinks fit shall be made for the survivor out of the estate of the deceased husband or wife. The provisions of that Act, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, shall apply with respect to every application under this subsection.

If on or after the making of any separation order maintenance has been ordered to be paid to the wife and has not been duly paid by the husband, he shall be liable for necessaries supplied for the use of the wife to the extent of the maintenance so unpaid. For the purposes of this Act, any payment made by the husband for any such necessaries shall be deemed to be a payment to the wife in respect of the arrears of maintenance.

Any married woman, by herself or by an agent authorised by her in writing, may apply to the Court for a maintenance order on the ground that she is not receiving or is likely not to receive proper maintenance from her husband.

On any such application, the Court, if it is satisfied that the wife is not receiving or is likely not to receive proper maintenance from her husband, may make any one or more of the following orders:

Any such order for the payment of a lump sum may provide that the sum shall be payable at a future date specified in the order, or shall be payable by such instalments specified in the order as the Court thinks fit, or shall be payable on such terms and conditions as the Court thinks fit.

In deciding whether a wife is receiving or is likely to receive proper maintenance from her husband in any case where the parties are living apart or in the opinion of the Court are about to live apart, the Court shall have regard to—

The Court, in deciding whether to make a maintenance order in favour of a wife, the duration of such an order, and the amount of any maintenance to be paid under such an order, shall have regard to the matters specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) of this section, and also to—

Subject to section 29 of this Act, the Court shall not refuse to make a maintenance order in favour of a wife on the ground of her wrongful conduct if she is, having regard to her health, to her responsibilities towards any child of the family, or to other circumstances, unable to provide the necessities of life for herself.

Subject to subsection (1) of this section, the Court, in deciding whether to make such a maintenance order and the amount of any maintenance to be paid under such an order, may have regard to the conduct of the parties.

Where the husband and wife are living apart, the Court shall not make a maintenance order in favour of the wife if the husband is willing to support her provided she returns to him, unless the Court is of the opinion that she cannot reasonably be required to cohabit with her husband, whether or not because of any wrongful conduct on his part.

In considering whether a wife is receiving or is likely to receive proper maintenance in any case where the parties are not living apart and in the opinion of the Court are not about to live apart, the Court shall have regard to the needs of the wife, the standard of living of the common household, and the means of the wife.

The Court, in deciding whether to make a maintenance order in favour of the wife in any such case and the amount of any maintenance to be paid under the order, shall have regard to the matters specified in subsection (1) of this section and to the means and responsibilities of the husband, including his potential earning capacity, and any other circumstances it thinks relevant.

On application by a married man, by himself or by an agent authorised by him in writing, the Court, if it is satisfied that having regard to his health, his duty of care to any child of the family in his custody, or to other circumstances he is unable to provide the necessities of life for himself, may if it thinks fit make any one or more of the following orders:

Any such order for the payment of a lump sum may provide that the sum shall be payable at a future date specified in the order, or shall be payable by such instalments specified in the order as the Court thinks fit, or shall be payable on such terms and conditions as the Court thinks fit.

In deciding whether to make a maintenance order in favour of a husband and the amount of any maintenance to be paid under such an order, the Court shall have regard to—

Subject to section 34 of this Act, the Court shall not refuse to make a maintenance order in favour of a husband on the ground of his wrongful conduct, but, in deciding the amount of any maintenance to be paid, may have regard to the conduct of the parties.

Where the husband and wife are living apart, the Court shall not make a maintenance order in favour of the husband if the wife is willing to support him provided he lives with her, unless the Court is of the opinion that he cannot reasonably be required to cohabit with his wife, whether or not because of any wrongful conduct on her part.

The Court may, if it thinks fit, on an application by the mother of a child, make a maintenance order against the father of the child for the maintenance of the child, if the Court is satisfied that the father is not providing or is likely not to provide proper maintenance for the child, and that, having regard to—

it is reasonable that an order should be made against him.

The Court may, on an application by the father of a child, make a maintenance order against the mother of the child for the maintenance of the child, if—

and the Court is satisfied that the mother is not providing or is likely not to provide proper maintenance for the child, and that in all the circumstances of the case it is reasonable that the mother should maintain or contribute towards the maintenance of the child.

The Court may make a maintenance order for the maintenance of any child—

as if the step-parent or foster-parent were the father or mother of the child, in any case where the child is a member of the family of both parties when the application is made, or is at that time living with the applicant and apart from the defendant but was a member of that family immediately before the separation of the applicant and the defendant. In any such case subsections (1) and (2) of this section, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, shall extend and apply accordingly as if the step-child or foster-child were the child of both parties.

The Court may, if it thinks fit, make a maintenance order for the maintenance of any child against the father or the mother of the child, or against the father and the mother of the child, on the application—

Where an application is made under this section against one parent of a child, that parent may join the other parent as a defendant. The Court may in any case of its own motion direct that the other parent shall be so joined.

In considering whether to make an order under this section, and against whom to make it, the Court shall have regard to—

Where under this section the Court makes a maintenance order against one parent only, and the other parent was not a defendant in the proceedings, the parent against whom the order was made may apply to the Court for an order requiring that other parent to make a monetary contribution towards the maintenance of the child, and the Court may make such order in the matter as it thinks reasonable.

Any person entitled under section 35 or section 36 of this Act to apply for a maintenance order or an order for contribution may do so by an agent authorised in writing by her or by him.

No maintenance order shall be made under section 35 or section 36 of this Act against any person as the father of a child if he is not married and has never been married to the mother of the child, unless—

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, declare that this section applies with respect to orders made by any Court or public authority in any specified country outside New Zealand or by any specified Court or public authority in any such country. For the purposes of this subsection, the Cook Islands, Niue, and the Tokelau Islands shall be deemed to be countries outside New Zealand.

A maintenance order under section 35 or section 36 of this Act may—

Any such order for the payment of a lump sum may provide that the sum shall be payable at a future date specified in the order, or shall be payable by such instalments specified in the order as the Court thinks fit, or shall be payable on such terms and conditions as the Court thinks fit.

No such order shall be made for the future maintenance of a child if the child is of or over the age of sixteen years at the date of the making of the order, unless it appears to the Court that the child is or will be engaged in a course of full-time education or training, and that it is expedient that payments towards the maintenance of the child should be made.

No such order for the future maintenance of a child under the age of sixteen years at the date of the making of the order shall have effect after the child attains the age of sixteen years, unless the Court so directs in any case where it appears to the Court that, after attaining the age of sixteen years, the child will be engaged in a course of full-time education or training, and that it is expedient that payments towards the maintenance of the child should continue to be made after the child attains the age of sixteen years.

Where it appears to the Court as aforesaid, the Court may, on application by any person entitled to apply for a maintenance order in respect of the child, extend a maintenance order upon application made either before or after the child attains the age of sixteen years.

Where the Court makes a maintenance order pursuant to subsection (3) of this section after the child has attained the age of sixteen years, the Court may order the defendant to pay, in respect of the past maintenance of the child during the period commencing on the date on which the child attained that age and ending on the date of the making of the order, such sum at such time or times and in such manner as the Court thinks fit.

No order shall be made under section 35 or section 36 of this Act if the child is of or over the age of twenty-one years at the time of the making of the order or is married, and no such order and no extension thereof shall have effect after the child attains the age of twenty-one years or sooner marries.

Any maintenance order made under section 35 or section 36 of this Act and any variation or extension of any such order may be made subject to such conditions as the Court thinks fit.

The Court, on making a separation order or at any subsequent time, or where the parties to a marriage are living apart or about to live apart (whether pursuant to a separation agreement or not), may, if it thinks fit, make an order vesting in either party to the marriage (in this section referred to as the applicant) the tenancy of any dwellinghouse, being a dwelling-house within the meaning of the Tenancy Act 1955,—

On the taking effect of an order made under subsection (1) of this section, unless the tenancy is sooner lawfully determined, the applicant shall become the tenant of the dwellinghouse upon and subject to the terms and conditions of the tenancy in force at the time of the making of that order, and the other party shall cease to be the tenant. Every such order shall have effect and may be enforced as if it were an order of the Court for possession of the land granted in favour of the applicant.

Nothing in this section or in any order made thereunder shall be construed to limit or affect the operation of any enactment or rule of law for the time being applicable to any tenancy to which this section applies or to the dwelling-house held under the tenancy, or to authorise the Court to vary, except by vesting or revesting the tenancy pursuant to this section, any express or implied term or condition of the tenancy.

