(1)In an enactment, de facto relationship means a relationship between 2 people (whether a man and a woman, a man and a man, or a woman and a woman) who—
(a) live together as a couple in a relationship in the nature of marriage or civil union; and
(b) are not married to, or in a civil union with, each other; and
(c) are both aged 16 years or older.
(2) Despite subsection (1), a relationship involving a person aged 16 or 17 years is not a de facto relationship unless that person has obtained consent for the relationship in accordance with section 46A of the Care of Children Act 2004.
(3) In determining whether 2 people live together as a couple in a relationship in the nature of marriage or civil union, the court or person required to determine the question must have regard to—
(a) the context, or the purpose of the law, in which the question is to be determined; and
(b) all the circumstances of the relationship.
(4) A de facto relationship ends if—
(a) the de facto partners cease to live together as a couple in a relationship in the nature of marriage or civil union; or
