We are helpers.
As you might be experiencing, as a relationship breaks down, things become messy, the future is so uncertain and everything is so expensive. We love helping people sort out their stuff in this hard space. Call us weird because it's true.
Our Values
We help never hurt
We think about the impact small and big things have and take extreme care to say and do the right thing… not the easy or normal thing.
We excel and improve
We are hungry to deliver real results. We reward effort, intention and growth. We learn everything we can from the best of the best.
We find the joy
We believe laughter is the best medicine. We hunt joy down, and share it with everyone we work with.
We never want our work to feel like a business transaction. We always want to give a person-affirming experience. We want to give you peace and control in an incredibly traumatic time.
To do this, Clean Break threw out the legal rule book. We instruct our team to work to our (and their) core values:
We are proud of how we make our living. We are open about doing law differently.
Sarah Moon
Owner of Clean Break
Senior Relationship Property Lawyer
Sarah Moon (née Sarah Thompson) has helped hundreds of people through their breakups. Sarah understands the pain, the embarrassment and the worry that all separations carry. She founded Clean Break in 2024 after seeing that people need more from their relationship property lawyer than what she could offer working in a commercial law firm.
Sarah's job
Sarah has the easiest and hardest job at Clean Break. Like all SME owners, she does whatever needs to be done. She oversees all of our work and makes sure her very high standards are being met. She's like Santa, spreading joy wherever she goes… but watching us all of the time. We usually don't find this creepy because she's so nice about it.
Sarah's professional background
Sarah has all of the technical skills and connections you need your lawyer to have. She started her career in large national firms, learning from the best. She attends every relationship property training she can fit into her busy schedule. She is a member of the Law Society's Family Law Section and the New Zealand Bar Association.
Sarah's favourite part about her work
Sarah loves getting feedback about people's experience with Clean Break. She even loves hearing any not-so-good stuff. She appreciates Kiwi's don't usually complain unless something needs to be fixed. She wants Clean Break to be the best it can be. If you have feedback to share - please get in touch with Sarah. You might just make her day.
Sarah's life
Sarah and her husband are foster parents with the Open Home Foundation. An incurable romantic, she was asked to become a marriage celebrant - and said yes! She loves walking up hills with no cell coverage (preferably for days at a time), reading and spending time with her indulged pets, her unusual family and their many friends.
Sarah happily splits her time between Nelson and the West Coast (Karamea). She'll travel more only if we ask nicely.
Sarah's personal background
Sarah's parents amicably divorced when she was 11, but found themselves in the Family Court over 15 years later.
In her 20s, Sarah spilt from her first de facto partner. They managed to separate all of their assets fairly… until they got to the tea bag cupboard. That memory shapes Sarah's approach to helping people today. She understands that sometimes these property discussions aren't actually about the (tea bags).
Sarah is fiercely passionate about preventing heartache for other families. She loves helping people avoid the regret that comes with losing sight of the bigger picture. She also loves clean breaks (ha ha) and doing things right the first time.
What do lawyers say about Sarah?
Sarah receives high praise from clients as well as other lawyers. You'll not regret having Sarah on your team. Here's what some of Sarah's previous colleagues have said...
I consider Sarah's legal work to be well considered, thorough and legally sound.
Whenever I have worked with Sarah (and with Sarah on the "other side" of a client matter), I have always highly valued her input in the work, and the argument and legal issues that have been raised by Sarah on her client's behalf have always been well reasoned and supported by recent case law.
That said, Sarah also applies a well considered pragmatic view on the legal issues to ensure her client's needs are best met.
★★★★★
★★★★★
Sarah's work is of the highest quality. She is a very talented lawyer who quickly gets to the nub of an issue. Her legal drafting is extremely good, as are her research skills.
She is an excellent advocate for her clients, and holds their interests in mind at all times while working on files. Sarah has never shown anything except the highest standard of integrity.
Sarah's clients think very highly of her, as do her colleagues. Sarah is an excellent lawyer who is not only technically very good, but also works closely and collaboratively with clients to achieve the best possible, and realistic, outcome.
PO Box 33, Nelson, 7040
3/63 Collingwood Street, Nelson
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We Help Kiwi's.