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Here in Aotearoa New Zealand (“NZ”), no-fault dissolution of marriage (divorce) has been the standard since 1980. Ashley’s Law is an overdue addition to family law in NZ, and will be especially helpful to victims of family violence and require a rapid exit from their abusers. As of October 2025, victims of family violence in NZ will have new grounds for expediting divorces from their abusers, and will be able to move on with dissolution after family violence.
As it currently stands throughout New Zealand, victims of family violence often find themselves waiting over two years for dissolution of marriage to be granted legally. If either party is not operating in good faith, especially if family violence is present, the process can become daunting for the victim.
Ashley Jones (“Ms Jones”) is precisely the type of applicant who needed a better process than the one outlined above, and it is this individual whose name the new law will bear. Not only did Ms Jones have to wait the required two years in order to dissolve the marriage, her own protection order precluded her from reaching out to serve her ex-husband, or to provide the court with information on his whereabouts, which she did not know.
Ms Jones faced a delay of almost a full additional year because her abuser could not be contacted nor found. Her case provides a snapshot of how the legal system can be used to re-victimise women who have been through family violence, despite their attempts to take the full responsibility required of them to leave. Not only do victims have to stay legally tied to their abusers in these proceedings, they also bear multiple costs including financial, chronological, and emotional, in order to satisfy standards that can sometimes not be met.
Ms Jones recognised that her situation was caused by a problem in NZ’s legal system and, instead of simply moving on with her life, she fought to change what was wrong. Ms Jones was finally able to make her case before Chris Bishop, MP for Lower Hutt, in 2024, and put together new legislation that was supported by all parties. Across parties, MPs emphasised the necessity for the amendment to the law, particularly in facilitating the separation of women from their abusers; it was also embraced as a way for NZ to demonstrate solidarity with victims of family violence.
Ashley’s Law means that the applicant can apply for the expedited dissolution based on being a ‘protected person’ (section 8, Family Violence Act 2018). To qualify as a ‘protected person,’ the applicant must have a final protection order under the Family Violence Act 2018, or it could have been issued through sections 123B or 123G of the Sentencing Act 2022. Registered foreign protection orders would also count in categorising someone as a ‘protected person.’ The qualifications for being a ‘protected person’ are robust, and broad enough to cover victims of violence that have been recognised in the past and then acknowledged as terminated; this means that a history of family violence is enough to satisfy the standard for an applicant to be considered a ‘protected person.’ In practice, any violence, once acknowledged by the court, is sufficient to warrant an expedited dissolution of marriage.
The legal effects of applying Ashley’s Law must also be considered in terms of division of property. Previously, post-nuptial settlements were discharged by the court in accordance with changes in circumstances in order to ‘correct unfairness’ after the dissolution of marriage had taken effect (Family Proceedings Act 1980,Section 182). Ashley’s Law would bring forward the timeline, achieving the dissolution based on the proven record of family violence, and therefore set the situation in motion for the victim to apply for a court review of the settlement, and to formulate orders to remedy the circumstances in which it was made.
Your safety and wellbeing matter. If you or someone you know are experiencing family violence of any kind, please call the police on 111 immediately. For further support, please contact the Women’s Refuge on 0800 733 843, Shakti Community Centre on 0800 742 542, or Shine at 0508 744 633.
To read the full legal essay on this topic by Vaishnavi Thayaparan, please click here.
Please also contact us for further legal advice on protection orders, dissolution of marriage, relationship property and / or care of children matters. We have offices in Manukau, CBD and Albany.
Here in Aotearoa New Zealand (“NZ”), no-fault dissolution of marriage (divorce) has been the standard since 1980. Ashley’s Law is an overdue addition to family law in NZ, and will be especially helpful to victims of family violence and require a rapid exit from their abusers. As of October 2025, victims of family violence in NZ will have new grounds for expediting divorces from their abusers, and will be able to move on with dissolution after family violence.
As it currently stands throughout New Zealand, victims of family violence often find themselves waiting over two years for dissolution of marriage to be granted legally. If either party is not operating in good faith, especially if family violence is present, the process can become daunting for the victim.
Ashley Jones (“Ms Jones”) is precisely the type of applicant who needed a better process than the one outlined above, and it is this individual whose name the new law will bear. Not only did Ms Jones have to wait the required two years in order to dissolve the marriage, her own protection order precluded her from reaching out to serve her ex-husband, or to provide the court with information on his whereabouts, which she did not know.
Ms Jones faced a delay of almost a full additional year because her abuser could not be contacted nor found. Her case provides a snapshot of how the legal system can be used to re-victimise women who have been through family violence, despite their attempts to take the full responsibility required of them to leave. Not only do victims have to stay legally tied to their abusers in these proceedings, they also bear multiple costs including financial, chronological, and emotional, in order to satisfy standards that can sometimes not be met.
Ms Jones recognised that her situation was caused by a problem in NZ’s legal system and, instead of simply moving on with her life, she fought to change what was wrong. Ms Jones was finally able to make her case before Chris Bishop, MP for Lower Hutt, in 2024, and put together new legislation that was supported by all parties. Across parties, MPs emphasised the necessity for the amendment to the law, particularly in facilitating the separation of women from their abusers; it was also embraced as a way for NZ to demonstrate solidarity with victims of family violence.
Ashley’s Law means that the applicant can apply for the expedited dissolution based on being a ‘protected person’ (section 8, Family Violence Act 2018). To qualify as a ‘protected person,’ the applicant must have a final protection order under the Family Violence Act 2018, or it could have been issued through sections 123B or 123G of the Sentencing Act 2022. Registered foreign protection orders would also count in categorising someone as a ‘protected person.’ The qualifications for being a ‘protected person’ are robust, and broad enough to cover victims of violence that have been recognised in the past and then acknowledged as terminated; this means that a history of family violence is enough to satisfy the standard for an applicant to be considered a ‘protected person.’ In practice, any violence, once acknowledged by the court, is sufficient to warrant an expedited dissolution of marriage.
The legal effects of applying Ashley’s Law must also be considered in terms of division of property. Previously, post-nuptial settlements were discharged by the court in accordance with changes in circumstances in order to ‘correct unfairness’ after the dissolution of marriage had taken effect (Family Proceedings Act 1980,Section 182). Ashley’s Law would bring forward the timeline, achieving the dissolution based on the proven record of family violence, and therefore set the situation in motion for the victim to apply for a court review of the settlement, and to formulate orders to remedy the circumstances in which it was made.
Your safety and wellbeing matter. If you or someone you know are experiencing family violence of any kind, please call the police on 111 immediately. For further support, please contact the Women’s Refuge on 0800 733 843, Shakti Community Centre on 0800 742 542, or Shine at 0508 744 633.
To read the full legal essay on this topic by Vaishnavi Thayaparan, please click here.
Please also contact us for further legal advice on protection orders, dissolution of marriage, relationship property and / or care of children matters. We have offices in Manukau, CBD and Albany.
