NIELSEN & SPRINGER

In this matter before Berman J, the wife sought to relocate with the parties' three children to Northern New South Wales, a proposal opposed by the husband. The children have special needs and ongoing medical conditions requiring management and therapy. The parties also sought orders for property settlement and spousal maintenance, with the wife seeking sole parental responsibility.

The court was required to determine the paramount issue of the children's best interests in relation to the proposed relocation, the division of the parties' property, and the wife's claim for spousal maintenance. The court also considered the parties' limited communication and the husband's asserted financial incapacity to meet spousal maintenance obligations from his income.

Berman J ordered that the wife have sole parental responsibility for the children and that the children live with her. The court also made detailed orders regarding the children's time with the husband, including alternate weekends, half of school holidays, and specific arrangements for public holidays and birthdays. Further orders addressed the children's passports, the wife's retention of the children's Country Z passports, and the husband's retention of the children's Australian passports. The court also ordered the husband to pay the wife a lump sum of $8,640 by way of spousal maintenance. In relation to property settlement, the court ordered that the wife receive 50% of the husband's entitlement to the Country F pension, a settlement sum of $45,998 to be paid by the husband to the wife within 21 days, and a base amount of $136,904 from the husband's interest in G Super, to be paid to the wife in accordance with the Family Law (Superannuation) Regulations 2001 (Cth).