NEVILLE & NEVILLE

In *Neville & Neville*, the mother applied to the court for orders permitting her two children to travel to the United States of America to visit her family, including an unwell relative. The proposed travel dates fell within the school term, necessitating a balance between the disruption to the children's education and the benefits of travelling with their mother. The court was asked to determine whether permitting this travel was in the children's best interests.

The primary legal issue before the court was to assess the competing considerations of the children's educational disruption against the advantages of overseas travel with their mother, all within the overarching framework of the children's best interests. Additionally, the court considered the mother's application for costs, specifically whether the circumstances warranted an order for the father to pay the costs of and incidental to the proceedings, having regard to the factors outlined in section 117(2A) of the relevant legislation.

Dawe J reasoned that the children's best interests favoured permitting the travel, despite the disruption to their schooling. The court found that the benefits of the children travelling with their mother outweighed the educational impact. Regarding costs, although the mother was successful in her primary application, the court was not satisfied that the circumstances justified making a costs order against the father. Consequently, no orders were made as to costs. The court ordered that the children be permitted to travel with the mother to the United States from 30 July 2012 to 27 August 2012, and directed the father to provide the children's passports to the mother by 20 July 2012 for this purpose, with the passports to be returned to the father upon their return to Australia.