legal tips for travelling with kids WHEN PARENTS ARE DIVORCED OR SEPERATED By Breanna Deakes
t
he school holiday periods are both a wonderful and difficult time for families. For those parents who work, annual leave can be an issue. For those struggling with separation and/or divorce the holiday periods can be troubling and triggering. Many families will take advantage of the break and want to travel. So how does this all work when you are separated or divorced? Well, that depends on many factors.
If you have Court Orders or a Parenting Plan If you have Court Orders for parenting in force, those will need to be followed unless any changes are agreed between you and the other parent. The same applies for Parenting Plans. Parenting Plans, while not legally enforceable, should be followed unless otherwise agreed. If you want to deviate from your Court Orders or Parenting Plan and there is no agreement from the other parent, you should consider obtaining legal advice. There can be serious consequences for noncompliance of a Court Order.
If there are no Court Orders or Parenting Plans If you are separated or divorced and have not discussed parenting arrangements for Christmas, you should be aware that, each year the Parenting Order Application “cut off” date is by 4:00pm on the second Friday of November. This year it is Friday 10th November 2023. Applications filed after this date are not guaranteed to be heard before Christmas. You can seek to file an urgent application. However, because “Christmas is close, and we cannot agree,'' is unlikely to be considered an urgent application and the usual urgent application considerations apply.
12 Peninsula Kids – Autumn 2023