MARKES & MARKES (No.5)

In the matter of MARKES & MARKES (No.5), Judge Carter of the Family Court of Australia considered a dispute between the parents concerning the time the children, Y (born 2005) and X (born 2008), would spend with their Father. The case was characterised by an extensive litigation history, including numerous contravention proceedings, and involved considerations of the children's mental health, their alignment with the Mother, their ages, their views, and ultimately, their best interests.

The court was required to determine the specific arrangements for the children's time with the Father, including the frequency and duration of weekend and holiday periods, and to discharge previous consent orders made on 30 September 2013. Additionally, the court needed to establish protocols for communication between the parents and the children when they were in the care of the other parent, and to make orders regarding counselling for the children.

Judge Carter reasoned that the existing orders required modification to better serve the children's best interests, given the history of the proceedings and the children's circumstances. The court discharged certain previous orders and established new, detailed arrangements for the children's time with the Father, encompassing two out of three weekends, specific Thursday evening contact, school term holidays, long summer holidays, and Christmas. The orders also stipulated changeover procedures, facilitated telephone communication between the parents and children, and permitted counselling for the children, with specific provisions for its arrangement and the parties' obligations to inform each other. All extant applications were dismissed, and the matter was removed from the court's pending list, with particulars of obligations and consequences for contravention set out in an attached Fact Sheet.