Marriage dissolutions
Changes in the number of divorces and divorce rate in New Zealand since 1961 are shown in Table 1. The sharp rise in the number of divorces in the early 1980s mainly reflects the legislative changes introduced in 1981. The Family Proceedings Act 1980, passed in 1981, meant that an application for marriage dissolution could be made by either the husband or wife on the grounds that the marriage had broken down irreconcilably, provided a two-year separation requirement was satisfied. Many couples who could satisfy the two-year separation requirement for the single ground of irreconcilable marriage breakdown sought the simpler Family Court dissolution. Consequently, divorces recorded a temporary high of 12,395 in 1982. Subsequently, both the number and rate of marriage dissolutions dropped, but the trend has been upward again since the late 1980s.