Finch and Harris (No.4)

In the matter of *Finch and Harris (No.4)*, Judge Henderson considered an application by the father to vary existing orders made by Judge Scarlett on 17 June 2016. The dispute concerned the mother's alleged contravention of an order requiring her to pay for the child's flights to Adelaide, and the father's subsequent application to vary the parenting orders.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the mother had a reasonable excuse for contravening the previous order regarding flight costs, and whether the existing parenting orders should be varied in light of the circumstances. Specifically, the court had to determine if the mother's lack of financial capacity constituted a reasonable excuse for failing to pay for the child's flights.

Judge Henderson found that the mother did have a reasonable excuse for contravening the order, as she lacked the financial capacity to meet the cost of the child's flights to Adelaide. Consequently, the court ordered that the operation of the previous orders be suspended in so far as they related to the mother sharing the costs of flights. Furthermore, the court suspended the operation of the parenting orders concerning the father's access times, to be accommodated by way of flights between Adelaide and Sydney, pending further order. The matter was listed for a hearing on 23 May 2018 to consider any further applications to vary the orders.