Charles and Hughes

The Family Court of Australia considered parenting arrangements for two children, B and C, born in 2001 and 2003 respectively. The applicant father, Mr Charles, and the respondent mother, Ms Hughes, sought to establish new orders, with the elder child, B, being estranged from the father and the younger child, C, at risk of similar estrangement. The court was required to determine issues including an overseas holiday for C with her father, the logistics of changeovers for C's time with her father during school terms, and the sequencing of alternate weekends at the commencement of each new school term.

The court was tasked with determining whether to permit the father to take C on an overseas holiday during school time, a proposal opposed by the mother. Additionally, the court had to resolve competing proposals regarding the facilitation of changeovers for C's time with her father, specifically where these changeovers should occur. Finally, the court needed to establish a method for determining the sequencing of C's alternate weekends with her father at the start of each school term, considering the father's proposal to provide advance notice of this sequencing.

Justice Watts of the Family Court of Australia made orders for the children to live with their mother, with both parents sharing parental responsibility. The court permitted the father to take C on an overseas trip between 17 June and 5 July 2014, noting that the elder child, B, had been invited to join this trip. The court adopted the mother's proposal for changeovers, requiring her to deliver C to McDonalds at Suburb H at 6 pm on Fridays, with the father returning C to the mother's home at 7 pm on Sundays. The father's proposal for sequencing alternate weekends was adopted, requiring him to provide the mother with written notice of the alternate weekends C would spend with him for the following year by the last day of each school term. The court also made detailed orders regarding communication, school information, family therapy, and prohibitions against denigrating the other parent.