Hargraves and Ivory

In *Hargraves and Ivory*, heard by Judge Terry, the dispute concerned parental responsibility and living arrangements for a child, X, born in 2013. The orders sought and ultimately made involved the mother having sole parental responsibility, the child living with the mother, and the father having no time or communication with the child.

The court was required to determine the best interests of the child, X, by considering various factors under relevant legislation. These included the child's age and capacity to express a view, the nature of the child's relationships with each parent and other significant persons, the extent to which each parent had fulfilled their obligations to maintain the child, and their participation in decision-making and spending time with the child. The court also had to consider the likely effect of any change in the child's circumstances and the impact on the mother of any order for the child to spend time with the father.

Judge Terry reasoned that X, being only three years old, was too young to express a view. The court found that the mother had been the primary and sole carer since birth and separation, and that she and X shared a loving and well-developed relationship. While X had some positive interactions with the father during supervised contact visits, these were limited and X did not appear to recognise him initially. The court noted the mother was financially maintaining the child and that the father had not participated in decision-making or spent significant time with X since separation, though this was not presented as his choice. The court accepted evidence regarding the potential negative impacts of a lack of parental relationship but also the mother's evidence that X was not currently impacted by his father's absence. Crucially, the court found that the mother would be highly distressed by an order for X to spend time with the father, and this distress was visibly apparent during the hearing.

The court ordered that the mother shall have sole parental responsibility for the child, that the child shall live with the mother, and that the father shall spend no time with and have no communication with the child.