WALLACE & MAY

This matter concerned an application for final orders regarding the parenting arrangements for a child, X, born in 2011. The proceedings were before Judge Henderson.

The court was required to determine the orders for parental responsibility, the child's living arrangements, and the specific time the child would spend with each parent, including provisions for regular time, school holidays, and special occasions. The court also needed to consider conditions and potential suspensions of certain time provisions based on the father's availability and punctuality.

Judge Henderson made orders for equal shared parental responsibility. The child was ordered to live with the mother, with the father to spend time with the child through a progressively increasing schedule of unsupervised time, commencing with specific Saturday and Thursday arrangements. The orders included detailed provisions for the transition of time, the father's obligations regarding the child's readiness for return, and initial supervised overnight time with the paternal grandmother. Conditions were imposed on the father's Thursday and Friday time, contingent on his ability to collect the child from school or be available at home at specified times, with potential suspension of these arrangements if these conditions were not met. The court also set out detailed arrangements for the child's time with the father during Christmas holidays, other school holidays, and mid-term breaks, with provisions for these arrangements to evolve over subsequent years.