VIC Partner's Rights to be Closer to Son - Family Court Orders?

[Corinne]

My partner allowed his ex fiancé to relocate to Canberra, NSW from VIC with his four year old son earlier this year on the grounds that they return for him to start school next year closer to extended friends and family. This was only a verbal agreement, for her to be closer to her new partner who is serving in the defence force. No parenting plans or orders were put in place.

His ex has since gone back on her 'word' stating that they will be staying in Canberra and their son will be attending school there.

Since their split in early 2014, my partner has his son every weekend and pays child support accordingly. He wants to continue this shared parenting situation but weekend visits if his son starts school in Canberra will have to stop as it's too far to travel.

They have recently attended mediation session which failed and appropriate certificates have been issued as no agreement was able to be made.

Does my partner have any rights in being able to bring his son back closer, or to put family court orders in place to prevent her moving further?

Thanks

 

[JS79]

Hi,
As your partner has attended mediation, the next step is for him to see a family lawyer.
Is there any evidence, e.g. email that you partner sent to his ex to say that it was to be only until the start of the new year?

Some articles that may help him include;

An article regarding the family law act: The Family Law Act 1975 - How Does It Impact Your Family? - Legal Blog - LawAnswers.com.au

An article regarding parenting plans : Four Common Parenting Plan Questions - Legal Blog - LawAnswers.com.au

To have your partner connected to a local family lawyer, see Get Connected with the Right Lawyer for You

 

[Corinne]

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately there is no evidence about anything that was said.
Money is extremely tight, we're considering submitting our own application to initiate court orders to stop her from moving further at least.

 

[franklin9]

Hey there, I'm going through a similar situation with my partner and his ex and their 5-year-old. She left a year(ish) ago on the condition she would not limit contact and visitation with his child and since gone back on her word. As NSW is too far to be realistic and frequently travel from SA, they have only been able to spend a week together. Since then she has refused contact with my partner's son other than a couple of short conversations via phone each week. Would be interested to see how your situation works out and of course, good luck to you both.

Best regards

 

[Corinne]

Hey, thanks for sharing.

The most frustrating thing is that the legal advice my partner sought basically said, "You shouldn't have let her move." But at the same time there's so much weight being put on people to try and come to agreements amongst themselves.

I guess that's where parenting plans and consent orders come into play but who really thinks of that at the time? Neither of us knew those things even existed until it was too late.

I hope your situation works out, it's all manipulation using the children. Will you seek orders?
Our court date isn't for a few months. :-/

 

[AllForHer]

When did the move to Canberra take place?

 

[Corinne]

March 2015

 

[Corinne]

And by the time we figured out she was being manipulative, we had to wait to complete mediation and receive the certificate, etc. before we could apply to the court. So that's all only just happened now but might be too late.

 

[AllForHer]

Thanks.

Unfortunately, given the amount of time the child has been living in Canberra now, I think it would difficult to have an order made for recovery or relocation, particularly if there is no written evidence of any kind pertaining to the agreement. You can include it as evidence in the affidavit, of course, but it's just he-said, she-said unless there's hard evidence supporting your stance.

Instead, it would probably be more conducive to pursue parenting orders that facilitate the child spending regular time with the father, such as all long weekends or three/four weekends each school term, and half gazetted school holidays (plus Christmas, Easter, etc.). Regular phone/Skype calls would also be a good idea.

If you wish, you can seek orders through the court that the mother relocate from Canberra to Sydney and in the event of the mother relocating, that the child spend time with the father [on whatever regular basis you wish], or in the event the mother isn't ordered to relocate, that the child spend time with the father [on whatever slightly less regular basis you wish].

 

[Corinne]

Thanks for your info, it's greatly appreciated. We have included orders for all future arrangements including visitation, but I'm not sure as to the tactic behind requesting a relocation to Sydney? As that would be further away...