shared parental responsibility

The mother of children aged 10 and 7 years was in her third long term relationship.  The first relationship commenced when she was aged 18 years and produced 3 children.  The second relationship commenced when the mother was...

A mother relocated with a child aged 12 years without the father’s consent.  A trial judge supported an application by the father and made an interim order for the mother and child to return to be near to the...

A judge found that the father’s text messages to the mother were derogatory, intimidating and threatening and constituted family violence against her and that the father must desist from this behaviour (emotional abuse).  The judge found that granting...

The father acknowledged that he had behaved towards the mother in a manner that was mean spirited and verbally abusive towards the mother at times, and that some of this behaviour had occurred in front of the children.  The father at...

A child aged 11 years was emotionally distressed and the parents disputed the reasons for this distress.  The mother reported that the child suffered violent and unpredictable mood changes when he would attack the mother verbally and would become abusive...

Evidence was given that a mother experienced post-traumatic stress disorder which she attributed entirely to the actions of the father as he had been emotionally controlling and abusive towards her.  The father denied that events described by the mother took place. ...

A child aged 10 years had spent limited time with the father, and the mother alleged the child was at risk of harm in the father’s care as family violence had occurred during their brief relationship.  The...

The case involved five children who had been placed on the Magellan list due to allegations of sexual abuse and family violence.  The father had a considerable criminal record and had a demonstrated predilection towards having sexual relationships...

  There were two children of a relationship aged 14 and 11 years.  The mother requested that the younger child primarily live with her and that she have sole parental responsibility for him, but the father sought...

  A child aged 2 years had lived primarily with the father since separation, and the mother applied for the child to live with her for equal time.  When the relationship ended the father withheld the child and the...

The case involved a girl aged 12 years whose parents had been in ongoing conflict since they separated when she was aged 5 years (intractable conflict).  The child was described as mature. The judge noted there...

The case involved an infant aged 1 year whose parents were from the Tongan culture.  Before the child’s birth the biological parents had agreed to transfer parental responsibility to the applicants who were non-parents, and this...

A presumed father was found by DNA not to be the biological parent of a child aged 5 years shortly before a trial.  The judge permitted the presumed father to continue his application as a person...

The case involved children aged 12 and 8 years who had lived with the mother.  The older child expressed a desire to live with the father while the younger child wanted to continue living with the mother. ...

Parents of twins aged two years separated and the mother lived with her own parents and the children lived with the father.  The mother had been detained to a psychiatric hospital following the end of a...

A father of a 4 year old child was self-represented and conducted proceedings in such a persistent manner that the judge concluded that the father had single mindedly pursued his entitlements with a result that the...

The mother appealed against an order for equal shared parental responsibility.  The father had not seen the child for 15 months before the trial, and did not attend the hearing (contact limited).  The judge found that...

Parents disputed the living arrangement of a child aged 4 years with mild autism.  Both parents acknowledged that the child’s behaviour was at times trying.  The father reported that the mother frequently became angry over the...

The case involved two children aged 13 and 17 years who both showed high levels of anxiety.  The older child had suffered glandular fever for some years.  The father was assessed as having anxiety, and had been...

  The parents separated before the child was born.  The child who was aged 7 years at the time of the hearing had lived with the mother for six years before a family court issued an...

The mother and her young adult daughter alleged that the father engaged in family violence.  Evidence was given that the parents were a high conflict couple who exposed the child aged ten years to their arguments...

Parents separated after living together for about a year, and the child was aged 3 years at the time of the hearing.  The child’s name was registered as being named after the paternal grandfather.  However the...

This article first describes traditional concepts about parenting styles, and then reports a study of parenting styles that are seen in a family law context. TRADITIONAL CONCEPTS OF PARENTING STYLE Researchers distinguish different broad approaches for...

  A mother alleged that two girls aged 3 and 6 years had been subjected to sexual abuse by their father. The mother submitted 169 items of information to support her concerns. The judge found that,...

Both parents sought orders that a child aged 9 years live with them. The assessor found that the parents had different parenting styles. The mother disciplined the child strictly as the mother found the child to...

The mother began an intimate relationship with her first partner when aged 16 years producing her first child (young parent).  When the relationship ended both parents were teenagers and both returned to live with their own...

The case involved a child aged 13 years who was diagnosed with ADHD and who took Ritalin.  The child had been on a week-about shared care arrangement with both parents.  Both parents had re-partnered.  The mother...

The judge ruled that even when a high conflict couple display intractable conflict where the parents continue with polarised attitudes, children should have the benefit of each of their polarized parents having input into the major long...

