Keegan & Hart

In this matter before Bryant CJ, the court considered parenting and property disputes between the parties. The parenting dispute involved arrangements for their daughter, who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis, with the father experiencing some difficulty ensuring her timely arrival at school. The property dispute concerned the constitution of the property pool for division, including the treatment of moneys drawn at separation and a redundancy payment, and the application of section 75(2) factors, balancing the wife's significant earning capacity against her greater responsibility for the child's care and the child's special needs.

The court was required to determine the most appropriate parenting orders for the child, specifically addressing issues of parental responsibility, living arrangements, and time spent with each parent, taking into account the child's medical condition and the father's challenges with school punctuality. In relation to property, the court needed to decide how to divide the parties' assets, including the jointly owned real property and other financial resources, and to consider the impact of various factors on the final property settlement.

The court made orders for equal shared parental responsibility for major long-term issues concerning the child, with the child to live with the wife and have sole responsibility for her day-to-day care, welfare, and development, save when spending time with the husband. Specific detailed orders were made regarding the child's time with the husband, including alternate weekends and Thursdays during school terms, with provisions for lateness to school impacting the husband's time. The court also made detailed orders for the division of the jointly owned real property, including its sale, the application of proceeds, and the husband's sole right of occupation pending settlement. Further orders addressed the division of contents, personal items, and other property, with each party to be solely entitled to property in their possession, and a severing of any joint tenancies.