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Karen Milliken v William Davidson-Meek [2016] NZFC 10795

Published 15 May 2017

Division of relationship property — date on which de facto relationship began — meaning of de facto relationship — mutual commitment to a shared life — Property (Relationships) Act 1976, ss 2D, 8, 9,10 & 13. In determining whether shares bought as a result of the sale of property acquired by the respondent before marriage were separate or relationship property, the court first needed to determine when the qualifying relationship began. The court assessed the date that the de facto relationship commenced based on the degree of mutual commitment to a shared life. Due to insufficient mutual commitment, the court found that their de facto relationship began on the date at which they became engaged, after the property was acquired. However, the property's subsequent sale and conversion to shares used for the common benefit of both parties, displaced the general proposition that property bought from the proceeds of separate property remains separate. An argument that the shares were acquired by the respondent as the beneficiary as a trust settled by a third person was rejected. Judgment Date: 16 December 2016.