district court logo

Campus v Campus [2023] NZFC 2945

Published 30 January 2024

Relationship property — division of property — Property (Relationships) Act 1976, ss 8, 11, 11A, 22 & 25. This was a reserved judgment that determined the classification of various properties held by the parties, and the parties' relationship property entitlements. At the time the parties moved in together, the applicant owned one property and the respondent owned two. During their relationship, they had bought and sold a number of properties, and at separation the parties owned three residential properties, chattels, bonds, two cars and had liabilities in the form of mortgages and other debt. The first property was found to be relationship property, as it was financed completely by a loan using equity in three other residential relationship properties as security. The second and third properties were sold by the applicant on behalf of both parties before these proceedings, with the proceeds of those sales being held temporarily by a third party. Though the respondent had signed the sale and purchase agreement, she refused to sign any further documentation. The applicant was granted an order vesting ownership in him to affect the sale of the property. The Court found that the $1,065,952.61 from the sale of the properties was to be divided equally, and $207,393.91 was to be paid from the respondent's share to the applicant to compensate for costs incurred by him to execute the sale. The respondent was ordered to pay an additional $3092.07 for vehicle related debt and a further $24,610.97 as compensation for chattels she retained. Judgment Date: 11 April 2023