Parenting Arrangements
What needs to be considered following separation?
When deciding what parenting arrangements are appropriate for your child or children, it is the best interests of the child that is the paramount consideration.
After separation, arrangements for the care and supervision of children need to be considered and implemented. The arrangements can be informal or formal, but either way consideration is given to where the children live and with whom, how they spend time with each parent or care provider and how decisions are made with respect to major long-term issues such as education and health.
When possible and safe, children benefit most from the ongoing care and support of both parents (and other important people in their life). They tend to feel more secure when their parents can agree on future plans and explain them clearly.
During our first meeting with you, our family lawyers will discuss various options for your child or children’s care and parenting arrangements. Things to consider might include amongst other things:
The priority to ensure the safety of the children with each parent
The benefits of the children having a relationship with each parent
Age, stage of development and/or needs of the children
Children spending time with each parent during the school terms, on school holidays and on special occasions
Each adult’s capacity to provide emotionally and psychologically to the needs of the children
Housing arrangements (location and proximity to educational facilities and sleeping arrangements)
Religion and connectivity to culture
Overseas travel
Determining the Parenting Arrangements
Our priority is to assist our clients in reaching an agreement about the children over litigation. Our family law team will guide you toward alternatives like solicitor-led negotiations, direct discussions between parents and care providers (where safe), private mediation or government funded family dispute resolution (FDR). In certain cases, a collaborative law approach may also be a great fit.
As with property matters, it is important for parties to understand the pre-action procedure requirements that apply in parenting matters. The Family Law Act 1975 requires parties to make a genuine attempt to resolve the parenting dispute through mediation or FDR process before an application can be made to the court for a parenting order.
If a resolution by negotiation, mediation or family dispute resolution (FDR) is not possible or has not achieved an outcome, then the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia is available to assist you. It is compulsory in most parenting matters that FDR occurs before any application is made to the Court. It is not only the parents of a child that may apply to the Court.
The jurisdiction of the Court is open to applications from:
Either or both of a child’s parents
A grandparent of a child
Any other person concerned with the care, welfare and development of a child
Parry Coates Family Law are available to assist you with your application and attend with you at all Court events. We are committed to ensuring your journey after separation is focussed on you and your family. We will reassure you that your different direction will lead to new beginnings.