Musto and Walbridge

In *Musto and Walbridge*, heard by Johnston J, the court was required to make final parenting orders concerning a child, B Walbridge. The dispute concerned the arrangements for the child's residence, parental responsibility, and the extent of the father's future contact with the child.

The primary legal issues before the court were: (1) who should have parental responsibility for the child; (2) where the child should live; (3) the nature and extent of any time the child should spend with the father; and (4) the terms of any communication or information sharing between the father and the child, and the mother regarding the child.

Johnston J ordered that the mother have sole parental responsibility for the child and that the child live with her in the US. The court further ordered that the child spend no time with her father. However, the father was permitted to send letters or greeting cards to the child on a limited basis, with the mother having the right to vet such communications. The mother was also ordered to keep the father informed of the child's postal address, school, and treating medical practitioners, and to facilitate the father's access to copies of school and medical documents relating to the child, at his own expense. The court also made orders regarding the discharge of the Independent Child Lawyer and the return of exhibits.