Dent and Staff & Anor

In the matter of *Dent and Staff & Anor*, Austin J of the Family Court of Australia considered disputes concerning the parental responsibility and living arrangements for three children, as well as property settlement. The father had relocated approximately 750km from the mother and children following the parties' separation. The court also noted that the father's conduct had contributed to the deterioration of his relationships with the children, and that past family violence had displaced the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility. Furthermore, the father was found to lack insight into the children's emotional needs. In relation to property, the father had been declared bankrupt in 2016, and the mother was the sole proprietor of the former matrimonial home.

The court was required to determine the appropriate orders for parental responsibility and the children's living arrangements, taking into account the father's relocation and conduct, and the impact of past family violence. Additionally, the court had to consider whether the father, or his trustee in bankruptcy, had an equitable interest in the former matrimonial home and whether any property adjustment orders were just and equitable.

Regarding the children, the court found that the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility was displaced due to past family violence and the father's lack of insight into the children's needs. Consequently, the mother was granted sole parental responsibility, and the children were ordered to live with her. The father was granted limited time with the children, specifically on six occasions each year in the region close to the mother's home, with specific exchange arrangements and provisions for suspension of contact if the father failed to facilitate two consecutive occasions. The court also imposed restraints on the father, including a 100-metre exclusion zone from the children's schools and a prohibition on electronic recording during exchanges. Further orders addressed communication between the father and children, corporal punishment, denigration of a parent, notification of medical emergencies, and the mother's ability to take the children overseas. In the property settlement, the court concluded that neither the father nor his trustee in bankruptcy could establish an equitable interest in the former matrimonial home through resulting or constructive trusts, and therefore, no property adjustment orders were made.