oh! (kids shout) don’t be afraidto get in there, alright? just ’cause they look bigdoesn’t mean they’re tough. dad, could i go to soccer camp? of course you can.i’ve already signed you up. but mum says i can’t. why would she say that? she wants to visit aunt evelyn.
during the holiday week? we’re going to stay with themon her farm. is that right? well, she doesn’t know you’rethe next messi, does she, hey? off you go. i’ll fix it. kids: ohh! (reading to child)“it’s still not going...†(sighs heavily) what’s wrong?
i just had a conversation with erica. what about? she won’t let matt do the camp.i’m sick of it! son, you’ve got just as much rightas she has. she has never workeda day in her life and all she thinks about is herself. she never thinks about these kids. go to the family courtand get them to give you equal time. then at least you’ve gotsome control.
man: it wasn’t just the thingabout the soccer camp. we’ve been fighting for yearsover all sorts of issues. i felt it was timeto draw a line in the sand. i wanted to be a dad to my kids,not just the weekend supervisor. get your bags, please. erica: the first i heard of it is when i got a letterfrom a lawyer he’d talked to. i mean, we’d hadthis big fight over matthew and the fact that i wouldn’tlet him go to soccer camp.
but i didn’t think he’d go to court. i mean, how’s he goingto look after sarah if he has her four days a week? he just leaves herwith his mum half the time. and now she’s started preschool.i mean, how is that supposed to work? so can i get equal time with the kids,like a proper 50/50 split? well, a lot of parents think that they can share care of the kidson a 50/50 basis, but it doesn’t alwayswork out like that.
family law is not aboutthe rights of either parent. it’s about the rights of childrento a safe parenting environment and to having a good relationshipwith both parents. the court might makean order for 50/50 time or it might decide ona very different arrangement, something that neither parentis happy with. if there’s a lot of conflict, the court’s less likelyto make an order for equal time. they’ll be focusing onwhat’s best for the children.
i want to see someoneabout a family law issue. my husband’s going to courtto get the kids and i want to get some legal advice. now, before you goto a hearing in court, in most cases, parties are requiredto try a mediation. (sighs) at legal aid, you can have a lawyerto assist you if you want. so if you qualify for a grant of aid, there will be a lawyer with youat the mediation.
to be honest, i don’t think mediationis going to achieve much. i was really hoping that the courts could talksome common sense into him about what’s best for the kids. he works shifts, you know? realistically,he can’t look after them. well, mediation is a good way for youto step through those issues and to come up with a planthat can really work for the kids. we tried mediation once before.
we were having problems and she booked us into a couple of mediation sessions. that was probablyrelationship counselling, which is quite different. yeah. well, it didn’t work. well, family mediationis a dispute resolution process that focuses on you and your partner resolving practical issuesin relation to your parenting and working outwhat’s best for your children.
you have to put the children first, and if you do come to an agreement, you can ask the courtto make an order, which is binding and enforceable. and if we can’t? well, then we can applyto the family court and ask a judge to decide. the lawyer explained some ofthe pros and cons of going to court. sometimes you can spend a lot of timeand money and end up worse off.
i mean, if you let the court decide, you have to acceptthe referee’s decision. so as bad as things were gettingbetween erica and me, it made sense to try mediation.
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