children Archives | Zande Law

Choosing Between Parenting Plans and Consent Orders

18 June 2025 10:32 am Leave a Comment

When determining whether a Parenting Plan or Consent Order is the best way to record your parenting arrangements, we always recommend that clients consider enforceability, flexibility, and costs of each.

Enforceability;

Parenting Plans are not automatically enforceable, and there are no immediate consequences to the ‘guilty’ parent who breaches its terms. Comparatively, Consent Orders are immediately enforceable by the court and a parent found breaching it can face sanctions such as fines, imposition of a court bond, mandatory parenting education courses, loss of time with the children and in extreme cases, even jail.

However, there are circumstances where a parent may need to deviate from the agreement in a situational, one-off minor instance. With Parenting Plans this is generally a non-issue. If Consent Orders are in place however, then the deviating parent is acting under the threat of court sanctions.

Inflexibility;

Because of their informal nature, Parenting Plans can be changed from time to time and the Family Court is available to hear and determine disputes if parents cannot agree on the changes. With Consent Orders, if the parties cannot agree on the terms for the new replacement orders, then access to take the dispute back to Court is restricted and can only happen if both parents agree or at least one parent can show a significant change in the circumstances of either parent or the children from when the first orders were made.

Costs

Parenting Plans are generally much faster and cost effective to prepare because they aren’t required to be registered in a court. By comparison, Consent Orders are generally more expensive and complicated to put together as they have to actually be filed with the court and approved by a Judge, and require more precise drafting.

Whether the above points of difference would mean that a Consent Order or Parenting Plan would be more suitable, the general view is that save for circumstances where one parent is expecting routine and significant non-compliance with the time arrangements, a Parenting Plan would be preferred over a Consent Order given they are quicker and easier to make, easier to vary and don’t carry the potentially draconian threat of enforcement for even miniscule or trifling breaches.

Michael Zande is a Queensland Law Society Accredited Family Law Specialist with over 30 years’ experience in the field. He is the principal at Zande Law Solicitors, Suite 9, Norwinn Centre, 15 Discovery Drive, North Lakes. To contact Michael for advice, phone (07) 3385 0999.

The information in this article is merely a guide and is not a full explanation of the law. This firm cannot take responsibility for any action readers take based on this information. When making decisions that could affect your legal rights, please contact us for professional advice.

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How to let the kids have their say

14 May 2025 12:28 pm Leave a Comment

After a relationship breakdown, it’s important for parents to consider the future arrangements for their kids. This can be problematic if relying too much on the child’s perspective. Experts tell us that children often say what they believe each parent wants to hear, resulting in conflicting information being presented to both parents. The result of this (usually unintentional) behaviour from children is that both adults think that they are adhering to the child’s wishes, but they are negotiating the arrangements based on different information, leading to inconsistencies. Therefore, it’s important to try and find the balance between allowing children to express their wishes, having regard to their maturity levels, and avoiding putting too much pressure on them.

An effective approach to addressing this issue is to partake in a ‘child inclusive mediation,’ where the kids meet with an independent consultant who is usually an expert in social work or child psychology. This consultant allows the children to express their views without pressure. The consultant then relays the child’s views to the parents during mediation. This process helps to identify any areas of concern and ways in which the children can be best supported moving forward. With this insight, parents can negotiate more effectively, leading to an agreement that genuinely reflects their children’s needs and wishes.

Child-inclusive mediations are particularly effective as children grow older or if one parent has been rejected and the adults cannot agree on why this is occurring. The major benefit is that while the parents ultimately make the decisions, the children can feel as though they’ve been heard, which makes for happier households for everyone involved.

The information in this article is merely a guide and not a full explanation of the law. This firm cannot take responsibility for any action readers take based on this information. When making decisions that could affect your legal rights, please contact us for professional advice.

Joshua Noble is an Accredited Family Law Specialist and Senior Associate at Zande Law, 3/15 Middle Street, Cleveland. To contact Joshua for advice, phone 07 3385 0999.

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Joint Parental Responsibility and Medical Treatment

9 April 2025 11:00 am Leave a Comment

If you have a Court Order or Parenting Plan that states that yourself and your ex-partner have ‘Joint Parental Responsibility’ or ‘Joint Decision-Making Responsibility’ for your children, this means that yourself and your ex-partner must take all reasonable steps to confer and agree on long term decisions for the children. These types of decisions include, but are not limited to, choice of the children’s name, religion, schooling and medical care. However, what happens if parents cannot agree on whether the child should attend for a medical diagnosis or where the child should receive care?