On the application of the other party or his personal representative in any case in which an order is made under subsection (1) of this section, the Court may, if the tenant has died and the tenancy has not been determined by reason thereof, or if in the opinion of the Court the circumstances have so changed since the making of the order that the tenancy should be revested in the person or any of the persons in whom it was vested before the making of that order, or, as the case may be, the personal representative of that person or of any of those persons, make an order discharging the first-mentioned order and revesting the tenancy accordingly.

On the taking effect of any revesting order under subsection (4) of this section, unless the tenancy is sooner lawfully determined, the person in whose favour it is made shall become the tenant of the dwellinghouse upon and subject to the terms and conditions of the tenancy in force at the time of the making of the revesting order.

Any order under this section may be made upon and subject to such terms and conditions, not inconsistent with this Act, as the Court thinks fit.

Every order under this section shall take effect on such date as may be specified in that behalf in the order, but, if an appeal is lodged, the operation of the order shall be suspended until the appeal is determined.

Where any dwellinghouse to which any order made under this section relates is held under any registered lease, the Registrar of the Court in which the order is made shall, on the taking effect of the order, send a copy of the order, sealed with the seal of the Court, to the appropriate District Land Registrar or Registrar of Deeds, as the case may require, or where a dwellinghouse is situated on a mining residence site licence under the Mining Act 1926 which has not been registered under the Land Transfer Act 1952 pursuant to the Mining Tenures Registration Act 1962, to the Mining Registrar in whose office the licence is registered. The said Registrar shall, upon payment of any registration fee prescribed, record it in the register against the appropriate folium of the register book and against any relevant instrument of title, as the case may require. The said registration fee shall be payable by the person in whose favour the order is made.

For the purposes of this section, the term “tenant” in relation to any dwellinghouse, includes any person whose tenancy has expired or been determined, and who is for the time being deemed under or by virtue of any enactment or rule of law to continue to be the tenant of the dwellinghouse; and the term “tenancy” has a corresponding meaning.

Notice in writing of any application for an order under section 40 of this Act shall be given to the landlord of the dwellinghouse, who shall be entitled to appear and be heard as a party to the application.

Where the Court makes an order vesting the tenancy of a dwellinghouse under section 40 of this Act, it may, if it thinks fit, by the same or any subsequent order, grant possession of the furniture or any specified articles of furniture in the dwellinghouse to the party in whose favour the order is made, for such period and on such terms and subject to such conditions as the Court thinks fit.

Before any order is made under this section, such notice as the Court directs shall be given to any person having an interest in the furniture that would be affected by the order, and any such person shall be entitled to appear and be heard in the matter as a party to the application.

The Court may make an order under this section in respect of any specified article of furniture, notwithstanding that the article is by law affixed to the realty.

The Court may at any time, if it thinks fit, discharge any order made under this section.

The Court may from time to time vary or extend any order made under this section in such manner as the Court thinks fit, whether as to the period of the order or as to the terms and conditions on which or subject to which it was made.

An application under subsection (4) or subsection (5) of this section to cancel, vary, or extend any order may be made by either of the parties to the marriage, or by the personal representative of the person against whom it was made, or by any person having any interest in the furniture affected by the order.

Where proceedings for a separation order are pending, no party shall without the leave of a Magistrate or Registrar, or the consent in writing of the other party, sell, charge, or dispose of any of the furniture in the matrimonial home, or (except in an emergency) remove any such furniture from the home.

Any person who does any act in contravention of the provisions of this section commits an offence, and is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding four hundred dollars, or to both.

On making a separation order the Court may make an order under section 5 of the Matrimonial Property Act 1963 granting to either party to the marriage the right to the exclusion of the other party to occupy the matrimonial home or to possession of the furniture or any specified articles of furniture in the matrimonial home.

In this Part of this Act the term “paternity order” means an order declaring a man to be the father of a child, whether born or unborn and, if born, whether or not the child is living, the mother of the child being a woman to whom—

The Court shall have jurisdiction in proceedings under this Part of this Act, where, at the commencement of the proceedings, the mother or the defendant resides or is domiciled in New Zealand or, if the mother is dead, the child resides in New Zealand, and in no other case.

An application may be made to a Magistrate’s Court for a paternity order—

Subject to subsection (2) of this section, an application for a paternity order shall not be made after the expiration of six years from the birth of the child.

If the defendant has admitted paternity of the child, or has contributed to or made provision for the maintenance of the child, or has since the birth of the child lived with the mother as man and wife, an application for a paternity order may, subject to subsection (3) of this section, be made at any time after the expiration of the period prescribed by subsection (1) of this section if the defendant has done any of the things mentioned within the twelve months immediately preceding the making of the application.

For the purpose of computing the periods specified in subsections (1) and (2) of this section, any period during which the defendant is absent from New Zealand shall not be taken into account.

The evidence of the mother of the child shall not be necessary for the making of a paternity order.

No paternity order shall be made upon the evidence of the mother of the child, whether born or unborn, unless her evidence is corroborated in some material particular to the satisfaction of the Court.

In any proceedings on an application for a paternity order, the Court, on the application of the applicant for the paternity order or of the defendant or of its own motion, may direct that the mother, the child, the defendant, and any other person who has given evidence that he is or may be the father of the child undergo genetic tests. The Court may adjourn the proceedings for such period as is necessary to enable those tests to be carried out:

Provided that the Court shall not give such a direction in respect of any person if it is of the opinion that the tests could adversely affect the health of that person.

If the mother does not comply with the direction on her behalf or on behalf of the child if she has custody of it, the application may be dismissed.

If the defendant does not comply with the direction, the Court may treat the failure as evidence corroborating the evidence of the mother.

If any person whom the defendant has called as a witness and who has given evidence that he is or may be the father of the child does not comply with the direction, the Court may disregard his evidence.

The results of the genetic tests shall be stated in a certificate in the prescribed form, and the certificate shall be evidence of the facts and conclusions stated therein.

The Court may, if it thinks fit, on the request of any party call the person giving the certificate as a witness.

In any case where the tests fail to show that the defendant could not be the father of the child, any conclusion in the certificate, and any evidence given by the maker of the certificate, as to the degree of probability that the defendant is the father shall not be regarded as corroboration of any evidence given by the mother.

The Governor-General may, by Order in Council, prescribe the nature of the tests to be made for the purposes of this section, the manner in which and the classes of persons by whom they shall be made, and the mode of identification of the persons in respect of whom the tests are made.

This section shall come into force on a date to be appointed for its commencement by the Governor-General, by Order in Council.

On hearing an application made under section 47 of this Act, the Court shall, if it is satisfied that the defendant is the father of the child, make a paternity order accordingly.

Every paternity order shall, for the purposes of any application for a maintenance order under section 35 or section 36 of this Act or of any proceedings in respect thereof, be conclusive evidence that the person against whom it is made is the father of the child.

On making a paternity order in respect of a child already born, the Court may, if it thinks fit,—

On or after making a paternity order in respect of any child, the Court may, instead of or in addition to making a maintenance order in respect of the child under section 35 or section 36 of this Act, make either or both of the following orders:

No application for an order under paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of this section shall be made after the expiration of one year from the birth of the child or, if the mother has miscarried, one year after the date of the miscarriage.

Every order made under paragraph (b) of that subsection, unless it sooner expires, shall cease to have effect if the mother marries.

An application for an order under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section may be made by the mother in respect of any child against a man to whom—

notwithstanding that a paternity order has not been made against him in respect of the child, and, if any of the circumstances set out in paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of subsection (1) of section 38 of this Act apply, the Court may make the order applied for.

In this Part of this Act the expression “maintenance agreement” means—

It is immaterial whether or not the document in which the agreement is embodied provides also for the separation of the parties or the custody of any child.

Either party to a maintenance agreement, whether it was made before or after the commencement of this Act, may register the agreement in the prescribed manner in the office of any Magistrate’s Court.

Subject to this Act, a registered maintenance agreement shall, while it continues in force, have the same force and effect as if it were a maintenance order made under this Act on the date of registration in the Court in the office of which it is registered, and the provisions of this Act relating to maintenance orders shall apply accordingly with the necessary modifications.

If a registered maintenance agreement is varied by written agreement between the parties, the variation may be registered in the same manner as the original agreement, which shall thereafter have effect for the purposes of this section as so varied.

