Yoonha Park

Yoonha specialises in all areas of family law including relationship property disputes and agreements, as well as estate disputes.

She has extensive Court experience and has been appointed to the Lawyer for Child list to represent children in the Family Court proceedings.

Yoonha provides concise and focused advice, and advocates strongly and capably for her clients, while at the same time not losing sight of the wider family needs.

Yoonha graduated from the University of Canterbury in 2010 with Bachelor of Laws and Arts.  Prior to joining Saunders Robinson Brown, she worked in Auckland on a variety of matters under the Care of Children Act, the Family Violence Act, and the Property (Relationships) Act.

She is a fluent speaker of Korean.

Notable experience

• TW v SD [2024] NZFC 6201 – Yoonha appeared as counsel for the respondent in a successful application for an unequal division of relationship property under section 13 of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976, in which the respondent was awarded 80% of the relationship property pool.

• Maguire v Carran [2024] NZFC 4523 – Yoonha appeared as counsel for the respondent who successfully defended an application filed under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.  The Family Court agreed with submissions made by Yoonha that the 14-year-old’s objection to return should be decisive, and that to order a return would not be in the child’s best interests.

• Barclay v Carran [2024] NZFC 4524 – Yoonha appeared as counsel for the respondent who successfully defended an application filed under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.  Yoonha demonstrated that the applicant’s application did not meet the jurisdictional requirements, and the Family Court accordingly dismissed the application.

• Applying for and defending applications for spousal maintenance under the Family Proceedings Act 1980.

• Successfully obtaining an order for unequal division of relationship property.

• Successfully obtaining orders allowing, and disallowing a child to relocate to a different city.

• Successful negotiations resolving claims made by a de facto partner against an estate.

• Acting for the trustees of trusts regarding relationship property disputes.

Affiliations

• Member of the New Zealand Law Society.

• Member of the Family Law Section.