NSW Family Court Orders - Father Not Taking My Opinions into Account

[Tara Woodbury]

I share custody of children with my ex-husband of both our two girls, 13 years old and 11 years old. We have family court orders in place covering most things, though no matter what, he never takes my opinion on any matters. He cuts their hair off and now has let our 13-year-old girl jump from a plane for her birthday.

I feel like my feelings doesn't ever come into consideration. I am terrified at the thought of my baby plummeting from a plane. I settled on these orders as I believe both of us should raise the children together and the kids weren't dealing with the family court process very well.

I would have to go back to court, but what can I do when he won't even talk to me about this thing. I literally found out 10 mins after she jumped.

I'm her mother with basically no rights. It's so upsetting. What can I do under Family Law?

 

[sammy01]

The law says nothing about haircuts and sky-diving. So what can you do?

1. Organise mediation to discuss concerns
2. Write to him expressing your concerns and ask for him to work with you
3. Do nothing - This is my recommended approach.

Letting him know that his actions get to you will only make it more fun for him. This ain't legal advice, just practical reality.

I used to share care with the ex. For a while there, the kids moved two and fro with basically no communication between us. My life works better when I don't have to communicate with the ex because everything I say is cause for conflict and nothing gets resolved, so why bother?

Oh, and you do have rights. Look let's face it, hair cuts and sky diving in the grand scheme of things isn't gonna kill them and there are plenty of women out there whose ex's don't participate in the kids lives, don't pay child support and don't do anything....

No parenting arrangement is perfect so make the best of the situation because there really isn't much you can do to change it, so my best bit of advice is to learn to make it work as best you can...