The Court shall set aside the registration of a maintenance agreement if the Court is satisfied that at the time of registration the agreement was not in force.

The Court may make an order cancelling the registration of any maintenance agreement if it is satisfied that the agreement is no longer in force.

So long as a registered maintenance agreement is in force, no maintenance order (other than an order by way of variation) shall be made against the party liable under the agreement in favour of the other party.

Notwithstanding that a registered maintenance agreement providing for the periodical payment of sums of money for the maintenance of a child continues in force after the child attains the age of sixteen years,—

unless it appears to the Court that the child is or will be engaged in a course of full-time education or training and that it is expedient that the agreement should be so enforced or that such an order should be made.

No proceedings under this Act for the enforcement of any such agreement shall be taken after the child attains the age of twenty-one years or sooner marries, notwithstanding that the agreement continues in force thereafter, except proceedings for the enforcement of money owing at the date on which the child attains that age or sooner marries.

Except in respect of money owing at the date of death, no proceedings under this Act for the enforcement of a registered maintenance agreement shall be taken after the death of the person liable under the agreement, notwithstanding that it continues in force thereafter.

Notwithstanding that any registered maintenance agreement has ceased to be in force, proceedings may be taken under this Act for the recovery of any money owing at the time when it ceased to be in force.

In this Part of this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

For the purposes of this Part of this Act, the Cook Islands, Niue, and the Tokelau Islands shall be deemed to be Commonwealth countries not forming part of New Zealand.

Where a maintenance order has been made against any person by any Court in any Commonwealth country outside New Zealand, or where a maintenance order (other than an order in an affiliation order) made provisionally only against any person by any such Court has been confirmed in a Commonwealth country outside New Zealand, it may, in either case, whether the order was made or confirmed before or after the commencement of this Act, be registered in New Zealand by filing a certified copy thereof in the office of a Court in New Zealand in the prescribed manner.

The registration under section 62 of this Act of any order shall be set aside if the Court in which the order has been registered, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, is satisfied, on application by the defendant, that the order is not an order to which that section applies.

In the case of an order made in or consequent upon an affiliation order, that registration may also be set aside if that Court is satisfied, on application by the defendant, that the defendant neither appeared in the proceedings in which the affiliation order was made nor was duly served with a summons to appear in those proceedings.

This section shall apply—

in any case where the maintenance order or the order varying the maintenance order, as the case may be, has been made provisionally only by a Court in any Commonwealth country outside New Zealand and has no effect unless and until confirmed elsewhere.

Where a certified copy of any order to which this section applies, together with the depositions of witnesses and a statement of the grounds on which the order might have been opposed, has been transmitted to the Secretary for Justice, those documents shall be sent to a Court for the hearing of proceedings for confirmation of the order.

On receipt of such documents as aforesaid by a Court—

At the hearing it shall be open for the defendant to raise any defence which he might have raised in the original proceedings had he been present, but no other defence, and the statement from the Court which made the provisional order stating the grounds on which the making of the order might have been opposed shall be conclusive evidence that those grounds are grounds on which objection may be taken:

Provided that where the provisional order is consequent upon an affiliation order, it shall be a defence that the defendant neither appeared in the proceedings in which the affiliation order was made nor was duly served with a summons to appear in those proceedings.

If the defendant appears at the hearing and it appears to the Court to be necessary for the purpose of any defence to remit the case to the Court which made the provisional order for the taking of any further evidence, the Court of hearing may so remit the case, and may adjourn the proceedings for the purpose.

If at the hearing (whether following an adjournment or otherwise) the defendant does not appear, or on appearing fails to satisfy the Court that the order ought not to be confirmed, the Court may confirm the order either without modification or with such modification as it deems just. An order which has been confirmed with modifications shall for all the purposes of this Act have effect in the form in which it is confirmed.

The Court confirming any maintenance order to which paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section applies may also, in its discretion, if it is satisfied that the defendant is of sufficient ability, at the same time order the defendant to pay, at such time or times and in such manner as the Court thinks fit, any sum not exceeding one hundred dollars on account of the maintenance of the person or persons in whose favour the provisional order was made between the date of the making of that order and its confirmation. An order made under this subsection shall be a maintenance order for the purposes of this Act.

This section applies to any order that has been made provisionally only by a Court in any Commonwealth country outside New Zealand, and has no effect unless and until confirmed in New Zealand, cancelling, varying, or suspending a maintenance order made in New Zealand and registered or confirmed in that Commonwealth country.

Where a certified copy of any order to which this section applies, together with the depositions of witnesses, has been transmitted to the Secretary for Justice, those documents shall be sent to a Court for the hearing of proceedings for confirmation of the order.

On receipt of those documents as aforesaid by a Court, summonses shall be issued to such persons as the Magistrate directs.

If any person summoned under subsection (3) of this section appears at the hearing and it appears to the Court to be necessary to remit the case to the Court which made the provisional order for the taking of any further evidence, the Court of hearing may so remit the case, and may adjourn the proceedings for the purpose.

Subject to subsection (6) of this section, if at the hearing (whether following an adjournment or otherwise) none of the persons summoned under subsection (3) of this section appears, or if those who do appear fail to satisfy the Court that the order ought not to be confirmed, the Court may confirm the order either without modification or with such modification as it deems just. An order which has been confirmed with modifications shall for all the purposes of this Act have effect in the form in which it is confirmed.

No order shall be confirmed under subsection (5) of this section unless the Court is satisfied that an order similar to the order as confirmed could have been made in New Zealand under this Act.

Every order confirmed under subsection (5) of this section shall have effect for all the purposes of New Zealand law as if it had been made under this Act.

Sections 123 and 124 of this Act (which relate to rehearings and appeals) shall apply to the confirmation of any order or the refusal to confirm any order under section 64 or section 65 of this Act as if the confirmation or the refusal were an order made on application under this Act or the dismissal of such an application, respectively.

Any order which has been registered in New Zealand, and any order (including an order of variation) which has been confirmed in New Zealand (other than an order confirmed under section 64 of this Act), shall remain an order of the Court of the country in which the order was made.

Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, every such order while it remains in force shall be enforceable as if made under this Act, and the provisions of Part X of this Act shall apply to the defendant under any such order.

Where a maintenance order has been either registered or confirmed in New Zealand, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, any Court may at any time, on the application of any person, make an order under section 85 of this Act discharging, varying, or suspending the operation of the maintenance order for the purposes of New Zealand law; or for the purposes of New Zealand law remitting, wholly or in part, any arrears due under the maintenance order, and whether or not the maintenance order has ceased to be a subsisting order:

Provided that where it appears to the Court that the order that it proposes to make is one which, if made provisionally, may be confirmed under the law of the country in which the maintenance order was made, the Court may, instead of making the proposed order, make a provisional order that shall have no effect unless and until confirmed by a competent Court in that country, and subsections (5) to (9) of section 73 of this Act shall apply accordingly, except that instead of being accompanied by a statement of the grounds on which the order might have been opposed the certified copy of the order shall be accompanied by a statement of the grounds on which the provisional order has been made.

Where any person makes an application under subsection (1) of this section, in respect of a maintenance order registered in New Zealand, on the ground set out in subsection (2) of section 85 of this Act, the application shall be dealt with as if the maintenance order had been made under this Act on the date when it was made outside New Zealand.

Where on the hearing of any application under subsection (1) of this section it appears to the Court to be necessary to remit the case to the Court which made the maintenance order for the purpose of taking any further evidence, the Court may so remit the case and adjourn the proceedings for the purpose.

For the purposes of the hearing of any application under subsection (1) of this section, the evidence of any person beyond New Zealand may be taken on commission in accordance with rules of procedure made under this Act.

Where a maintenance order has been either registered or confirmed in New Zealand, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, and at any time thereafter the person in whose favour the order was made and the defendant are resident in New Zealand, any Court may, on the application of any person, make an order under section 85 of this Act substituting a new order for the registered or confirmed order.

Any order under subsection (5) of this section may be made in any case where the Court considers it just, whether or not there would be jurisdiction to make an order by reason of subsection (2) of the said section 85.

On any application under this section notice of the application shall be given to such person or persons as the Court directs.

For the purposes of this Part of this Act, any document purporting to be signed by any Judge, Magistrate, or officer of a Court in any Commonwealth country outside New Zealand shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been so signed without proof of the signature or judicial or official character of the person appearing to have signed it; and the officer of a Court by whom a document purports to be signed shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been the proper officer of the Court to sign the document.

