29 March 2018

Child in time

Family Law
Federal

Asked

Parenting orders – Unequal time

Are you able to refer me to any case law where judges have decided that week on/week off living arrangements are not in the best interests of the child? I seem to recall that there is now a body of opinion that whereas week on/week off sounds good, it is in fact quite disruptive to the children - and that arrangements such as alternative weekends provide greater stability.

Appreciate if you can point me toward any precedents.

Answered

Thank you for the question.

What orders are in the best interests of the children are always decided on a case by case basis, by applying s 60CC, however, in the below cases equal time was found to be unsuitable after varying periods of equal time arrangements, including both interim and final orders:

The leading case on equal time is Goode & Goode [2006] FamCA 1346, which has been cited many times – see the list of cases in which it has been cited here.

Regards

Mentor