My ex-partner and I reached an agreement at mediation and we had our agreement made into consent orders. My children were supposed to stay with me on the weekends from Friday night until Sunday night but now she keeps making excuses about parties and sporting events they need to go to on Saturday morning so I never get to see them on Friday night.
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Answer by Pearl Beaumont, Penrith 2570 NSW
- It is very serious to breach a court order and there are consequences for doing so.
- Yes. You can take the matter to court if there is a breach. The court will take a range of factors into account before deciding what to do.
- A lawyer is the best person to provide you with advice about your case and the likely outcome.
- You can also talk to your ex-partner and calmly point out that you have a formal agreement in place that you both need to obey.
- The children also have a right to attend their friends’ parties and sporting events. If those events are on when the children are spending time with you then you will need to be reasonable about taking them there just as your ex-partner has to make sure she gets them to school during the week.