Meadows and Meadows (No 4) - [2019] FamCA 745

FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA

MEADOWS & MEADOWS (NO. 4)

[2019] FamCA 745

FAMILY LAW – CHILDREN – mother invokes liberty to apply provision in final parenting orders – limited capacity to amend – variations to orders made.

Family Law Act 1975 (Cth)

APPLICANT:

Ms Meadows

RESPONDENT:

Mr Meadows

FILE NUMBER:

PAC

3509

2013

DATE DELIVERED:

19 September 2019

PLACE DELIVERED:

Brisbane

PLACE HEARD:

Brisbane

JUDGMENT OF:

Baumann J

HEARING DATE:

19 September 2019

REPRESENTATION

THE APPLICANT APPEARED IN PERSON

THE RESPONDENT APPEARED IN PERSON

INDEPENDENT CHILDREN’S LAWYER:

Mr P Wilkins
Phillip A Wilkins & Associates

Orders

That Order 4 of the Orders made 30 July 2019 be varied as follows:
(a)Order 4(a) - no change;
(b)Order 4(b) - no change to the location for changeover but to accommodate the operating hours of the Suburb MM Contact Centre the time shall commence at 9.30am and conclude at 3.30pm; and
(c)Orders 4(c) and 4(d) – changeovers shall occur at the service station at Town UU.
That all other pending applications are dismissed.

Note: The form of the order is subject to the entry of the order in the Court’s records.

IT IS NOTED that publication of this judgment by this Court under the pseudonym Meadows & Meadows has been approved by the Chief Justice pursuant to s 121(9)(g) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).

Note: This copy of the Court’s Reasons for Judgment may be subject to review to remedy minor typographical or grammatical errors (r 17.02A(b) of the Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth)), or to record a variation to the order pursuant to r 17.02 Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth).

FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA AT BRISBANE

FILE NUMBER: PAC 3509 of 2013

Ms Meadows

Applicant

And

Mr Meadows

Respondent

EX TEMPORE REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

(Settled from the oral reasons delivered)

Introduction

On 30 July 2019, for reasons published at that time, final parenting orders in relation to a child B, who will be eight years of age in November, and who had been the subject of contested parenting disputes for some years between the Applicant mother, Ms Meadows, and the Respondent father, Mr Meadows, were made.
The Orders made on that day also included orders in relation to property proceedings between the parties. To the extent that there is an obligation on the husband to pay to the mother a sum of $200,000 within 60 days of the date of the Order, the time for payment has not actually arisen. In an Affidavit recently filed by the husband, he asserts that he is in the position to make the payment, but that the wife maintains a caveat over the title lodged in 2018, and the continuation of that caveat over the title prevents him completing refinancing and paying the funds to the wife.
In anticipation of not being in a position to make the payment to the wife as the Orders require, he sought in a sense by his Affidavit, an order for the removal of the caveat. The…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading Meadows and Meadows (No 4)

Details

AGLC: Meadows and Meadows (No 4) [2019] FamCA 745
Case: [2019] FamCA 745
Decision Date: 19 September 2019

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In *Meadows and Meadows (No 4)*, Baumann J of the Family Court of Australia considered an application by the mother to vary final parenting orders made on 30 July 2019. The dispute concerned the practical arrangements for child changeovers under those existing orders.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the mother had demonstrated sufficient grounds to justify a variation of the final parenting orders, specifically in relation to the location and timing of child changeovers. The court was required to assess the mother's capacity to amend the existing orders and determine if the proposed changes were in the best interests of the children.

Baumann J reasoned that while final parenting orders are generally intended to provide finality, there is a limited capacity to amend them in circumstances where practical difficulties arise. The court found that the proposed variations were necessary to accommodate the operating hours of a contact centre and to ensure changeovers occurred at a more suitable location. Consequently, the court varied Order 4(b) to adjust the time for changeovers to commence at 9:30 am and conclude at 3:30 pm, and varied Orders 4(c) and 4(d) to specify that changeovers would occur at a service station in Town UU. All other pending applications were dismissed.

Orders

Orders of the court

That Order 4 of the Orders made 30 July 2019 be varied as follows:

(a) Order 4(a) - no change;

(b) Order 4(b) - no change to the location for changeover but to accommodate the operating hours of the Suburb MM Contact Centre the time shall commence at 9.30am and conclude at 3.30pm; and

That all other pending applications are dismissed.

Note: The form of the order is subject to the entry of the order in the Court’s records.

Background

Background to the litigation

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Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

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Decision

Reasons for decision

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Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

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