Dean and Crawford - [2008] FamCA 848

FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA

DEAN & CRAWFORD

[2008] FamCA 848

FAMILY LAW – CHILDREN – With whom a child spends time – Best interests of a child

APPLICANT:

Ms Dean

RESPONDENT:

Mr Crawford

INDEPENDENT CHILDREN’S LAWYER:

Sharon Moore

FILE NUMBER:

NCF

231

2006

DATE DELIVERED:

25 September 2008

PLACE DELIVERED:

Newcastle

PLACE HEARD:

Newcastle

JUDGMENT OF:

JUSTICE MULLANE

HEARING DATES:

26 & 28 August and
9 September 2008

REPRESENTATION

COUNSEL FOR THE APPLICANT:

Mr I. Duane

SOLICITOR FOR THE APPLICANT:

John R. Quinn & Co

THE RESPONDENT:

In person

COUNSEL FOR THE INDEPENDENT CHILDREN’S LAWYER:

Ms D. Burns

SOLICITOR FOR THE INDEPENDENT CHILDREN’S LAWYER:

Ms Sharon Moore

Orders

The mother has sole parental responsibility for the parties’ sons J CRAWFORD born … August 2000 and B CRAWFORD (also known as B DEAN) born … August 2002.
The mother is restrained from using any surname other than “[CRAWFORD]” for each of the boys.
The mother must cause the Birth Certificate of the child B and his school records to be amended accordingly and the father must sign any documents submitted to him by the mother necessary to implement this order.
Any prior orders for the children to spend time with the father are discharged.
That subject to agreement by the W Family Support Service (or some other supervised contact service in W) (“the contact centre”) the boys are to spend time with their father at W and supervised by the contact centre for 2 hours every 3 months.
Within seven days the independent lawyer for the boys must provide the contact centre with a copy of the Judgment (including these Orders).
Each party must:
7.1contact the contact centre within 7 days and arrange an appointment for assessment for suitability for supervision of the time the child spends with him or her;
7.2 attend the assessment;
7.3comply with any appointments made by the contact centre for supervised time;
7.4 comply with all reasonable rules of the contact centre; and,
7.5comply with all reasonable requests or directions of the staff of the contact centre.
The husband must pay any reasonable fees of the contact centre for each provision of supervision at least 14 days before the supervision is to be provided.
Otherwise any outstanding applications of the parties are dismissed.

IT IS NOTED that publication of this judgment under the pseudonym Dean & Crawford is approved pursuant to s 121(9)(g) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth)

FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA AT NEWCASTLE

FILE NUMBER: NCF 231 of 2006

MS DEAN

Applicant

And

MR CRAWFORD

Respondent

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

INTRODUCTION

The applicant mother is 39 years of age and not in paid work. The respondent father is 45 years of age and also not in paid work.
When the parties commenced cohabitation in 1999, the mother was 30 and the father was 35. Their final separation occurred on 16 September 2004.
They have two sons, J (aged 8) and B (aged 6).
Since the separation the boys have resided with the mother.

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading Dean and Crawford

Details

AGLC: Dean and Crawford [2008] FamCA 848
Case: [2008] FamCA 848
Decision Date: 25 September 2008

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the matter of *Dean and Crawford*, heard before Justice Mullane, the dispute concerned parental responsibility and the surname of the parties' two sons, J Crawford and B Crawford (also known as B Dean). The mother sought sole parental responsibility and the right to use the surname Crawford for both children, while the father's position on these matters is not explicitly detailed but is implied to be opposed to the mother's primary claims given the court's orders.

The court was required to determine the appropriate orders regarding parental responsibility for the children, the surname to be used by the children, and the extent and nature of any time the children would spend with their father. Additionally, the court needed to address the practical implementation of any surname change and the arrangements for supervised contact.

Justice Mullane ordered that the mother have sole parental responsibility for both sons and be restrained from using any surname other than Crawford for them. The mother was directed to amend the children's birth certificates and school records accordingly, with the father required to provide necessary documentation. Prior orders for the children to spend time with the father were discharged. The court further ordered that, subject to agreement with a supervised contact service, the boys would spend two hours with their father every three months, supervised by the service. Both parties were mandated to attend assessments for suitability for supervised time and comply with the contact centre's rules and directions, with the father to bear the reasonable fees for supervision.

Orders

Orders of the court

The mother has sole parental responsibility for the parties’ sons J CRAWFORD born … August 2000 and B CRAWFORD (also known as B DEAN) born … August 2002.

The mother is restrained from using any surname other than “[CRAWFORD]” for each of the boys.

The mother must cause the Birth Certificate of the child B and his school records to be amended accordingly and the father must sign any documents submitted to him by the mother necessary to implement this order.

Any prior orders for the children to spend time with the father are discharged.

That subject to agreement by the W Family Support Service (or some other supervised contact service in W) (“the contact centre”) the boys are to spend time with their father at W and supervised by the contact centre for 2 hours every 3 months.

Within seven days the independent lawyer for the boys must provide the contact centre with a copy of the Judgment (including these Orders).

Each party must:

7.1 contact the contact centre within 7 days and arrange an appointment for assessment for suitability for supervision of the time the child spends with him or her;

7.2 attend the assessment;

7.3 comply with any appointments made by the contact centre for supervised time;

7.4 comply with all reasonable rules of the contact centre; and,

7.5 comply with all reasonable requests or directions of the staff of the contact centre.

The husband must pay any reasonable fees of the contact centre for each provision of supervision at least 14 days before the supervision is to be provided.

Otherwise any outstanding applications of the parties are dismissed.

Background

Background to the litigation

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Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

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Decision

Reasons for decision

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Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

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