Parenting Arrangements

A relationship breakdown is tough, and when there are children involved it often adds another layer of complexity and stress. Our family lawyers are highly experienced in this area and can help negotiate a successful outcome, even in the most challenging cases.

How it works: child custody and parenting arrangements

If you separate from your spouse or de facto partner and there are children involved, you will need to work out a range of matters, including:

who the children will live with
how much time children will spend with each parent, grandparents and others
how decisions will be made about things like schooling and medical care
what happens on birthdays, Christmas, and other special occasions.

Agreeing on these matters may come quite easily or it may prove to be extremely difficult and frustrating. Things can be exacerbated where one parent has a drug or alcohol addiction, mental health issues or a history of violence – and they insist on something you do not agree with.

Whatever the situation, it’s important to keep in mind that the family law legislation sets out how the Court should approach these matters, and always requires the “best interests of the child” to be the most important consideration in any decision.

This means that while a child has the right to have a meaningful relationship with both parents, more weight is given to the need to protect the child from any physical or psychological harm.

How we can help

Whether you have come to an agreement and simply want to ensure your parenting arrangements are fair and enforceable, or you have a challenging situation involving your separation and children, we are here to help and support you.

We can assist with:

documenting parenting arrangements and preparing a parenting plan or consent orders
resolving disputes about parenting arrangements through negotiation, family dispute resolution, the collaborative process, a court-ordered Child Dispute Conference or by issuing proceedings in the Family Court.
preparing a response to an application
providing advice if you or your child is experiencing, or has experienced, family violence.

We're here to help you.

Make an enquiry to find out where you stand.

If you have questions, would like some more information about us or our services or simply want to speak to someone, make an enquiry and a member of our Family Law team will be in touch with you shortly.