Every document purporting to be signed, certified, or verified by any of the persons mentioned in subsection (1) of this section shall be admitted in evidence in proceedings under this Part of this Act if it appears to be relevant to those proceedings.

Depositions taken for the purposes of this Part of this Act in a Court in any Commonwealth country outside New Zealand may be received in evidence in proceedings under this Part of this Act.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, declare that sections 62 to 70 of this Act, or any of the provisions of those sections, shall apply to orders made, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, in any country specified in the order as if they were orders made in a Commonwealth country.

For the purposes of this section, the expression “maintenance order” does not include any order in or consequent upon an affiliation order.

The Governor-General may, by Order in Council, apply the provisions of this section to maintenance orders made in any country (not being a Commonwealth country) specified in the order.

Where a maintenance order to which this section applies has been made against any person by any Court or judicial officer (whether before or after the commencement of this Act), it may be registered in New Zealand by filing a certified copy thereof in the office of a Court in New Zealand in the prescribed manner.

Where a maintenance order is registered under this section, the Registrar of the Court in which it is registered shall cause notice of the registration in the prescribed form to be served on the defendant.

The Court in which the order is registered shall, on application by the defendant, set aside the registration if the Court is satisfied—

Any order which has been registered in New Zealand under this section shall be enforceable as if made under this Act, and Part X of this Act shall apply to the defendant under any such order.

For the purposes of this section, section 68 (except subsection (3)) and section 69 of this Act shall apply to maintenance orders and documents which originated in any country specified for the time being in an Order in Council made under subsection (2) of this section as if they were maintenance orders and documents which originated in a Commonwealth country.

In any proceedings taken under this section (including proceedings for the discharge, variation, or suspension of any order, or for the remission of arrears), the evidence of any person beyond New Zealand may be taken on commission in accordance with rules of procedure made under this Act.

Where any Order in Council under this section is revoked, the Governor-General may provide in the Order in Council by which it is revoked that all maintenance orders then registered under this section pursuant to the revoked order shall be deemed to be registered under section 62 of this Act so long as an Order in Council which applies to orders made in the country in which they were made is in force under section 71 of this Act, and that all matters and proceedings commenced while the Order in Council under this section was in force and pending or in progress at the time of its revocation may be continued, completed, and enforced under section 63 and sections 66 to 70 of this Act so long as an Order in Council which applies to orders made in that country is in force under section 71 of this Act.

On any application in New Zealand for a maintenance order against any person who is proved to be resident in a country outside New Zealand or who is proved to have left New Zealand with the intention of residing in a country outside New Zealand, the Court may, in the absence of that person, if after hearing the evidence it is satisfied of the truth of the matters stated in the application, make a provisional order which shall have no effect unless and until confirmed by a competent Court in a place outside New Zealand.

Where a Court in New Zealand has notice that a maintenance order made in New Zealand has been registered in a country outside New Zealand and it appears that the defendant is not resident in New Zealand, the Court may, in any case where it has ground to make an order varying or extending the maintenance order, make instead a provisional order which shall have no effect unless and until confirmed by a competent Court in a place outside New Zealand.

No provisional order shall be made under this section unless—

Notwithstanding that an agreement has been registered under Part VII of this Act, a provisional order may be made under this section, unless it appears to the Court that there is provision in the country in which the defendant resides to enable the agreement to be enforced as an order. Where any such provisional order is confirmed, the registration of the agreement under the said Part VII shall be deemed to be cancelled.

The evidence of any witness who is examined on any application under this section shall be put into writing, and the deposition shall be read over to and signed by him.

Where an order is made under this section, the Court shall send to the Secretary for Justice, for transmission to the country in which the defendant resides, the depositions so taken and a certified copy of the order, together with a statement of the grounds on which the making of the order might have been opposed if the defendant had been duly served with notice of the application and had appeared at the hearing, and also such information as the Court possesses for facilitating the identification of the defendant and ascertaining his whereabouts.

Where any order under this section has been remitted by the Court before which it has come for confirmation to the Court which made the order for the purpose of taking further evidence, the last-mentioned Court or any other Court may proceed to take the evidence in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as the evidence in support of the original application was taken.

If on the hearing of such evidence it appears to the Court that the provisional order ought not to have been made or that a different provisional order should have been made, the Court may discharge the provisional order or, as the case may be, may discharge the provisional order and make a fresh provisional order in its stead. Except where the Court discharges the order, the depositions shall be dealt with in the same manner as the original depositions.

Section 124 of this Act (which relates to appeals) shall apply to the refusal to make a provisional order under this section or the discharge of such an order under subsection (8) of this section.

Nothing in this section shall restrict the authority of the Court to make an order under section 119 of this Act in any case where the defendant is absent from New Zealand.

On the confirmation of an order made under section 73 of this Act, the order shall, in the form in which it is confirmed, for all the purposes of New Zealand law become an order of the Court which made the provisional order as if the order had been made under this Act.

Every order of variation made in New Zealand relating to any such confirmed maintenance order shall be provisional only and of no effect unless and until confirmed in the same manner as the original order:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply—

Subsections (5) to (9) of section 73 of this Act shall apply to every provisional order of variation made in New Zealand.

A certified copy of any order discharging or suspending the original order or varying it, where the only variation is the remission of arrears, shall be sent by the Court to the Secretary for Justice for transmission to the country in which the original order was confirmed.

Where the sum or sums ordered to be paid under a maintenance order which is registered or confirmed in New Zealand under this Part of this Act are expressed in a currency other than the currency of New Zealand, the order shall be registered or confirmed, as the case may require, as if it were an order for the payment of such sum or sums in the currency of New Zealand as, on the basis of the rate of exchange prevailing at the date of the order of the original Court, is equivalent to the sum or sums so ordered to be paid.

For the purposes of this section, a written certificate purporting to be signed by an officer of any bank in New Zealand or of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand that a specified rate of exchange prevailed between currencies on a specified day and that at such rate a specified sum in one currency is equivalent to a specified sum in terms of the currency of New Zealand shall be sufficient evidence of the rate of exchange so prevailing and of the equivalent sums in terms of the respective currencies.

In any proceedings under or for the purposes of this Part of this Act, a certificate purporting to be signed by the Registrar of a Court or any like officer of a country in which a maintenance order is being enforced stating that a specified amount has been paid into Court or to that Registrar or officer under a maintenance order shall be evidence, until the contrary is proved, of the facts stated therein.

Where the hearing of an application for a maintenance order or for the discharge, variation, extension, or suspension of a maintenance order is adjourned for any period exceeding one week, or where any such application is referred to a conciliator under section 15 of this Act, any Magistrate may, if he thinks fit, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, make an order under this section.

Where the hearing of an application for a separation order is so adjourned or referred to a conciliator, any Magistrate, if he thinks fit, may, on application by the defendant, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, make an order under this section.

An order under this section shall direct the defendant or, as the case may be, the applicant to pay such weekly sum as the Magistrate thinks reasonable towards the future maintenance of his or her wife or husband and of any of his or her children until the final determination of the case or for such shorter period as the Magistrate thinks fit.

Any order made under this section may be enforced, varied, extended, or discharged in the same manner as if it were a final order of the Court.

Subject to section 25 of the Social Security Act 1964 (which relates to the payment of money under a maintenance order to a wife receiving a benefit as a deserted wife), the Court, on making a maintenance order or at any time thereafter, may direct that the money payable thereunder be paid either to the person or persons or any of the persons in respect of whose maintenance the order is made, or to any account in any trading or savings bank standing in the name of any such person, or to any other person, or to the Registrar for the time being of any Magistrate’s Court to be specified in the order. All such money shall be payable in accordance with the tenor of the order.

Any such directions may from time to time be varied in such manner as the Court thinks fit.

Any maintenance order providing for the payment of any lump sum may direct that the money be paid to the Public Trustee or some other trustee approved by the Court (the Public Trustee or that other trustee, as the case may be, being hereinafter in this section referred to as the trustee) to be held by him and dealt with by him in accordance with the provisions of the order.

The receipt of the trustee, or of any person authorised by him in that behalf, shall be a complete discharge to the person paying the same for any money paid to the trustee pursuant to any order under subsection (1) of this section.

