If the Family Court names you as the respondent in a child support appeal or departure order, you have 21 days from the date you were served to file a notice of defence. This lets you give your own point of view in Court.
The Court will have served (given) you a copy of the application filed in the court, which will be 1 of the following.
- Application for departure from formula assessment in special circumstances – because a parent or carer applied for a review and disagrees with our decision on it.
- Notice of appeal – because a parent or carer disagrees with our decision on their objection, a Commissioner-initiated review, an exemption review, or a review that you applied for.
If you are affected by an appeal to an objection, we may tell you about the appeal and give you the chance to get involved.
If you do not file a notice of defence, the Court will make a decision based on the information from the person who applied and us, if we are involved. They will not look at any information you provided us in the original review or objection.
Before you start
We recommend you get legal advice before filing a defence. A lawyer can:
- help you decide whether you should appeal
- help you complete the application form
- explain what will happen throughout the process.
If you cannot afford a lawyer, you may qualify for legal aid.
Or, you can file your own notice of defence by following these steps.
Download the right form
Download your notice of defence – G12 form from the Ministry of Justice website. Fill it out, stating the facts as you see them.
Please note, Inland Revenue and the Court cannot fill out or lodge this form for you.
Appeal Inland Revenue’s decision in the Family Court – justice.govt.nz
Write your affidavit
This is a written statement setting out the facts of your case and any evidence you want the Court to consider. It supports your notice of defence.
You must sign it, and swear or affirm that the information is true and correct, in front of either:
- a registrar or deputy registrar of the Family Court
- a justice of the peace (JP)
- a barrister or solicitor – not your own.
Send to the Family Court
You can file your documents in person, electronically, or by post. You must file your documents to the correct court.
You can also contact the Ministry of Justice on 0800 268 787.
How to file and serve documents - justice.govt.nz
What happens next
The Court will tell you what will happen next with the appeal or departure application, and the date and time of the hearing. You may need to appear before the judge at the hearing.
After the hearing, the Court will decide to either:
- leave the child support assessment as it is, because they think our decision was right
- change the child support assessment, because they think our decision was wrong.
If they decide to change it, they will send us an order telling us what to change. We cannot make any changes until we get the order from the Court.
If you have any questions about Court procedures, call the Ministry of Justice on 0800COURTS (0800 268 787), or look on their website.
Your responsibilities
If you pay child support, you need to keep paying it until the Court makes its decision.
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