What is the Family Court?
The Family Court is set up to look after the interests of New Zealand families, for instance young people who are in trouble with the law, or families with custody issues. Other than handling court cases involving families, they offer all sorts of services. These services include free relationship counselling and mediation that can help you from needing to go to court in the first place, or legal support to help your children through their parents’ separation. It’s usually fairly small, not too formal and court sessions are often short. There is a full list of the services provided by the Family Court available on their website.
People who may go to Family Court are:
- Parents attending with their lawyers
- The child and their court-appointed lawyer
- Family, whanau and other support people who can attend if the parents want them to
- The social worker, if one has voiced concern about the child’s welfare
The Family Court website has information to help you understand what Family Court is for, how it operates, and what you will need to know if you are using Court services or will be appearing before the Court.
Information resources provided by the Family Court include:
The Child, Youth and Family Services website has a step-by-step guide to the Family Court process, and the Ministry of Justice website has information about family violence for victims and defendants.