The Public Trustee shall invest any money paid to him pursuant to any such order in the Common Fund of the Public Trust Office, and apply that money and the income arising therefrom in accordance with the provisions of the order.

Proceedings for the enforcement of any maintenance order in respect of which an order is made under subsection (1) of this section may be taken by the person who would be entitled to take such proceedings if the last-mentioned order had not been made, and not by the trustee.

Subject to this section, the jurisdiction conferred on a Court by this Act to make a maintenance order shall be exercisable, and all the provisions of this Act, including the powers to discharge, vary, extend, suspend, or enforce any order, shall apply to any order so made, notwithstanding that a petition is or has been presented to the Supreme Court by a party to the proceedings for the order or by the wife or husband of such a party for divorce, nullity of marriage, separation, restitution of conjugal rights, or dissolution of voidable marriage.

Nothing in this section shall affect the power of the Supreme Court to make an interim order for maintenance or a final order for maintenance.

A maintenance order shall be deemed to be suspended while there is in force an interim order for maintenance relating to the same parties, and shall be deemed to be discharged by a final order for maintenance relating to the same parties.

In this section,—

No maintenance order in favour of a husband or wife shall be deemed to be discharged by reason only of the dissolution of the marriage between the husband and the wife.

Where a maintenance order is made for the payment of a periodical sum in favour of any person who at the date of the making of the order is a mentally defective person within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 1911 and is receiving care and treatment in an institution within the meaning of that Act, the order may, if the Court thinks fit, provide for the payment of a periodical sum in respect of periods while that person is receiving care and treatment in such an institution and a different periodical sum in respect of periods while that person is not receiving care and treatment in such an institution.

On making any maintenance order, or at any subsequent time, the Court may, if it thinks fit, order the person by whom maintenance is payable to give such security as the Court thinks fit for the payment of any periodical sum ordered to be paid.

The Court may, for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section, direct the Registrar to settle and approve a proper deed or instrument, to be executed by all the necessary parties.

Where money payable to any person under any maintenance order is directed by the order to be paid to the Registrar of a Magistrate’s Court, the person to whom the money is payable under the order, or the person against whom the order was made, may request the Registrar of any Magistrate’s Court to vary the order by directing that the payments shall thereafter be made to the Registrar of a Magistrate’s Court other than that specified in the order, and the Registrar to whom the request is made may, in his discretion, vary the order accordingly.

Where any Registrar varies an order under this section, he shall endorse and sign a memorandum of his decision and of the date thereof on a copy of the maintenance order, and seal the memorandum with the seal of the Court; and thereupon the maintenance order shall be deemed to be varied accordingly.

Any party affected by any decision of a Registrar under this section may apply to any Magistrate to vary or rescind the decision, and the Magistrate may thereupon, in his discretion, confirm, vary, or rescind the decision.

The Court may at any time, if it thinks fit, discharge any order made under this Act for the payment of a sum of money.

The Court may from time to time vary or extend any maintenance order in such manner as the Court thinks fit, or may temporarily suspend any such order as to the whole or any part of the money ordered to be paid, if it is of the opinion that since the making of the order the circumstances have so changed that the order ought to be varied, extended, or suspended.

The Court may from time to time make an order varying or extending any maintenance agreement registered under Part VII of this Act or cancelling any such agreement, or temporarily suspending any such agreement as to the whole or any part of the money payable thereunder, if it is of opinion that at the date of the agreement its provisions were unfair or unreasonable, or that since the date of the agreement the circumstances have so changed that the agreement ought to be varied, extended, cancelled, or suspended.

Where any maintenance order is discharged, or any registered maintenance agreement is cancelled, or any such order or agreement otherwise ceases to have effect, all arrears due under the order or agreement at the time it was discharged or cancelled or otherwise ceased to have effect shall, unless and to the extent that they are remitted by the Court, be recoverable by the party to whom they are owing as if the order or agreement were still in force.

Any order under subsection (2) or subsection (3) of this section varying any maintenance order or maintenance agreement by increasing the amount payable thereunder may, if the Court thinks fit, take effect from a date earlier than the date of the order of variation, being not earlier than the date of the change of circumstances on which the variation was based.

The Court may from time to time, if it considers it reasonable so to do, remit wholly or in part any arrears due under any maintenance order or registered maintenance agreement, whether or not the order or agreement has ceased to be in force.

The Court may at any time, if it thinks fit, discharge any order made under this Act for the giving of security, and may from time to time vary or extend any such order in such manner as the Court thinks fit, whether as to the term of the order, or as to the nature of any security, or by increasing or diminishing the amount of any security, or otherwise.

The Court may exercise the powers given by this section, notwithstanding that the order discharged or varied or extended may have been made by consent of the parties.

No money payable under a maintenance order shall, without the prior consent in writing of the Court, be paid more than six months in advance of the due date thereof.

If any money is paid in breach of this section, then, unless the Court otherwise decides, it shall not be taken into account in any proceedings for the enforcement of the maintenance order or for the punishment of any disobedience thereto, and all such proceedings may be taken in the same manner as if that money had not been paid.

Any consent given under subsection (1) of this section or order made under subsection (2) of this section may be given or made subject to such conditions as the Court thinks fit.

Money paid in breach of this section shall be recoverable as a debt owing to the person who paid it, unless it has been received by the person entitled to receive it under the maintenance order.

Nothing in this section shall apply with respect to any payment under a registered maintenance agreement (whether or not the agreement has been varied by the Court under this Act) in accordance with the terms of the agreement.

Where pursuant to Part VI or Part VII of the Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1963 or the corresponding provisions of any former Act, the Supreme Court has made an order for the payment of any periodical sum by way of maintenance, a copy of that order under the seal of the Supreme Court may be registered in the prescribed manner in any office of a Magistrate’s Court.

Subject to this section, this Act shall apply with respect to every such order as if it were an order of a Magistrate’s Court under this Act:

Provided that nothing in this section shall be deemed to take away or affect the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in relation to an order of that Court.

Where a copy of any order to which this section applies is registered in the office of a Magistrate’s Court, the Registrar of that Court shall give notice of the registration to the Registrar of the office of the Supreme Court in which the order was made and to every party to the order (other than a party who registered the order) whose address is known to him.

No application shall be made for the discharge, variation, or suspension of any order to which this section applies, or for the substitution of a new order therefor, in any case where the Supreme Court has ordered security to be given for the performance of the order, or while any proceedings for the discharge, variation, or suspension of the order are pending or in progress in the Supreme Court.

A copy of every order made by a Magistrate’s Court discharging, varying, or suspending any order to which this section applies, or substituting a new order therefor, shall be forwarded by the Registrar of that Court to the Registrar of the Supreme Court at the place in which the order of the Supreme Court was made, and shall be filed without fee by that Registrar.

Where an order to which this section applies is varied or otherwise affected by a subsequent order of the Supreme Court, a copy of that subsequent order shall be forwarded by the Registrar of the Supreme Court to the Registrar of the Magistrate’s Court in which the copy of the earlier order of the Supreme Court is registered, and the copy of the subsequent order shall thereupon be registered by that Registrar under this section, and shall have effect as if it were an order of a Magistrate’s Court under this Act.

Where, pursuant to Part VI or Part VII of the Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1963, the Supreme Court makes any final order of maintenance, any maintenance order made in respect of the same parties under this Act, or the corresponding provisions of the Destitute Persons Act 1910, shall cease to have effect.

The jurisdiction of the Court under this Part of this Act may be exercised by any Magistrate.

All money payable under a maintenance order shall, so soon as it is in arrear and unpaid, constitute a debt by the person against whom the order was made to the person to whom the money is payable in pursuance of the order, and that money may be recovered by action accordingly in any Court of competent jurisdiction.

Without limiting or affecting any other remedies or proceedings under this Act, the same proceedings may be taken by way of execution or otherwise upon any judgment so obtained as upon any other judgment for a debt.

If any person against whom a maintenance order has been made is thereafter adjudicated a bankrupt, all money due and unpaid at the date of the adjudication shall constitute a debt provable in the bankruptcy.

No such bankruptcy and no discharge thereunder shall release the bankrupt from any personal liability under the order, or from any proceedings for the enforcement thereof, or for the punishment of any breach thereof, whether in respect of money due at the time of the adjudication or of the filing of the petition or accruing due thereafter, or shall affect any security for the observance of the order, or the liability of any property to be made available in satisfaction of the order, other than property which is or becomes assets in the bankruptcy.

