Is KiwiSaver relationship property
Updated 2026-08-09. General information, not legal advice.
Partly, and the split follows the calendar. The part of your KiwiSaver you had before the relationship began is your separate property. Contributions made and growth earned during the relationship are generally relationship property, which means that once the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 applies, usually after about three years of marriage, civil union or de facto relationship, that relationship-period portion is shared equally, even though the account has only ever had one name on it.
How the relationship period portion is worked out
Conceptually: the balance at the start of the relationship stays yours; everything added after, employee and employer contributions, government contributions and the investment returns on all of it, builds the shared portion. In practice the arithmetic gets untidy, because returns compound across both portions and start-date balances need reconstructing from provider statements. On separation the shared portion is usually equalised by a transfer between the partners' funds. The untidiness is precisely why couples with meaningful balances tend to set a rule in advance.
Choosing your own KiwiSaver rule
A contracting out agreement lets you pick the rule the Act would not: most commonly, each partner's KiwiSaver, including everything contributed during the relationship, stays entirely their own, clean, symmetrical and easy to administer. Couples who prefer the Act's sharing of the relationship-period portion can keep it. Either way the start-date balance question disappears, because the agreement records the relationship's start as a fixed fact.
Common questions
- Is my KiwiSaver relationship property in NZ?
- The portion contributed and earned during the relationship generally is, once the Act applies; your pre-relationship balance is separate property. The shared portion is typically divided by transfer between funds on separation.
- Can my partner claim my KiwiSaver if we never married?
- After about three years of de facto relationship, the relationship-period portion is generally shared like any relationship property. Marriage is not the trigger; the qualifying relationship is.
- Can we agree to keep our KiwiSavers separate?
- Yes. A contracting out agreement can classify each partner's entire KiwiSaver as separate property, and it is one of the most common elections couples make.
Sources
All information published on prenup.nz, including this guide, is general information only and is not to be construed as legal advice. We strongly recommend seeking independent legal advice about your own situation. A contracting out agreement only binds you once each partner has taken independent legal advice and a lawyer has witnessed and certified each signature, as section 21F of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 requires.