Only Two Months to Christmas!

School Holiday Arrangements

As we are getting closer to the end of the year, if you are a separated parent, you might want to make sure that you have already started talking to your Ex about arrangements for the school holidays and that you have some agreement about the upcoming Christmas school holidays.

If you cannot agree about arrangements and you need to file an urgent application with the Court, you need to be aware that there is a Family Law Courts national deadline for the filing of any interim applications before the Court. The national deadline is 4pm Friday 10^th November 2023.

If applications are not filed before that Court date, the Court cannot always guarantee that your matter will be listed before Christmas.

If there are urgent interim issues that you expect might boil over at Christmas, you need to start thinking about that now!  The following is a list of the types of applications that are commonly brought on an urgent basis right before Christmas:

1. Spending time with the children over the Christmas period. 
2. Wanting to take the children on an overseas holiday during the Christmas school holiday period.
3. Spending time with the children during school holidays if it is not already agreed to.
4. What school the children will be attending in the New Year.  (There is often an issue with parents having difficulties agreeing as to what school to send their children to, whether it is for Kindergarten or High School or change of area. It is best that these applications be considered well in advance).

If your matter is urgent, you can still file your application with the Court, after the national deadline, and you can still seek that it be listed on an urgent basis, but there is no guarantee that it will receive a court date before Christmas.

Given the flurry of urgent interim applications filed right before the Christmas break, separated families are urged to start talking with the other parent, and work out a timetable of the children’s arrangements, to avoid having an issue about it at the last minute and running out of time to get the assistance to resolve the problem.

Should you wish to speak with one of our Family Law Solicitors about your parenting arrangements for the school holidays, please contact us on 8525 2700 or click here to request an appointment with one of our experienced team.

Article written by Nicole Quirk
Photo by Raphaël Biscaldi on Unsplash