Example Consent Parenting Orders

handshakeConsent Orders are Parenting Orders that have been agreed to by the parents during legal proceedings.

Once they are also agreed to by the Court they are given the full status and weight of other orders made by the Court.

The difference between Consent Orders and Parenting Plans is that if Consent Orders (or any type of Parenting Orders made by the Court) are contravened, the contravention can be raised with the Court for a further ruling.

Parenting Plans however rely on the goodwill of the parents, and if one parent does not live up to his or her parenting plan commitments, there are no legal options available to address this contravention.

These example consent orders were prepared for by the Family Court of Western Australia long before the 2006 shared parenting amendments, and this is evidenced in the use of some out-dated terminology.

For example, “joint responsibility” is now referred to as “equal shared parental responsibility.”

Other than that it contains some of the essential components of consent orders as expected from the Courts.

Mary’s Parenting Plan

Parenting-PlanThe attached sample shared parenting plan has worked well, for the benefit of the child concerned, over the past 11 years.  It was registered with the FCA, in 1997 when parenting plans could be registered and had the effect of court orders.  This is no longer the case.  All names, dates, addresses, etc have been changed.

The plan covers many issues that someone preparing their own parenting plan might well consider.  It is not perfect and does not cover all issues.  It could have covered the issue of one parent making medical (or any) appointments that occur when the child is with the other parent and better outlined each parent’s rights to access school time, documents and placement on emergency contact lists.  The halving of Christmas Day was not practical and morphed into alternating each year, with the child also being with one parent’s extended family on Boxing Day (which was a day they typically met together).  Additionally, details of times spent with each parent could be defined more specifically and the word “half” not used, but defined exactly.

This parenting plan ran out at the end of primary school, but has in fact continued on to Year 12 in spirit.  A trigger event(s) or opporunity(ies) might have been included for review at the end of primary school and perhaps after Year 11, when children tend to be more independent and become more involved in the operation of the plan.

As with other parenting plan examples and samples the benefit that can be gained is not in copying but in seeing how someone else has managed it, what issues they looked at and included and how they laid out the plan.  Your task then is to tailor a plan that is appropriate to your family situation, which is realistic (can both parents and the child(ren) really manage it) and which you and the other parent understand and own.

The legal situation has altered since this plan was developed, so it would be wise to check your plan with a Family Relationship Centre, family law courts, a solicitor and those who have walked this path before you (so feel free to anonymously discuss issues on this forum).

Interactive Parenting Plan

interactive-parenting-planUsing this parenting plan is easy and efficient. These plans are “interactive” which means you will be able to edit the document and save your progress.

When you are ready to print you can print the full document with your edited replies. We have taken great consideration to the recipients of this plan and have removed the header and footer when the plan is printed. This means that the Not All Dads Are Deadbeats logo, website url, titles etc. will NOT be visible on the final printed document.

You may also print off a fresh, unedited version and fill it in with a pen.

Once again you may save your progress and return to it at any point to continue editing.

We have provided you with drop down menus that contain pre-edited entries however you are also able to edit your own entries in the edit box.

We have published the majority of sections to their own page(s). This enables you to use only the  sections/plans that you require.