Lilly Pilly Blog
Parenting Orders – what you need to know
A parenting order is a set of orders made by a court about parenting arrangements for a child. A court can make a parenting order based on an agreement between the parties (consent orders) or after a court hearing or trial. When a parenting order is made, each person affected by the order must follow it. A parenting order may deal with one or more of the following: who the child will live with how much time the child will...
The Twelve Golden Rules of Giving Evidence
As many people who are using he centre are unfortunately involved with various Court systems. I thought I would share a list of rules given to me by a very respected Queens Counsel. 1. Listen to the question. This is the first and most obvious rule. You would be surprised how many witnesses don’t 2. If you don’t hear or understand the question, say so. Don’t guess at what the barrister was asking. Don’t be afraid to say “I am sorry,...
The Conservative Approach
Many times parents are requested to participate in supervised contact with their children because Magistrates have not yet heard proper evidence. Whether it be allegations of Family Violence, Abuse, Alcohol, Magistrates will request a conservative approach until proper evidence of these allegations put forward can be heard. Many times both parents will allege actions that the other party may / may-not have done to try and benefit their case. Litigation, if you choose that path in your situa...
Shared Parenting
Many parents attend interviews for a Family Report and say they would like a shared parenting arrangement. So what is shared parenting and what makes it successful? In whose best interest is shared parenting and how does it impact on children? Shared parenting allows parents to both play a role in a child or children’s lives. It is an arrangement whereby the parents share the time the children spend with each parent. It can be on an equal 50:50 basis...