FINDLAY & REIS

In the Family Court of Australia, Judge Hughes considered an application by the father for a change to parenting arrangements that had been finalised six years prior. The mother opposed the application. The core of the dispute concerned the father's dissatisfaction with the existing parenting orders and his desire for altered arrangements for the children.

The central legal issue before the court was whether there had been a sufficient change in circumstances since the making of the final parenting orders to warrant a variation. This required the court to assess the nature of the alleged changes, the current circumstances of the children, and the potential impact of further litigation on the parties and, most importantly, the children.

Judge Hughes applied the principles established in *Rice & Asplund* (1979) FLC 90-725, which govern applications to vary final parenting orders. The court found that the ongoing hostility between the parties, coupled with the unlikelihood of any substantial positive change to the children's arrangements, meant that the negative aspects of further litigation would outweigh any potential benefits. Consequently, the court determined that it was not in the children's best interests to reopen the parenting arrangements.

The application for parenting orders filed by the father on 9 January 2019 was dismissed in accordance with the principles in *Rice & Asplund*.