Family Law: Legal Issues and Areas of Law

Running head: FAMILY LAW
FAMILY LAW
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

1FAMILY LAW
Legal Issues and Areas of Law
In the given case, Maurice Cho and his wife Jessica Lim, married for 11 years and
separated on or about 3 months ago are having certain legal issues relating to the custody of their
8 year old child Tabatha. The first issue that has arisen since the separation is which parent
would have the day-to-day care and who would get custody to visit Tabatha on certain times
issued. The second issue is of child support and maintenance. There is a further dispute between
the parties regarding the future schooling of their daughter. The third legal issue is the relocation
of Tabatha by her father to Hong Kong for four weeks every year. The final legal issue that can
be found in the case is Mr. Cho’s violent behavior towards his wife Ms. Lim and her colleague,
David in front of their daughter.
Various legislations of the family law can be applied to the different legal issues. The
legislations that can be used to decide this case are- Family Proceedings Act 1980, Child Support
Act 1991, Child Supports Act 1991, Care of Children Act 2004, and Domestic Violence Act
1995.
Section 64 of the Family Proceedings Act 1980 discusses the maintenance after marriage
or civil union ends. Sections 4, 4A, 33-36, 48 of the Child Supports Act 1991 discuss the
provisions regarding child support. Rule 372 of the Family Court Rules 2002 enforces the
provisions of maintenance under section 259 of the Child Support Act 1991.
Sections 4-6, 47-49C, 51, 56, 64, 68-70 and 72-73 of the Care of Children Act 2004
discusses the provisions relating to care and custody of the child. Section 4 puts the interests of
the child as most important. Section 5 of the act discusses the principles related to a child’s

2FAMILY LAW
welfare and best interests. In the section 6 of the act it has been mentioned that a child’s views
must be taken into consideration while deciding about parenting orders. The provisions relating
to parenting order are discussed in the sections 47-49C, 51 and 56 while the rules regarding the
execution of the said parenting orders are discussed in the sections 64, 68-70 and 72-73 of the
act.
The issue of relocating has been discussed in the Care of Children Act 2004. The sections
that discuss the issues regarding relocation are sections 4-6, 16 and 46R. The provisions of the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child can also be applied in the current case.
Sections 3,4 and 14 of the Domestic Violence Act 1995 should be considered for the
violent behavior of Mr. Cho towards his wife and her colleague. The meaning of domestic
violence has been defined under the section 3 of the act while the application of the act is set out
in section 4. Section 14 of the act states the requirements that needed to be considered for issuing
protection order. In addition to the aforementioned sections, section 5 of the Care of Children
Act 2004 should also be considered. Section 5(a) discusses the principles relating a child’s
safety. Further, section 5A requires to take into account the principles of section 5(a) while
issuing protection order.
Issues of Dispute
The issues the client is in dispute with his wife are:
1. The client is reluctant in allowing his daughter to remain in New Zealand with his wife,
while he has to shift to Hong Kong for work-related issues.