Morales and Morales

This matter concerned orders made by Justice Le Poer Trench regarding the parental responsibility and living arrangements for a child, R, born in March 2000. The dispute involved the parents, identified as the Applicant father and the Respondent mother, concerning the care and upbringing of their child.

The court was required to determine the nature of parental responsibility, the specific living arrangements for the child during school terms and vacation periods, and provisions for special occasions such as birthdays and public holidays. Additionally, the court needed to establish protocols for communication between the parents, access to the child's educational and medical information, and mechanisms for resolving future disputes.

Justice Le Poer Trench ordered that the parents have equal shared parental responsibility for the child. The primary living arrangements stipulated that the child would live with the mother during New South Wales school terms on alternate weeks, commencing Thursday and concluding Tuesday morning. However, this order was suspended pending the mother's ability to meet specific conditions related to the child's school drop-off. During the suspension, the child was to live with the mother on alternate weekends and every Wednesday evening, with the father having the child at all other times during school terms. Specific arrangements were also made for school vacation periods, with the child spending half the period with each parent, alternating annually. Further orders detailed specific times the child would spend with each parent on Father's Day, Mother's Day, Christmas, and the child's birthday, and established communication protocols, information sharing, and prohibitions against denigration. The court also mandated the child's attendance at a specific primary school and required the parents to agree on secondary schooling, taking the child's wishes into account. Finally, the court ordered the facilitation of supervision by a Family Consultant, counselling for the child, and mandatory mediation or dispute resolution processes before commencing further court proceedings.