Under what circumstances can a Parenting Order be suspended?

Under what circumstances can a Parenting Order be suspended?

If final Parenting Orders have been made in the courts, and an incident has occurred which renders those orders inappropriate, it may be necessary to file an application for both a Protection Order and updated parenting orders.

When would this be considered necessary?

An example which commonly comes across our desks is an incident of violence occurring at changeover for the child.

A client recently attended changeover and, during a heated discussion regarding the child, the father of the child tried to hit the mother of the child but instead hit the door behind the mother. This was all in the presence of the child.

In the circumstances, it was most appropriate for the mother to file an application for a Protection Order, seeking a temporary Protection Order in the interim, suspending the current Parenting Order.

A Magistrate can vary, discharge or suspend a family law order where the court is provided with material that was not provided to the family court when the parenting order was made.

What this means practically is that, if there is new relevant information which came to light after the Parenting Orders were made and which the family courts have not yet considered, the Magistrate can suspend the current Parenting Orders.