1. Cancel a court order

Court Orders

Cancel a court order

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Overview

You can apply to the Family Court to cancel a court order if it is no longer in the best interests of the child.

Who can apply

You can apply to cancel a court order relating to day-to-day care, guardianship, or the upbringing of your child if you’re either:

  • affected by the order
  • acting on behalf of the child.

You can apply to cancel an ‘Order Preventing Removal’ of a child from Aotearoa New Zealand if you are either:

  • the person who applied for the original order
  • the person who the order was made against.

How to apply

1

Understand what you need

The application pack includes your application, affidavit, and information sheet. You may find the following information useful when you complete these forms.

Care of Children - Applying for a Court Order guide [PDF, 3.9 MB]

Applications and information sheets

Affidavits

If your application is not urgent, you’ll need to make sure everyone named as a party in the application has an exact copy of the application. This is called service.

How to file and serve documents

There will be an application fee. You may be able to apply for a fee waiver if you need support with paying the filing fee.

Apply for a fee waiver

You need a BLUE or BLACK ballpoint pen if you choose to fill out the forms by hand.

A lawyer can help you apply for court orders and they may also represent you in court.

Get legal advice and help

2

Complete an application form

Choose the form you need to complete.

Care of Children form generator

If you need an urgent decision, select ‘without notice’ in the ‘how you want to file’ field.

To have the forms sent to you, freephone the Ministry of Justice 0800 224 733. You can also pick them up from the court.

Find your nearest court

You must print the forms single sided.

If your order is less than two years old, you’ll need to indicate this in the 'Previous Court Orders' section on page 2 of the application form. You’ll also need to explain in your affidavit what significant changes have occurred since the order was made.

3

Get all your documents together

Your application must include:

  • a completed and signed application form, affidavit, and information sheet.
  • a completed and signed fee waiver form (if you are asking for the application fee to be waived)
  • an exact copy for each person named on the application to be given to the court. You must also keep a copy for yourself.
4

File your application

You can file your application electronically, by post, or in person. When you file your application, it must have the original signatures. You must file your application at the correct courthouse. If you file your application in person or by post, you’ll need to provide enough exact copies for everyone named as a party to your application and keep a copy for yourself.

How to file documents

Court staff will contact you if they need more information.

Fees when using the Family Court

There may be fees or costs involved when using the Family Court. This may include:

  • application filing fee
  • lawyers’ fees and charges
  • cost contribution orders

Family Court fees and funding

Costs you need to pay after your case

Options if you can’t pay the application fee

After you apply

The Court will try to give a copy of your application to the other people named as parties in your application. They’ll be given time to respond, which could be between 21-50 days, depending on if the person lives in Aotearoa New Zealand or overseas.

If they respond, you'll be given a copy of their response.


Before a judge makes a decision, they may:

  • want to hear from you in person
  • appoint a lawyer for child to understand the child's views and present them to the court
  • ask for a specialist, cultural, or social worker's report on your situation from a professional such as a psychologist or medical doctor
  • decide to hold a case conference or a hearing, or both.

Lawyer for child

Specialist, cultural, and social worker reports

Case conferences

Hearings

When your case will be finalised

How long it takes to finalise your case in court depends on the following.

  • How long the other people named in your application take to respond
  • If a judge has asked for more information
  • How long you or other people take to give any extra information
  • How soon the Family Court can look at your case (especially if a conference or hearing is needed)
  • If a judge directs anyone involved in the case to attend out of court services (including Parenting Through Separation course, preparatory counselling, or Family Dispute Resolution mediation service)
  • The number of adjournments made by the judge.

If you want to know how long your case may take, talk to your lawyer.

Resources in other languages and alternate formats

We have resources available in different languages and alternate formats. Select the language or alternate format to get the resources relevant to this page.

Feeling overwhelmed?

Going through a change in your whānau situation can be hard. It's normal to feel overwhelmed. There are services available to help and support you through this time.

Visit our help page