Grantham & Birchmore

This matter concerned parenting and property proceedings before Ryan J. The father, who has a brain injury, had reached an agreement with the mother for the child to spend regular supervised time with him, with supervision provided by his parents (the paternal grandparents). The paternal grandparents subsequently intervened in the parenting proceedings, seeking orders for time with the child, with whom the child shared a good relationship. The court was required to balance the time the child would spend with the paternal grandparents, the father, and the mother. In relation to the father's capacity to conduct the parenting proceedings, given he had a Case Guardian in financial proceedings, the court considered the definition of a person with a disability under the *Family Law Rules 2004* and ordered the father to obtain expert opinion on his capacity. The father also sought an injunction restraining the mother from leaving the child in the sole care of either of her brothers, but this application was refused due to a lack of evidentiary foundation.

The court's reasoning in the parenting proceedings involved balancing the competing interests of the parties and the child's best interests. The court ultimately made orders for the paternal grandparents to spend time with the child, in terms of the Independent Children’s Lawyer’s minute of order. In the property proceedings, the court considered an application for an interim distribution, specifically a "dollar for dollar" interim costs order, which was not made. The court reasoned that the quantum of interim payments was unlikely to exhaust the mother's final property settlement and that she had other assets available to rectify any maladjustment. Consequently, interim payments were ordered in the mother's favour.