This time of year can be fraught with pressure to commit to holiday arrangements, social events and family dinners. For separated parents, this can be especially challenging if the arrangements for school holidays and special days are not agreed.
There are a number of useful processes that can assist parents in reaching an agreement in relation to these arrangements. For example, Family Dispute Resolution through the Family Relationship Centre or other private providers (www.familyrelationships.gov.au), mediation or legally assisted negotiations with a Family Lawyer. Any agreement reached should be documented in a Parenting Plan or Consent Orders.
It is a good idea access these services early. If you leave it too late and no agreement can be reached, you may have to apply to the Court to make orders for defined arrangements. It can generally take about six to eight weeks to have your first return date at Court. There is also no guarantee that a Court will deal with these issues on the first return date. Parents often run out of time to have these matters dealt with which can lead to disappointment.
The primary consideration for the Court in determining what Orders should be made will be what is in the children’s best interests, not the parents. The evidence relevant to this kind of dispute may be; arrangements in previous years, limiting excessive travel and multiple “handovers”, not exposing children to conflict and enabling children to spend time with each parent, siblings and extended family.
There are no guaranteed outcomes if you litigate these matters as the Court has a wide discretion. Some outcomes for school holidays may be dividing school holidays in half or on a week about basis for young children. Special days may be shared or the Court may Order an early or later celebration with one parent (eg. Christmas Eve or Boxing Day).
Written by Gillian Yeend from Yeend & Associates.Yeend & Associates is a specialist family law firm located in Gungahlin and Canberra City.
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