Aviva and Bentoin

In the matter of Aviva and Bentoin, Stevenson J considered orders concerning the children M and L. The dispute involved the parental responsibility and living arrangements for the children, as well as the time they would spend with their father and mother.

The court was required to determine who should have sole parental responsibility for the children, where the children should live, and the specific arrangements for the children to spend time with both their father and mother. Additionally, the court needed to address the father's contact with the children, including any restrictions on his conduct, and the payment of outstanding fees.

Stevenson J discharged all existing orders relating to the children. The court ordered that the maternal grandparents, Mr and Mrs Bentoin, would have sole parental responsibility for the children, with a requirement to consult with both parents in writing on long-term decisions concerning medical treatment, education, and residence. The children were ordered to live with the maternal grandparents. The court then detailed a phased approach for the children to spend time with the father, commencing with supervised contact and gradually increasing to unsupervised overnight stays and significant portions of school holidays. The mother's time with the children was to be agreed between her and the maternal grandparents, under their supervision. The court also made orders regarding the collection and return of the children for contact, reasonable telephone contact for the father, and a restraint on the father from denigrating the mother in the presence of the children. Finally, the court ordered the parties to share outstanding fees owed to Dr R and included details of obligations and consequences of contravention in a fact sheet attached to the orders.