substantial and significant time

A maternal grandmother had cared for a child aged 3 years since birth as the mother and father were unable to care for the child full-time due to their work commitments.  The child was securely attached to the grandmother. The maternal...

For three years after separation, children aged 15, 12 and 10 years had at the mother’s insistence spent time with the father only at the mother’s house.  The mother then severed all of the children’s interaction with...

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....

After separating the mother of children aged 4 years and 7 months lived 32 kilometres from the father who saw his children every fortnight.  The father re-partnered and the mother had difficulty adjusting to his new...

A mother experienced an ongoing period of severe mental illness after the birth of a child, where the mental illness impacted on parenting.  The mother had been diagnosed with ADHD as a child and took Ritalin...

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 father applied for an infant aged 21 months to spend more time with him and less time with the mother who was the primary carer.  It was agreed that a 21 month old infant spend...

Separated parents had three children aged 7, 6 and 3 years who lived with their mother.  The father applied for an access plan to increase the time he spent with the children.  Due to the children’s...

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...

A trial judge ordered that a 5 year old child live with the mother and spend time with the father.  There was a further order that if the mother’s treating psychiatrist determined that the mother was...

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...

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...

The mother had obtained work in an overseas country and had relocated with the young child to that country by consent for 2 years.  The child travelled to see the father each month for two years. ...

The judge ordered that the children live with the mother and, provided the father lives within 50 kilometers of the children’s school and that visits are practicable, the children spend substantial and significant time with the...

The Family Law Act refers to ‘reasonable grounds to believe.’  The judge found that facts that provide reasonable grounds for a suspicion or belief do not lead to a positive finding of abuse or violence. Probability...

When parents were separated, a mother on two occasions asked the father to take on increased care of their two children as she experienced difficulty parenting the son who had learning difficulties (unable to cope). One...

A mother appealed rulings made by a trial judge that required the mother to return with two children after she had relocated inter-state to be nearer to family supports. Expert Evidence A family consultant had reported,...

Legislation in Australia allows people to apply for three types of intervention that affect family members: a parenting order from a Family Law Court (Family Circuit Court) a child protection order from a Children’s Court an...