On the death of any person against whom a maintenance order has been made, any money in arrear and unpaid at the time of his death and any capital sum or instalments of a capital sum payable after the date of his death shall constitute a debt recoverable out of his estate:

Provided that, except in the case of any arrears of instalments payable pursuant to any order made under Part IV of this Act providing for payment of a lump sum by instalments, no such arrears in respect of a period longer than one year shall be so recoverable without the leave of the Court, which may be given on such terms and subject to such conditions as the Court thinks fit.

Where any payment directed to be made by any maintenance order is in arrear and unpaid for not less than fourteen days, any Magistrate or any Registrar (not being a constable) may, if he thinks fit, issue a warrant in the prescribed form to collect the amount unpaid or so much thereof as for the time being remains unpaid:

Provided that any Magistrate may, if he thinks fit, issue a warrant of distress in the first instance without first issuing a warrant to collect.

Subject to this section and to any rules of procedure made under this Act, the provisions of Part III of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, shall apply with respect to every such payment that is in arrear and unpaid as aforesaid as if the amount unpaid were a sum of money adjudged to be paid by a conviction:

Provided that no warrant of commitment shall be issued in lieu of or in pursuance of any warrant to collect or warrant of distress.

In sections 95 to 99 of this Act—

Where any maintenance order has been made, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, the Court may, at the same or any subsequent time, make an attachment order under this section.

The jurisdiction of the Court under this section and under section 99 of this Act may be exercised by a Registrar (not being a constable).

An attachment order may be made against any person who is proved to the satisfaction of the Court to be an employer of the defendant against whom the maintenance order is made.

An attachment order may be made ex parte without notice to the defendant or his employer.

An attachment order may be made either for a fixed period or so as to remain in force until discharged in accordance with section 99 of this Act.

Nothing in section 97 of the Shipping and Seamen Act 1952 shall apply to any attachment order under this section.

A duplicate of an attachment order made under section 95 of this Act shall be served upon the employer either personally or by leaving it at his place of residence or business, or at any of his places of business, or by sending it by registered letter addressed to the employer at his place of residence or business, or at any of his places of business.

Where service of an attachment order is effected by registered letter, then, in the absence of proof to the contrary, the order shall be deemed to have been served when it would have been delivered in the ordinary course of post, and in proving service it shall be sufficient to prove that the letter was properly addressed and posted.

Every attachment order shall take effect on the service of a duplicate thereof on the employer in manner provided in this section.

An attachment order shall direct that the money due and payable, or at any time becoming due and payable, under the maintenance order shall, by way of weekly payments of such amount as are specified in the attachment order, be a charge on any salary or wages which from time to time while the attachment order remains in force become due and payable by the employer to the defendant.

The charge so created shall be deemed to accrue from week to week, and on such day of the week as is specified in that behalf in the attachment order.

The charge so created shall attach to all wages or salary which become due by the employer to the defendant at any time while the attachment order is in force, whether the contract of employment in respect of which the wages or salary so becomes due existed at the date of the attachment order or not.

The charge so created shall prevail over and have priority to any assignment made or charge created by the defendant, whether before or after the making of the attachment order against him, and the order shall have the same effect as if no such assignment or charge had been so made or created.

So long as an attachment order remains in force, the employer shall from time to time, so often as any money becomes due and payable by him to the defendant by way of wages or salary, deduct therefrom such sum as is sufficient to satisfy the charge thereon so far as the same has accrued before the day on which the said wages or salary so become due and payable, and shall pay the amount so deducted to the person specified in that behalf in the attachment order, who may, as the Court thinks fit, be either the Registrar of a Magistrate’s Court or any other person.

All sums so deducted and paid shall be deemed, to the extent thereof, to have been paid by the employer in satisfaction of the wages or salary payable by him to the defendant, and to have been paid by the defendant in satisfaction of his liability under the maintenance order.

If and as often as the employer makes default in the payment of any money in satisfaction of any such charge, that money shall become a debt due by him to the person to whom the money is payable in accordance with the terms of the attachment order, and may be recovered by that person by action in any Court of competent jurisdiction.

If the person to whom that money is so payable in accordance with the terms of the attachment order is the Registrar of a Magistrate’s Court, he may, on any such default as aforesaid, assign the said debt, by writing under his hand, with the leave of the Court, to such other person as the Court thinks fit; and that person may thereupon, in his own name, demand, sue for, and receive the said sum as if it was payable to him in accordance with the order.

The employer, in making any deduction or payment in pursuance of the attachment order and in accordance with the terms thereof, shall not be concerned to make inquiry as to whether any money is due and payable under the maintenance order, or be affected by any notice to the contrary.

Every employer commits an offence who fails, within fourteen days after deducting any sum from the wages or salary of any employee, to pay the sum so deducted to the person specified in that behalf in the attachment order, and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars.

Where any defendant in respect of whom an attachment order is in force leaves or is dismissed from his employment, the employer shall within seven days thereof notify the Registrar of the Court in which the attachment order was issued.

Any attachment order may be at any time varied, suspended, or discharged, on the application ex parte of any person, by the Court, on good cause being shown to the satisfaction of the Court why the order should be so varied, suspended, or discharged; and every such variation, suspension, or discharge shall take effect on notice thereof being served on the employer in manner aforesaid.

In this section—

Sections 94 to 99 of this Act shall bind the Crown to the extent of and subject to the succeeding provisions of this section.

An attachment order made under section 95 of this Act may, in proceedings in which the defendant is a servant of the Crown, be made against the Crown as employer:

Provided that in every such case the employing Department shall be named in the order as the employer.

Service of any such attachment order shall be effected on the Permanent Head of the employing Department, and also on the officer of the Crown specified in the order.

Service of any such attachment order shall be effected in the manner specified in section 96 of this Act, and, where service is effected by registered post, it shall be sufficient if the letter is addressed to the person to be served by his official title or any sufficient description without his personal name.

When any maintenance order has been made, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, the Court may, if it thinks fit, at the same or at any subsequent time, order that the money payable or to become payable under the maintenance order shall be a charge upon any real or personal property to which the defendant is entitled, and subject in the case of any real property to registration under subsection (5) of this section, the said property shall become subject to a charge accordingly in favour of the person to whom for the time being and from time to time the money is or becomes payable.

Every such charging order shall specify, in such manner as to identify it, the property on which the charge is imposed.

Any such charging order may be at any time varied or discharged by the Court.

Nothing in section 131 of the Workers’ Compensation Act 1956 shall apply to any charge constituted under this section.

When any such charging order is made in respect of the registered estate or interest of the defendant in any land, a duplicate or copy of the order under the seal of the Court may be delivered for registration to the appropriate District Land Registrar if the title to the land is under the Land Transfer Act 1952, or to the appropriate Registrar of Deeds if the title to the land is not under that Act, or, in the case of land comprised in any lease or mining privilege under the Mining Act 1926 that has not been registered under the Land Transfer Act 1952 pursuant to the Mining Tenures Registration Act 1962, to the Mining Registrar in whose office the lease or mining privilege is registered. The said Registrar shall thereupon, without fee, record it in the register against the appropriate folium of the register book and against any relevant instrument of title, as the case may require.

Any order discharging or varying any charging order may be registered in like manner.

The authority conferred on the Court by section 101 of this Act to make a charging order shall apply with respect to policies of life insurance, notwithstanding the provisions of sections 65 and 66 of the Life Insurance Act 1908 (providing for the protection of certain classes of such policies).

Section 101 of this Act shall bind the Crown to the extent of and subject to the succeeding provisions of this section.

A charging order may be made under section 101 of this Act upon any money payable to the defendant by the Crown within New Zealand, including money payable by way of refund of contributions out of the Government Superannuation Fund or the National Provident Fund.

Every such charging order shall, in specifying the property on which the charge is imposed, specify the amount of the sum so payable by the Crown, the circumstances giving rise to the liability of the Crown to make the payment, and the officer of the Crown (described by name of office, name of Department, and place at which the officer is stationed) by whom in the ordinary course of Crown business payment of that sum would be made to the defendant.

Service of every such charging order shall be made, in the manner specified in subsection (5) of section 100 of this Act, on the Permanent Head of the Department affected and also on the officer of the Crown specified in the order.

