emotional needs

The biological father of a child aged 15 years had undergone hormone therapy to re-assign his gender to female (gender change).  The father applied to spend time with the child although the child was found to be completely...

A child aged 12 years had special needs due to mild cerebral palsy, mild intellectual disability and epilepsy.   The father had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.  The child was in the primary care of the mother.  The...

An assessor described a 13 year old child as having developed an atypical form of anxious-avoidant attachment style, meaning that the child had responded to the lack of adult responsiveness to his needs by becoming self-reliant. ...

Three children including twins aged 6 years and a 3 year old infant had always lived in the primary care of the mother.  The father worked rostered shift work and he was an untested primary carer....

A mother separated due to complaints of family violence.  The mother reported that the father was both controlling and emotionally abusive towards her in the presence of children aged 9 and 10 years, and that he...

A maternal grandmother applied that children aged 3 and 5 years live with her and that she share in parental responsibility along with the parents (grandparent).  The grandmother had been significantly involved with both children since...

The father was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome and evidence was given that this affected the father’s interactions with his children aged 11 and 9 years (autism spectrum disorder). The judge found that the father lacked the...

The case involved three children, one aged 14 and twins aged 12 years.  The oldest child had brought a knife to a handover and threatened to kill the father with the knife, saying that the father...

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...

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 couple had a daughter aged 3 years at the time of the hearing.  The couple was involved in a car accident that severely injured the father, resulting in his being hospitalised for 7 months and...

A child aged 10 years at the final hearing had lived in a shared care arrangement with both parents, then lived with her father and spent time with her mother and sisters. The mother had persistently...

A trial judge accepted an assessment by a consultant that a father had an inappropriate relationship with his daughter aged 11 years as he talked to her about everything, he confided in her in many topics...

A 12 year old boy had lived with his mother for 18 months and then was ordered to live with his father and to spend time with his mother.  The mother appealed saying that the judge...

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 of a 6 year old girl had a shared care arrangement when the mother alleged that the child had been subject to sexual abuse by the father and paternal grandmother.  The mother applied for...

The couple had twins aged 6 years at the time of the hearings.  The couple separated when the twins were 7 months old, and the twins lived with the mother and spent time with the father. ...

A child aged 6 years had lived with the mother for 5 years.  A psychiatrist gave evidence that the mother met 7 of 9 criteria for  borderline personality disorder, and recommended psychological therapy (personality emotionally volatile). ...

A couple had three daughters aged 12, 11 and 9 years.  After separation the mother had on several occasions phoned her daughters and asked them to write to the ICL to pass on their negative experiences...

A couple separated having 2 children aged 11 and 10 years.  The parents agreed their children had observed one physical altercation when police were called.  The children initially spent time with the father while living with the mother. ...

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...

The mother of a 3 year old had commenced a relationship with a new partner (re-partnered).  The father asked for an order to prevent their daughter from coming into contact with the mother’s new partner. The...