Parenting Arrangements

At Bentleys Law, we understand that organising children’s care after separation is often the most emotional and important issue for parents. These decisions affect not just where children will live, but how they will grow, learn, maintain family ties, and feel secure in a time of change.

Our role is to guide you through the options with compassion and clarity while keeping your children’s best interests as the priority.

What can be included in parenting arrangements?
Parenting arrangements can address all aspects of your children’s lives, including:

• Parental responsibility and Joint Decision Making: Who will make decisions about long-term issues such as education, health care, and religion. This responsibility may be shared or allocated to one parent.
• Living arrangements: Where the children will live and whether arrangements involve shared care or a primary residence with one parent.
• The time with each parent: This will address time spent on weekdays, weekends, school holidays, parent and family birthdays and other relevant ‘special days’.
• Time with each parent: How time is divided across school weeks, weekends, school holidays, birthdays, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and other significant family occasions.
• Communication:How parents communicate with one another and how children keep in touch with the parent they are not physically with, whether through phone calls, texts, video calls or other means.

How parenting arrangements are made

Many parents can reach an agreement on their own or with the assistance of an accredited Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (FDRP). This process provides an opportunity to resolve disputes in a cooperative environment focused on the needs of the children.

If agreement cannot be reached at mediation, the FDRP will issue a section 60I Certificate. This certificate is required before making an application to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia for parenting orders.