Unless in any particular case the Crown agrees to the contrary, this section shall not apply to any money payment of which in the ordinary course of Crown business is or would be effected otherwise than through some person in the service of the Crown employed in a department of State within New Zealand or to any money in the payment of which the Crown acts only in the capacity of an agent.

When a charging order is made under section 101 of this Act in respect of any real or personal property, the Court may, at the same or at any subsequent time, if any money is in arrear and unpaid under the maintenance order, make, if it thinks fit, an order appointing the Public Trustee or any other person to be the receiver of the whole or any part of that property or of the rents, profits, or income of the property or of any part of that property.

A receiving order so made may be at any time thereafter varied or discharged, and every such order shall be so discharged on the payment by the defendant of all arrears due under the maintenance order, together with payment by him in advance of all money to become payable under the maintenance order during the period of six months from the date of the cancellation of the receiving order.

The receiver so appointed shall be entitled to take and recover, by action or otherwise, the possession and receipt of the land or other property in respect of which he has been appointed, and of the rents, profits, and income thereof, so long as the receiving order remains in force.

He may also in his own name grant leases of any such land on such conditions as he thinks fit, and for any term not exceeding three years or from year to year, or for a weekly, monthly, or other like tenancy; and every such lease shall remain valid notwithstanding any subsequent discharge of the charging order or receiving order.

Subject to any directions that may be given by the Court, the receiver may also pay in respect of any such land all rates, taxes, interest, insurance premiums, and other outgoings (including all instalments of principal and interest under any table mortgage secured over the land) that are due at the time of his appointment or may fall due while the receiving order continues in force, and the cost of repairing and keeping in good repair and condition all buildings and other improvements on any such land; but he shall not be bound to make any such payment or to repair or keep in good repair and condition any such buildings and improvements:

Provided that the amount to be expended by the receiver in any year, being a year commencing from the date of his appointment or any subsequent year, in repairing and keeping in good repair and condition all buildings and other improvements on the land shall not exceed the sum of two hundred dollars, unless the expenditure is first authorised by the Court.

All payments made by the receiver pursuant to subsection (3) of this section shall be made from the rents, profits, and income of the land received or to be received by the receiver, except in so far as any such payments are made pursuant to subsection (5) of this section.

The Court may, on application by the receiver, authorise the receiver—

Where the receiver is the Public Trustee and he is authorised pursuant to subsection (5) of this section to borrow money, he may instead advance money in accordance with section 39 of the Public Trust Office Act 1957 as if the land were property to the credit of an estate under that section, and all the provisions of that section, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, shall apply to any such advance.

Subject to the foregoing provisions of this section, all money received by the receiver in the exercise of his powers shall, after payment thereout of all expenses incurred by him, and of such remuneration (if any) as may be allowed by the Court for his services in that behalf, be held by the receiver in trust—

Provided that where the receiver is the Public Trustee his remuneration shall be as fixed by regulations under the Public Trust Office Act 1957.

Subject to this Act, the appointment of a receiver by the Court under this Act shall have the same effect, and the receiver shall have the same powers, duties, and liabilities, as if he had been appointed by the Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction in that behalf, and the Magistrate’s Court may give to the receiver any directions, and confer upon him any powers, which the Supreme Court could give to or confer upon any receiver so appointed by it.

Any order made under this Part of this Act for the purpose of enforcing payment of any money payable under a maintenance order may be made in respect of money payable up to the date of the making of the first-mentioned order.

Every person who without reasonable cause, proof of which shall lie on him, makes default for fourteen days in the payment of any money payable by him under a maintenance order commits an offence, and is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars, or to both:

Provided that where the person liable under the order has been convicted within the immediately preceding period of three years of an offence against this subsection or the corresponding provisions of the Destitute Persons Act 1910, this subsection shall have effect as if for the words “fourteen days” there were substituted the words “seven days”.

The Court may, on the hearing of an information for an offence against this section, amend the information by adding to the amount claimed any further arrears accruing up to the date of the amendment.

Any warrant of commitment to prison issued to give effect to any sentence of imprisonment under this section may be suspended by the Court on such terms as it thinks proper.

No such imprisonment or fine shall operate so as to extinguish or affect the liability of the defendant under the maintenance order.

When any person has been so sentenced to imprisonment, the Court may, if it thinks fit, at the time of sentence or at any time thereafter, notwithstanding that any direction or directions may already have been given under this subsection fixing a larger sum, direct that the defendant shall be released on payment of such sum as the Court thinks fit in respect of any fine and on account of the arrears due by him under the maintenance order on the date of his release, and in any such case the defendant shall, on payment of the amount so stated in the warrant, be released accordingly.

On the hearing of an information for an offence against this section, the Court, after giving the person entitled to receive the money payable under the maintenance order an opportunity of being heard, may make an order under section 85 of this Act discharging, varying, or suspending the maintenance order or remitting in whole or in part any arrears due thereunder.

Where any person is convicted of an offence against this section, the Court, whether or not it imposes any penalty in respect of the offence, may order that the defendant shall from time to time, within seven days after any change of his place of residence or employment, notify the Registrar of that Court, or the Registrar of any other Court that the Registrar of the first-mentioned Court so directs, of his new place of residence or employment. Any such order shall expire at the end of five years after its making, or such shorter time as the Court may direct, and may at any time be reviewed by the Court on the application of the defendant.

Every person who fails to comply with any order under subsection (7) of this section commits an offence, and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars.

Every information for an offence against section 107 of this Act shall be heard and determined in the Magistrate’s Court situated nearest to the place where the defendant resides or carries on business:

Provided that where the defendant is brought up in custody or voluntarily appears to answer the charge in any other Magistrate’s Court, the information may be heard and determined in that Court:

Provided also that non-compliance with the provisions of this subsection shall not of itself invalidate the proceedings.

Where an information for an offence against section 107 of this Act is filed in any Court other than that in which the information is required to be heard, the following provisions of this subsection shall apply, subject to any rules of procedure made under this Act:

Where any Magistrate, or, if a Magistrate is not available and the case appears to be one of urgency, any Registrar (not being a constable), is satisfied, on application in writing made on oath, that there is reasonable cause to believe that any person (in this section referred to as the absconder) is about to leave New Zealand with intent to avoid payment of maintenance—

the Magistrate or Registrar may issue a warrant for the arrest of the absconder.

An application under this section may be made—

The absconder shall thereupon be brought as soon as possible before any Magistrate’s Court, which may, if it thinks fit, make any one or more of the following orders:

On making an order under paragraph (b) or paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of this section, the Court may direct the Registrar to give notice thereof to such departments of State, offices, or persons as the Court or the Registrar thinks proper.

If any person against whom an order under paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of this section is in force leaves New Zealand or attempts or does any act with intent to leave New Zealand, he commits an offence, and is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to a fine not exceeding four hundred dollars, or to both.

Any person against whom an order under this section is in force may apply to the Court for the discharge of the order, and the Court, in its discretion, may discharge the order accordingly.

Subject to this Part of this Act, the Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, make rules regulating the practice and procedure of the Court in proceedings under this Act.

Without limiting the generality of the powers conferred by subsection (1) of this section, rules made under that section may make provision for the following matters:

The business of Magistrates’ Courts and of Magistrates shall, so far as is consistent with the due despatch of business, be arranged in such manner as may be requisite for separating the hearing of proceedings under this Act and under the Guardianship Act 1968 and the Matrimonial Property Act 1963 from other business.

No person shall be present during the hearing of any proceedings under this Act except—

Subject to section 27 of the Guardianship Act 1968 and section 7 of the Matrimonial Property Act 1963, where any other proceedings are heard together with any proceedings under this Act, the provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall, unless the Court otherwise determines, apply as if the whole of the proceedings were proceedings under this Act.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit any other power of the Court to hear proceedings in private or to exclude any person from the Court.

No person shall publish any report of proceedings under this Act (other than criminal proceedings) except by leave of the Court which heard the proceedings:

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall be deemed to prohibit the publishing of any such report in any publication of a technical character bona fide intended for circulation among members of the legal or medical professions, officers of the Public Service, psychologists, advisers in the sphere of marriage guidance, or other social welfare workers.

Every person who publishes a report of any proceedings in contravention of subsection (1) of this section commits an offence, and is liable on summary conviction—

The Court may dismiss any proceedings under this Act if it is satisfied that they are frivolous or vexatious or an abuse of the procedure of the Court.

