RUTH & HUTTON

In the matter of *Ruth & Hutton*, Kent J of the Family Court of Australia considered an application concerning parenting orders. The dispute involved the mother's proposed international travel with the child and related arrangements for the child's passports and communication between the father and child.

The court was required to determine the terms of consent orders to be made regarding the child's travel, the holding of the child's passports, and the father's communication with the child. Additionally, the court needed to address the procedural aspects of the case, including the removal of an application from the pending cases list and the transfer of proceedings.

The court made orders by consent of the parties. These orders included provisions for the father to deliver the child's Australian and United States passports to the mother's solicitors, the retention of a travel bond by the mother's solicitors, and permission for the mother to travel to the United States with the child for a specified period. Upon the mother's return, the child's passports were to be held by the mother's solicitors in safe custody, to be released only by agreement or court order. The father was also ordered to telephone the child three times per week. The court also ordered that particulars of obligations, consequences of contravention, and assistance details be set out in a separate annexed document.

Further orders were made to remove the mother's application from the pending cases list, to vacate a listed directions hearing, and to transfer the proceedings to the Federal Circuit Court for further adjournment. The Minutes of Consent were to remain on the court file.