When an application is made to the Court, you will be asking a Judge, a third party, to make a decision about ‘your’ children. Parents have the relationship with ‘their’ children, a Judge does not. A Judge will make a decision based on the evidence before them and often rely on independent evidence from an expert. 

Litigation is expensive and lengthy. It can take anywhere up to two (2) years from the time the court proceedings are commence until the end of the matter when the Judge has made their decision. 

Regardless of whether you litigate through the courts or mediate an agreement via alternative dispute resolution, the legal principles are the same.