The Court, if it is satisfied that any person has persistently instituted vexatious proceedings under this Act or any former Act, whether against the same person or against different persons, may, after giving the first-mentioned person an opportunity of being heard, order that no proceedings under this Act, or no such proceedings of any specified kind or against any specified person, shall be commenced by him without the leave of the Court.

In all proceedings under this Act (other than criminal proceedings), and whether by way of hearing in the first instance or by way of appeal, or otherwise howsoever, the Court may receive any evidence that it thinks fit, whether it is otherwise admissible in a Court of law or not.

All questions of fact arising in any proceedings under this Act (not being criminal proceedings) shall be decided on a balance of probabilities.

In any proceedings under this Act, a document purporting to be the original or a certified copy of a certificate, entry, or record of a birth, death, or marriage alleged to have taken place, whether in New Zealand or in any other country, may be received without further proof as evidence of the facts stated in the document.

In any proceedings under this Act, a document purporting to be a decree or order or a certified copy or duplicate of any decree or order made by any Court or public authority, whether in New Zealand or elsewhere, may be received without further proof as evidence of the existence, nature, and purport of that order. Every such order shall be presumed to be valid unless the contrary is proved.

Where any proceedings under this Act are taken by or on behalf of the Superintendent of the Child Welfare Division of the Department of Education to enforce payment of any money directed by any maintenance order to be paid to him, or any money agreed to be paid to him under any agreement that, under any Act, is enforceable as if it were a maintenance order, a certificate signed by the Superintendent specifying the amount of any money in arrear and unpaid under the order or agreement shall be sufficient evidence of the amount so in arrear and unpaid as at the date specified in the certificate, until the contrary is proved.

The Court may hear and determine any proceedings under this Act in conjunction with any other proceedings under this Act or under the Guardianship Act 1968 or under section 5 of the Matrimonial Property Act 1963, in any case where—

Subsection (1) of this section shall apply whether or not any other person is also a party to the proceedings.

An application under this Act may be joined with an application under the Guardianship Act 1968 or under the Matrimonial Property Act 1963, and, subject to any rules of procedure made under this Act, it shall not be necessary to file separate applications.

Where any person against whom an order is sought under this Act is a person whose estate is being administered by the Public Trustee under the Mental Health Act 1911 or in respect of whose estate there is a committee appointed under that Act or a manager appointed under the Aged and Infirmed Persons Protection Act 1912, notice of the application under this Act shall be served on the Public Trustee or the committee or the manager, as the case may be, instead of on the defendant, and the Public Trustee or committee or manager shall thereupon represent and act for the defendant in all proceedings thereunder, and the like proceedings may be taken and the like order made as if the estate of the defendant were not being administered by the Public Trustee or, as the case may be, there were no committee or manager of his estate and he had been duly served with notice of the application.

All money payable under any order so made shall be paid by the Public Trustee or the committee or the manager, as the case may be, out of the estate of the defendant according to the tenor of the order, subject to all other debts and liabilities of the defendant so far as the Public Trustee or the committee or the manager, as the case may be, has notice thereof.

Where any application is made under this Act, not being an application for a paternity order, and it is proved to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is absent from New Zealand or cannot be found, the Court may, if it thinks fit,—

Where any application is made for a paternity order, and it is proved to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is absent from New Zealand and that his whereabouts are known, the Court may order that notice of the proceedings be served on the defendant.

Where any application is made for a paternity order and it is proved to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant cannot be found, the Court, whether the defendant is believed to be in New Zealand or elsewhere, may order any steps to be taken to bring the proceedings to the notice of the defendant, and may from time to time amend any such order. Any order under this subsection may direct that notice of the proceedings be given by advertisement in any newspaper, or by the service of a notice on any solicitor or agent of the defendant or on any other person, or in any manner whatsoever.

Where the Court is satisfied that any order made under subsection (2) or subsection (3) of this section has been complied with and that a reasonable time has elapsed since the steps directed by the order were taken, the Court may, if it thinks fit, hear and determine the application in the same manner as if the defendant had been served with notice of the application.

The Court may, if it thinks fit, make any order under this Act by consent of all the parties thereto.

Subject to any rules of procedure made under this Act, the Court may order any party to any proceedings under this Act to pay to the other party such costs as the Court thinks reasonable for solicitor’s or counsel’s fees and witnesses’ expenses.

Any order so made shall be enforceable in the same manner as money ordered to be paid by a maintenance order under this Act, and all the provisions of this Act as to the recovery of such money shall apply and extend to the recovery of solicitor’s or counsel’s fees and witnesses’ expenses.

The dismissal of an application under this Act, or the refusal of the Court to make any order under this Act, shall not be a bar to the making of a further application in the same matter and against the same or any other defendant by the same or any other applicant.

Where an order has been made or refused on any application under this Act, the Court may, in its discretion, on the application of the applicant or defendant, grant a rehearing of the application on such conditions as it thinks fit.

Notice of any such rehearing shall be given to such persons and in such manner as the Court directs.

If the Court grants an application for a rehearing, the operation of the order (not being an order for interim maintenance) shall, unless the Court otherwise directs, be suspended pending the determination of the rehearing.

Where the Court has made or has refused to make any order on an application under this Act, or has otherwise finally determined or has dismissed any such application, the applicant or the defendant or any other person prejudicially affected may appeal to the Supreme Court against the decision.

No appeal shall lie against the making or refusal of any order, or any decision, under Part II of this Act.

Subject to any rules of procedure made under this Act, the provisions of section 115 of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957 shall apply with respect to the appeal in the same manner as if the appeal were from an order to which that section applied, and all the provisions of that Act shall apply to any such appeal accordingly, with all necessary modifications.

Any party to any appeal under subsection (1) of this section may, with the leave of the Court of Appeal, appeal to the Court of Appeal against any determination of the Supreme Court on a question of law arising in any appeal under that subsection. The decision of the Court of Appeal on any such appeal to that Court shall be final.

Subject to subsection (4) of this section, the decision of the Supreme Court on any appeal under subsection (1) of this section shall be final.

Unless the Court otherwise orders, the operation of an order made under this Act shall not be suspended by any such appeal, and every such order may be enforced in the same manner in all respects as if no such appeal was pending.

Nothing in this section shall apply to criminal proceedings.

Every maintenance agreement within the meaning of section 54 of this Act shall bind the parties according to its tenor, and, so long as it remains in force, no party to whom money is payable under the agreement shall, unless it contains an express provision whereby any person undertakes not to register the agreement in the Court, be entitled to apply under this Act for a maintenance order against any other party to the agreement:

Provided that where the agreement is registered pursuant to Part VII of this Act, nothing in this subsection shall derogate from the provisions of that Part in relation to any such agreement.

Every such agreement entered into by any person who is a minor shall be binding on and may be enforced by or against him as if he were of full age.

This section shall apply to every maintenance agreement, whether entered into before or after the commencement of this Act.

Notwithstanding anything in section 4 of the Wages Protection Act 1964, any employer may, with the consent in writing of the worker, make deductions for the payment of maintenance under any maintenance order or maintenance agreement from wages payable to the worker, or may, on the written request of the worker, agree to make deductions for that purpose.

In this section the terms “employer” and “worker” have the same meanings as in the Wages Protection Act 1964.

Every person commits an offence who in any application for a paternity order under this Act makes any statement which, if made on oath in the proceedings, would amount to perjury within the meaning of section 108 of the Crimes Act 1961.

Every person who commits an offence against this section is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to a fine not exceeding four hundred dollars, or to both.

A minor may bring and continue or defend any proceedings under this Act, and any order made under this Act against a minor shall be binding on and may be enforced against him, as if he were of full age.

No stamp duty shall be chargeable on any document required for the purposes of this Act.

Unless otherwise provided by regulations made under section 131 of this Act, no Court fees shall be taken by the Registrar in respect of any application, information, or other proceedings under this Act.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, make regulations providing for such matters as are contemplated by or necessary for giving full effect to this Act and for the due administration thereof.

This Act shall apply with respect to—

Every reference to an affiliation order in any other enactment, or in any regulation, rule, order, agreement, deed, instrument, application, or other document whatsoever in force at the commencement of this Act shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be read hereafter as a reference to a paternity order.

The enactments specified in the First Schedule to this Act are hereby amended in the manner indicated in that Schedule.

The enactments specified in the Second Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed.

The orders specified in the Third Schedule to this Act are hereby revoked.