Glossary

Chattels

Any items of property not attached to the land.

Conveyancing

The practice of transferring property e.g. a house, from one person to another, and the drafting of documents to complete the transfer.

Day to Day Care

Day to Day Care is the term used to describe the person who is responsible for looking after a child on a day to day basis. The old term was custody.

It is contrasted with ‘contact’ which is the new term for access/visitation and it means when you spend time with a child, a common example is every second weekend.

Enduring Power of Attorney

An authority given by one person, to another for that person to act for him or her that remains in force in the event that the person giving the power is incapable. This may only come into force when the person is incapable.

Legal Executive

A Legal Executive is a person who works as a trained assistant to a lawyer in a legal environment and belongs to the New Zealand Institute of Legal Executives.

Misrepresentation

When something is falsified to you – you think something is something that it is not.

Mortagee Sale

The forced sale of a property by a bank when the owner has not made heir mortgage payments.

Notary Public

A lawyer who is authorised to authenticate documents, usually for use in overseas countries.

Power of Attorney

An authority given by one person to another to act on their behalf. This is only valid while the person giving the power is capable.

Relationship Property

Relationship Property is the property of two people that they have accumulated during a relationship. It means anything that has been purchased together during a relationship. People’s property that was their property prior to the relationship becomes relationship property upon a marriage, a civil union or three years living together in a committed relationship.

Undertaking (Domestic Violence)

An Undertaking in terms of domestic violence is a promise between one person to another not to do or act in certain ways.

It often involves the allegedly violent person promising not to do anything that would be a breach of a Protection Order. It is not an Order of the Court but is more a promise or contract between two people not to act in certain ways. A breach of an Undertaking is treated seriously by the Court.

Vendor

A person(s) selling a property.

Will

A document which expresses the wishes of a person as to how they wish to dispose of their property when they die.

Without Notice/Ex Parte (Family Court)

A Without Notice Application in the Family Court is an application that goes before a Judge without the other side being asked for their views. For example an Application for a Protection Order is frequently Without Notice. The violent party is not asked for their side of the story before a Judge is asked to make an Order.

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