The mother left the father taking two children aged 6 and 5 years.  The older child was fathered by a second man who took no interest in the proceedings.  The parents lived 180km apart.  The father...

A couple cohabited for about ten years before separating, had two daughters aged 11 and 9 years at the time of the hearing, and had engaged in legal proceedings for 5 years after separation.  The father...

The case involved parents of two girls aged 11 and 10 years.  The mother had an older daughter aged 19 years from a different relationship.  The parents separated after the 19 year old girl reported that the...

A couple divorced with daughters aged 10 and 8 years.  The father had been the breadwinner while the mother cared for the children.  The mother alleged the father had shown disinterest in the children and had...

The parents separated after 3 years of living together and had a daughter aged 6 years who had been living with her mother. When the child was aged 20 months the mother reported that the daughter...

A child was born after the couple had a very brief relationship, and the child was never raised jointly by the two parents.  Both parents were socially vulnerable, and neither had worked recently.  The parents lived...

The case involved a couple who were together in a happy relationship for 18 years, with a daughter born two years into the marriage.   The wife subsequently became pregnant with twins, with one twin dying in...

A couple lived together for about 2 years and had a child aged 7 years at the time of the hearing. The child had been in the custody of the mother until she had a detained...

The parents separated with a child aged 8 years.  The mother left the home with the child and moved to a secret location after alleging domestic violence and alcohol abuse by the father.  The mother was concerned...

The case involved three children aged 14, 12 and 8 years.  The trial judge ordered that parents have shared parental responsibility and that the children live primarily with their mother and spend time with the father.  The...

A trial judge granted sole parental responsibility to one parent and the other parent appealed.  The trial judge found that the two parents had not exchanged information and had not cooperated with each other or told...

The judge commented that orders for equal shared parental responsibility are usually made only when parents have similar views and are able to communicate with and to cooperate with each other (co-parent).  In this case the...

A mother joined for 11 months in a same sex relationship with another woman over the time when her child was born.  The pair separated, and the other woman sought an order for equal shared parental...

A couple had two children aged 7 and 5 years who had lived with the mother.  The mother had declined to facilitate contact with the father because of the father’s history of family violence including verbal...

A judge ordered that both parents have equal shared parental responsibility for their three children, except that the mother have sole parental responsibility to make decisions on delegated topics affecting the health of their children for...

A couple had an order for shared care. The mother then applied to relocate with three children aged 10, 8 and 5 years to a town 78km away. The trial judge allowed the relocation. The father...

A child lived with its parents until they separated when the child was aged 15 months, and then lived in an approximately equal time shared care arrangement until the child was aged 2 years 10 months,...

A judge ordered that parents have joint parental care for their 10 year old child, except that the mother have sole parental responsibility and care for health care and for decisions about the child’s music tuition...

The Appeal Court ruled that when no parenting orders have been issued by a court then parents may exercise their parental responsibility by making either an independent decision or a joint decision.  Once an order has been issued...

An order had been made for parents to have equal shared parental responsibility for a child aged 7 years who had special needs.  Evidence was presented that the parents were unable to make joint decisions about...

A couple with 3 children separated with the children living with their mother with a shared parental responsibility arrangement.   The father sought time with the children, and this was opposed by the mother. The mother alleged that the father...

The case involved an appeal against the procedure followed by a judge. The couple had a daughter who was aged about one year when the case was heard, who lived with the mother.   The couple had...

When the parents lived together the mother had been unable to cope with her young daughter while the father worked, resulting in the couple separating and in an order for the child to live with the...

A father appealed against a decision by a judge allowing a mother to relocate to another country taking an 11 year old child.  Evidence was presented including by the family consultant that the father consumed both...

Mellick & Mellick 2014 FamCAFC 236 A trial judge granted sole parental responsibility to one parent and the other parent appealed.  The trial judge found that the two parents had not exchanged information and had not...

A mother applied to relocate to another city with her child so that she could re-partner.  The mother gave evidence that she would be devastated if she was unable to relocate, and she would be physically...

Evidence was given that the father of a 6 year old had a psychotic condition of schizoaffective disorder and had exhibited family violence.  The father’s own family had taken out apprehension of violence orders (AVO) against...

The judge quoted from a ruling by the Full Court in a 1995 case (In the marriage of B and R, FLC 92-636): “It is not just that Aboriginal children should be encouraged to learn about...

Shared Time for Infants A policy document by the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health Inc. provides guidelines for the following situations: overnight stays for infants under 2 years away from a primary caregivers can create...