High-profile figure says wife snatched boyhood home

The identities of the man and woman at the centre of a bitter family court dispute are protected by extensive suppression orders. Photo / Brett Phibbs

A high-placed political figure is accusing his estranged wife of "house snatching" the family home he has lived in since he was a boy.

The Auckland home is at the centre of a Family Court dispute between the couple whose identity is covered by extensive suppression orders.

The man is trying to get an "occupation order" to get the home back from the wife, while she is applying for a protection order against him.

The home was passed down to the man by his father, and used as the couple's marital property. Neither party would comment yesterday.

The dispute began early this year when the woman returned from several months overseas.

The man informed her the relationship was over by video link with a marriage counsellor and emailed her to say he was seeing someone else.

He had allowed friends to move in while she was away and told her he did not want her to come back to the house but on her return she shifted in.

He says that after agreeing to give her a few days to adjust, he and the friends returned to find she had put new bolts on the door.

Frustrated by not being able to get their possessions, and getting no response at the door or on the phone, the man tried to kick in the door.

Associates of the woman said she enlisted a bodyguard because she was fearful of eviction attempts.

The bodyguard has a criminal conviction for failing to provide a toddler with the necessaries of life.