Clyatt and Lemm

This matter concerned property settlement and parenting orders between the Applicant Mother and the Respondent Father. The court was required to determine the division of property and the arrangements for the children, B and C.

The legal issues before the court included the quantum of the financial settlement to be paid by the Respondent Father to the Applicant Mother, and the terms of the parenting orders, specifically concerning equal shared parental responsibility, the children's residence, the mother's application to relocate with the children, and the time the children would spend with the father. The court also had to consider the implications of the mother's proposed residence on the changeover arrangements for the children.

Rees J ordered that the Respondent Father pay the Applicant Mother $150,000 within three months, failing which he was to sell a specified property and pay the outstanding amount from the proceeds, with interest. The court made orders for equal shared parental responsibility for the children, with the children to live with the mother. The mother's application to relocate the children to Country F was dismissed, but she was permitted to live with the children outside the Sydney Metropolitan Area, provided her residence was within a 90-minute train journey from Central Railway Station, Sydney. Specific arrangements were made for the children to spend time with the father, including weekday and alternate weekend time, and half of school holidays, with provisions for changeovers depending on the mother's residence. The mother was permitted to travel with the children to Country F for five weeks in alternate Christmas holiday periods, with communication requirements with the father. All outstanding applications were dismissed.