Redmond & Stolz (No 3) 2015 FamCA 692

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 equal shared parental responsibility would condemn the mother to further abuse and intimidation by the father.  The judge found that the child was at an unacceptable risk of emotional and psychological harm in the father’s unsupervised care.

The judge supported a recommendation by the family consultant that the mother have sole parental responsibility for the child and for the child to live primarily with the mother as it had become evident that the father and the mother were simply not able to communicate effectively and without rancour, and were not able to make joint decisions for the child.