Spencer and Squire (No.3)

In the proceedings before Judge Harper, the parties, Spencer and Squire, sought to vary existing orders made on 15 December 2017 concerning their very young child. The dispute centred on the specific terms of the orders governing the time the child would spend with the father, particularly regarding the duration and timing of these periods.

The court was required to determine the appropriate variations to orders 7 and 8, which dealt with the child's time with the father. These orders, made on an interim basis following an earlier four-day hearing, included provisions for equal shared parental responsibility and the child living with the mother. The variations sought related to the practical arrangements for the father's time with the child, both within a four-week cycle and during school holidays, commencing from the date of the orders until 2 October 2018, and thereafter.

Judge Harper varied orders 7 and 8 to provide more detailed and specific arrangements for the child's time with the father. The reasoning appears to be to clarify and refine the existing interim orders to better facilitate the father's time with the child, while acknowledging the ongoing nature of the parental responsibility arrangements. The court's decision involved a detailed articulation of the father's time, including specific hours and days within a four-week cycle, and provisions for school holidays, with mechanisms for agreement between the parties and default arrangements where agreement was not reached.

The court ordered that orders 7 and 8 made on 15 December 2017 be varied in accordance with the detailed terms set out in the judgment. Additionally, all extant applications were adjourned to 27 September 2018 for call-over, with directions regarding any new applications or objections to subpoenas made returnable before that date.