
We are here to help
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.
We are proud of how we make our living. We are open about doing law differently.
Our Values
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 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.
Meet 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 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 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 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 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.
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.
Read why so many people recommend us.
Trusted by Clients, Respected in Court
Our Guarantee
You can be confident in your choice with our 30-day money back guarantee. If you aren’t happy in your first 30 days, tell us why. If we can’t fix it and you need to fire us, (provided we haven’t already signed your agreement) we will refund you everything you have paid. We will also point you in the direction of another good lawyer who might be a better match.