Merritt and Bruckner

In the matter of Merritt and Bruckner, Berman J considered an application concerning the parenting arrangements for two children, X and Y. The dispute involved the children's living arrangements, time spent with each parent, their schooling, and medical care.

The court was required to determine the most appropriate orders for the children's welfare, specifically addressing issues of equal shared parental responsibility, primary residence, and the allocation of time between the parents. Further, the court had to make orders regarding the children's enrolment and continued attendance at B Primary School, and to establish a framework for medical decision-making and consultation, including restrictions on certain medical interventions and consultations. The court also considered the need for injunctions to enforce these arrangements and to ensure the children's stability.

Berman J ordered that the parties have equal shared parental responsibility for the children, with the children to live with the mother. The father was granted specific time with the children, including a significant portion of the week and alternating school holidays, with detailed provisions for Christmas. The court also made orders concerning the children's schooling, mandating their enrolment at B Primary School and restraining either parent from changing their enrolment or enrolling them elsewhere without agreement. In relation to medical care, the mother was restrained from taking the children for consultations with a specific doctor or authorising surgical procedures without the father's written consent, and both parents were to attend agreed medical practitioners, with a requirement to inform each other of appointments. Finally, injunctions were granted to restrain each parent from attending within 50 metres of the other's workplace, place of employment, or residential address, and it was ordered that any purported ill health of the children would not suspend the operation of the time-sharing orders.