Conroy and Jones

This matter concerned orders made by Murphy J regarding parental responsibility, living arrangements, and time spent between a child and his parents. The dispute centred on the arrangements for the child's care and the father's conduct concerning the child's name.

The court was required to determine the terms of sole parental responsibility, the child's residence, and the specific schedule for the child to spend time with his father. Additionally, the court had to address the father's use of the child's former name and the formal recognition of the child's new name, including the facilitation of any psychological impact arising from this change. The court also considered provisions for communication between the child and father, changeover arrangements, and the exchange of information regarding the child's welfare and health.

Murphy J ordered that the mother have sole parental responsibility for the child, with the father responsible for day-to-day decisions when the child was with him. The child was to live with the mother, and detailed provisions were made for the child to spend time with the father, including specific arrangements for weekends and school holidays, with alternating patterns for different holiday periods. The court also issued injunctions restraining the father from referring to the child by his former name and requiring him to use and encourage the use of the child's new name, "[K] Jones". Further orders mandated that the child be formally known as "[K] Jones" and stipulated that the father bear the expense of any naming ceremony or professional intervention deemed necessary to facilitate this change and address any resulting emotional issues. Provisions were also made for information sharing between parents regarding the child's health and education, and for mutual notification of contact details and emergencies. Finally, neither parent was permitted to denigrate the other in the child's presence.