Kedis & Kedis

In the matter of *Kedis & Kedis*, heard by Judge Hartnett, the court was asked to determine parenting and property orders concerning the parties' children, X and Y, and their shared assets. The dispute involved the wife seeking sole parental responsibility for the children and specific arrangements for their time with the husband, as well as the division of their former matrimonial home and an investment property.

The court was required to determine the appropriate parenting arrangements for the children, including the extent of the husband's time with them and the conditions under which such time would occur. Furthermore, the court had to address the division of the parties' real estate, including the former matrimonial home and an investment property, and the allocation of associated debts and costs. The court also considered the husband's involvement in separate civil proceedings and the wife's costs in those proceedings.

Judge Hartnett ordered that all previous parenting orders be discharged and that the children live with the wife, who would have sole parental responsibility. The husband was granted limited, supervised time with the children each alternate weekend at a contact centre, with the wife having the liberty to monitor and terminate calls if the husband discussed the proceedings or denigrated the wife. Both parties were restrained from discussing the proceedings in the children's presence. The husband was ordered to attend parenting and men's behaviour change programs, and the wife was ordered to attend a parenting program. In relation to property, the husband was restrained from further steps in separate Magistrates' Court proceedings, other than discontinuing them. He was ordered to vacate the former matrimonial home and an investment property and deliver the keys. The husband was to transfer his interest in the former matrimonial home to the wife and the investment property was to be sold, with the proceeds applied first to sale costs, then to a mortgage, then to moneys due to the wife, and finally to outstanding rates and liabilities before any balance was paid to the husband. The husband was ordered to pay the wife costs incurred in the Magistrates' Court proceedings and a sum for property settlement. Specific chattels were to be retained by the wife, with each party otherwise retaining items in their possession and their superannuation interests. The court noted that the husband could apply for further orders regarding time with the children if he complied with specific conditions, including program completion and participation in supervised time.