BROWN & ORTEGA

This case involves an application by the father, Mr Brown, seeking to vary interim parenting orders relating to the parties' youngest child, [Z]. The current interim orders, made by consent on 12 August 2011, provide that [Z] is to spend time with the father from 10:00am to 4:00pm each Saturday. The father seeks to discharge that order and instead have [Z] spend overnight time with him on weekends and for a period at Christmas. The father also seeks to spend time with [Z] during the school term from the conclusion of school on Friday until the commencement of school on the Monday, as well as half of each school holiday period. The mother, Ms Ortega, opposes any change to the current interim orders. The legal issues the court had to decide were whether the child should spend any overnight time with his father and whether it was in the child's best interests to change the current arrangements. The court considered the Court Expert Report, which recommended that [Z] should have monthly weekend contact with his father to reduce the father's travelling and exposure to conflict between the parents. The court found that it was in [Z]'s best interests to spend overnight time with his father and that changeovers should occur at [H] Railway Station. The court also found that the mother should file and serve a Notice of Change of Address for Service. The final parenting orders are to be determined at the final hearing in March 2013.