In circumstances where a child needs medical treatment for a less serious and temporary ailment such as the flu or a scraped knee, this can arguably be dealt with unilaterally by one parent. When making these decisions, it is important to still ensure that the terms of the Court Order/ Parenting Plan are consulted, the other parent is still notified, and clear communication is shared about the medical treatment, diagnosis and any ongoing medical treatment that may be required.

On the other hand, where a formal diagnosis for a more serious condition which requires ongoing accommodations is sought (for example, Autism Spectrum Disorder and/or Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) this requires joint agreement from both parents.

If the parents are not in agreement, and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia has not already made an Order on this issue, then an application could be made to the Court for the Court to adjudicate on the matter. The Court will often make one of the following three Orders:

An Order providing one parent sole parental decision making responsibility for all issues;

An Order providing for a specific determination on the matter at hand; or

An Order providing one parent sole parental decision making responsibility for one specific issue.

It is more common for the Court to make an Order in line with options 2 or 3, which still leaves the parents with ‘Joint Decision-Making Responsibility’ in respect of all other matters.

Alternatively, rather than progressing the matter to Court, the parents could attend at mediation or other forms of dispute resolution to discuss the matter.

Bethany Bellion, Solicitor at Zande Law Solicitors, Suite 9, Norwinn Centre, 15 Discovery Drive, North Lakes, is the author of this article, practising in the areas of Wills, Estates and Family Law.

Next Article: Avoiding The Snowball Effect

Avoiding The Snowball Effect

26 March 2025 11:35 am Leave a Comment

The golden rule in coparenting is that effective communication is crucial.

It can be tempting to ignore or delay replying when you see a message from the other parent and, let’s face it, most people would prefer not talking to an ex if they had the choice. However, this is where the problems often start and not communicating (or not doing so appropriately) can easily make everything worse.

Where it is safe to do so, having a quality communication channel with the other parent prevents small problems from turning into big ones and the key to stopping this snowballing effect is for both parents to follow some fundamental rules of communication.

Be polite and start with a greeting.

Don’t ever insult the other parent or imply that they’re not doing as good a job.

Keep the messages to the point and factual so the other parent can respond in the same manner.

Always get the other parent’s side of the story on any incident first rather than jumping to conclusions.

Assume that everything you write will be brought up at some point in the future to someone important.

Acknowledging receipt of messages from the other parent is important and, if you can’t reply straight away, provide a reasonable timeframe for when you’ll respond.

If your child misses a call from the other parent, organise a time for them to call back.

If you need some help, try using a parenting communication app but always call if there is an emergency.

There are plenty more rules, but these will stop a lot of molehills from turning into mountains which makes for a far smoother coparenting experience. If nothing else, it’s always beneficial for kids when they can see both parents on the same page and getting along.

Joshua Noble is an Accredited Family Law Specialist at Zande Law located at Suite 3, Jade Chambers, 15 Middle Street, Cleveland. To contact Josh for advice, please phone (07) 3385 0999 to schedule an appointment.

Next Article: Parenting Coordination and Family Law Parenting Orders

Parenting Coordination and Family Law Parenting Orders

5 March 2025 10:46 am Leave a Comment

After lengthy legal proceedings to obtain Parenting Orders, it can be disheartening for parents when one parent continues to act in a way that is not supported by the Orders; for example, by using abusive language, denigrating the other parent, or otherwise doing or failing to do particular things with or around the children.

Although the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) contains provisions that allow a parent to take the ‘offending’ parent to court for alleged breaches of Parenting Orders, the threat of court proceedings doesn’t always deter this behaviour. Very commonly, the court acts leniently towards the offending parent because fining, imprisoning, or imposing some other sanction on a parent always carries the risk that it could harm the children.

A potential solution to this problem is for the parents to jointly engage a Parenting Coordination (‘PC’) service. PC is an alternate dispute resolution technique that assists parents in effectively communicating, managing and resolving conflicts related to Parenting Orders and Parenting Plans. Parenting coordinators help co-parents by establishing clear rules for engagement, encouraging cooperation and curtailing hostility. The intention is to resolve disputes outside of court, and avoid the stresses and cost of further court applications.

In practice, if Orders state that the parents are not to use abusive language in communications with each other and one parent continues to do so after the Orders are made, then the parenting coordinator can stop and advise the parent that their behaviour may be in breach of the Orders, remind them of the sanctions the Court might impose, counsel the parent on how to appropriately communicate in that matter, and seek to be copied into future communications to minimise recurrent events.

