Hi, I am the Father of an 11yo called Alex and have recently…

Dear JA Customer,

Thank you for your further reply. The children's mother should not be picking up your son after school outside the scheduled day and time. The only things that you can really do in this situation is as follows;

If there is a breach of a Parenting plan or order of the Court relating to the child orders, then you or your solicitor will have to write to your former partner who has breached and you must attempt to mediate the matter.

You have to mediate any dispute first (that is, before you can go back to court) (unless there is something urgent, which this is not).

You first need to attempt to resolve your differences first (formally). The requirement to participate in Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) applies to new applications, and applications seeking changes to an existing parenting order. If mediation is not successful, then you will obtain a certificate from an accredited Family Dispute Resolution practitioner (FDR) which certificate states that you made a genuine effort to resolve the dispute through FDR.

The link to the Family Relationships (Government) website which has a list of FDR;s is below;

http://www.familyrelationships.gov.au/fdr

If mediation fails or if a party refuses to mediate, then you will obtain a certificate, which can then be used to file an Application Contravention form, which would have details of any alleged breaches on it.

If it goes back before the Court, then orders can be made affecting the child or the other party may be the subject of a fine.

The link below takes you to an Application Contravention page on the Family Court website.

http://www.familycourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/FCOA/home/forms_fees/All+Forms/List+of+all+forms/

FCOA_form_App_Contravention

The following is a Family Court brochure about breach;

http://www.familycourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/FCOA/home/publications/All+Publications/O+to+W/

Parenting+orders+obligations+consequences+help

I know all of the above sounds extreme, but that is the state of the law.

I wish you well. If you have any other questions, please let me know. Otherwise, please don't forget to press the "Accept" button upon receiving this answer to your enquiry.

Sincerely,

Mary A.