Waltos and Sawtell

This matter concerned an application by the mother for orders regarding her child, X, born in 2010. The dispute centred on the arrangements for X's living situation, parental responsibility, and the father's time with X, including the mother's proposed relocation. The decision was made by Judge Betts.

The court was required to determine the extent of equal shared parental responsibility for major long-term issues concerning X, where X would live, whether the mother should be permitted to relocate with X to the City B region, and the specific arrangements for the father's time with X. Further issues included provisions for communication between X and each parent, notification of medical and educational information, and the prevention of denigration of one parent by the other.

The court ordered that the parents have equal shared parental responsibility for X's major long-term issues. It was ordered that X live with the mother and that she be at liberty to relocate with X to the City B region. Detailed provisions were made for the father's time with X, including during school terms and holidays, with specific adjustments for Mother's Day and Father's Day weekends. The orders also established communication protocols, including daily contact and notification of significant events, and mandated that each parent facilitate X's contact with the other. Furthermore, the court made orders regarding the sharing of educational and medical information, the notification of address changes, and restrained each parent from denigrating the other to X.