Meadows and Meadows (No. 3)

In the Family Court of Australia, Henderson J considered applications by the mother concerning final parenting orders made in July 2019 and property settlement orders also made in 2019. The mother sought various orders including a change of venue, make-up time for missed periods with the child, enforcement of ongoing time, disclosure of protection orders concerning individuals in the father's household, a recovery order, and a stay or variation of existing sole parental responsibility orders. The father sought the removal of a caveat lodged by the mother over the former matrimonial home, which prevented him from dealing with the property to satisfy his property settlement obligation.

The court was required to determine whether the mother's applications for changes to the parenting orders should be granted, particularly in light of her alleged failure to comply with the existing final orders, including the requirement for supervised changeovers before unsupervised ones could commence. The court also had to consider the mother's actions in placing a caveat on the former matrimonial home, which obstructed the father's ability to comply with the property settlement order requiring him to pay the mother $200,000.

Regarding the parenting matters, Henderson J found that there had been no change in circumstances to warrant a variation of the final orders. The mother's applications were dismissed, including her requests for make-up time, enforcement of time, a further psychological assessment, disclosure of protection orders, and a recovery order. Her applications to re-open the parenting proceedings, stay or vary the sole parental responsibility orders, and change the venue were also dismissed. On the property front, the court ordered the removal of the caveat lodged by the mother over the property. If the mother failed to provide the necessary documentation for its discharge within seven days, a Registrar was appointed to execute the documents in her name. The mother was also restrained from lodging further caveats. The father was ordered to pay the $200,000 to the mother within 60 days, with provisions for the funds to be held in trust in a joint account if the mother refused to accept the payment directly.