Taylor and Cain

In the matter of *Taylor and Cain*, heard before Young J, the dispute concerned parenting arrangements for the child R, born on 19 October 1999, and the child's name. The mother sought sole parental responsibility and for the child to live with her, as well as a change of the child's name.

The court was required to determine whether it was in the best interests of the child for the mother to have sole parental responsibility and for the child to live with her. Additionally, the court had to consider whether a change of the child's name from R to L was in the child's best interests and, if so, whether the father's consent to this change should be dispensed with.

Young J ordered that the mother be granted sole parental responsibility for the child and that the child live with the mother. The court declared that it was in the child's best interests for her name to be changed from R to L, and accordingly, requested the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages to record this change. The father's consent to the name change was formally dispensed with, and a Registrar of the Court was appointed to execute any necessary documents in the father's name to give effect to this order. Questions regarding the father's time with the child and communication levels were reserved.