The Federal Court sets guidelines for alternating custody.
In it, the Federal Court announced that it would develop guidelines for the implementation of alternating custody.
This in itself is to be welcomed, as it makes it clear to the courts where the journey is headed even before the new maintenance law comes into force. On closer inspection, the so-called guidelines of the Federal Court turn out to be pretty platitudes. The parents must be “capable of raising children”, they must not live too far apart, such things are cited by the Federal Court. These are all still understandable reasons.
But then comes the inevitable argument again that the parents must have “a good understanding,” otherwise alternating care is not possible.
And this is exactly where the Federal Court is wrong, as are many other authorities and experts.
Of course, it would be desirable for the parents to be on good terms. But one must not forget that with this attitude exactly the opposite happens. If it is generally known that a little bit of argument, a little bit of refusal is enough to assert one's exclusive ownership claims, then that is exactly what lawyers will advise and people will resort to exactly this means. And hey presto, the court will recognize, “the parents are arguing,” even if, contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t always take two people to argue; one person is enough.
We urgently need more expertise in the courts. Knowledge about psychological settings, about alienation, about what happens in families during separation/divorce and why.
Only then can our courts produce correct judgments and only then can the guidelines of the Federal Court really be applied in a meaningful way.