Another advantage of PC is that none of the parents’ interactions with the parenting coordinator are protected by any confidentiality or immunity. Therefore if the ‘abusive’ parent continues to use abusive language even after conversations with the parenting coordinator, these communications can be presented to a Judge.

For these reasons PC services are certainly increasing in popularity amongst our clients and are an incredibly useful resource for parents seeking to enforce Parenting Orders or Parenting Plans outside of court.

Madeline Crnkovic, Law Student and Paralegal at Zande Law Solicitors, Suite 9, Norwinn Centre, 15 Discovery Drive, North Lakes, is the author of this article, training in the areas of Wills, Estates and Family Law.

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Can I lock in my child support payments?

31 January 2024 1:59 pm Comments Off

It’s possible for parents to organise and maintain private agreements in relation to child support obligations and for this money to be paid either directly to the supplier (such as a school) or to the other parent’s nominated bank account. However, for parents wanting these arrangements to become locked in, consideration should be given to executing either a Binding Child Support Agreement (Binding CSA) or a Limited Child Support Agreement (Limited CSA).

A Binding CSA or Limited CSA can include various forms such as an ongoing amount and/or specific ‘non-periodic’ payments such as tuition fees.

When parties enter into a Binding or Limited CSA, it is important to consider the following:

A Binding or Limited CSA cannot be varied but can only be terminated or set aside by a Court so it is important to ensure the Agreement is perfect before signing;

A Binding CSA requires each parent to obtain independent legal advice as to the effect and advantages/disadvantages of the Agreement for it to have any effect. However, a Limited CSA doesn’t require legal advice though the agreed payment must be equal to or greater than the ordinary assessed amount of child support;

There are limited circumstances where a Court may set aside a Binding or Limited CSA. The most common are if the Agreement was obtained by fraud, without free and willing consent of one or both parents or if there has been a significant change in circumstances to a parent or child as a result of exceptional circumstances;

Parents should ensure that they fully understand the terms and effects of a Binding or Limited CSA and be aware of the estimated payable amount otherwise assessed by the Child Support Agency. A Limited CSA requires there to be an administrative assessment in force in relation to the child of whom the Agreement is made; and

Either parent might have a change in annual income in the foreseeable future making any Binding or Limited CSA more or less advantageous.

If the parents cannot reach a private agreement, collection is available via Services Australia. However, for parents looking to lock in each other’s financial contributions towards raising the children, a Binding or Limited CSA should be given serious consideration.

Joshua Noble is a Family Law Solicitor at Zande Law Solicitors, Suite 9, Norwinn Centre, 15 Discovery Drive, North Lakes. To contact Joshua for advice, phone 3385 0999.

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What’s in a name?

10 June 2022 4:34 pm Comments Off

Earlier this year, a Court in Italy ruled that children will automatically have the last names of both parents unless they agree otherwise. It remains to be seen how this will affect circumstances where one parent is absent or perhaps a perpetrator of severe domestic violence, though it would seem likely that future laws will be created to allow only one parent to select the child’s name in exceptional circumstances.

In Australia, there are limited restrictions on a baby’s name even if both parents agree on what it will be. Offensive or obscene names such as ‘4real’ have been refused registration along with any name that is otherwise an official title such as Queen, Corporal or Prime Minister.

What happens though when the parents can’t agree on the name?

Well, it gets a little complicated but thankfully our legal system has a solution.

A child’s name falls into one of five special categories that are seen as major long-term decisions. The other categories include religion, schooling, major medical decisions and where a child lives, if it significantly affects the ability for them to spend time with both parents.

Any decision in one of these categories must be made jointly by both parents or otherwise authorised by a Judge, though things can get murky if only one parent is actually involved, or getting a signature from the other is impossible. However, when Mum and Dad are both adopting their parental responsibility, our law requires them to reach a decision together on something as important as their child’s name. If no agreement can be reached, it’s time for mediation and if all else fails, they’re off to Court and a Judge will ultimately make the decision after listening to each parent give their reasons for why they like a certain name and cannot possibly live with what the other parent wants.

Thankfully, a Judge being forced to choose a child’s name is rare but it will be interesting to see whether the trend emerging out of Italy of both parents’ last names being included as the default position spreads to the rest of the world. It’s at least an improvement to the parents who tried (and failed) to call their children Robocop or Ikea.

Joshua Noble is a Solicitor at Zande Law, North Lakes, practicing in the area of Family Law. To contact Joshua for advice phone 3385 0999.

The information in this newsletter is merely a guide and is not a full explanation of the law. This firm cannot take responsibility for any action readers take based on this information. When making decisions that could affect your legal rights, please contact us for professional advice.

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