Depit and Depit (No 2)

This matter concerned parenting orders for a child born in July 1994, with the father and mother as the parties. The dispute involved the arrangements for the child's living arrangements, parental responsibility, and associated matters such as travel costs and school fees.

The court was required to determine the appropriate parenting orders for the child, including the discharge of previous orders and injunctions, the allocation of equal shared parental responsibility, and the specific living arrangements for the child between the father and mother. Further issues included the father's responsibility for the child's travel costs, the sharing of school fees, and the management of the child's passport. The court also considered the discharge of the independent children's lawyer and the withdrawal of a contravention application.

Brown J discharged all previous parenting orders and injunctions, except for child support. The court ordered equal shared parental responsibility for the child. Specific living arrangements were detailed, with the child to live with the father in New South Wales on designated weekends during school terms and for specific periods during school holidays in Victoria. The child was to live with the mother at all other times. The father was made responsible for booking and paying for most of the child's travel costs, while the mother was responsible for specific travel costs related to her time with the child. The father was granted liberty to attend the child's school and sporting functions. The child support agreement was varied to reflect an equal sharing of school fees, and the agreement was extended until November 2012. The mother was to hold the child's passport, with conditions regarding overseas travel consent. The court also discharged the independent children's lawyer, allowed the father to withdraw his contravention application, vacated the trial date, and discharged the order for a family report, dismissing all other extant applications.