If you have recently experienced domestic violence, for example being hit, pushed, slapped, kicked then you may be able to apply for an urgent protection order to protect yourself and any children you have.

Domestic violence includes different types of physical and psychological abuse and can be difficult to talk about. Trudy is experienced and able to confidently discuss and advise you of your options.

If you have been served with a Protection Order then you may want to find out about what your rights are, including what you can and cannot do. In most cases, you will be required to complete a living without violence program. You may be required to have supervised contact with your child at the likes of Timeout Carers. Trudy can assist you with understanding your rights and how best to progress on to unsupervised contact.

Generally, a parenting order sets out who has the child/children in their care at different times. These arrangements should be about what is best for the children rather than the parents/caregivers. Careful thought needs to go into what care arrangements are best.

From experience, clients often ask what the most common contact arrangements are. There are several factors to take into account when deciding what is the best contact arrangement, for example, a child’s routine, sports, how well the parents get along, contact with any half siblings and the age and development stage of the child.

Contact can be ordered to be supervised formally through a Court approved supervision agency as well as other people (family and friends).

If you need assistance to determine the parentage of your child or children, then Trudy can assist you with this process. If you believe you may not be the parent of a child, then Trudy can also assist you with the process.

If you want to move to a new town, city or Country with your child/children then you will most likely need to get consent or agreement from the other parent/guardian or caregiver. If there is no agreement to relocate then you can apply to the Family Court to make that decision.

If you believe that your child/children may be removed from where they live to a new town/city or Country, then you may be able to get an Order from the Court to stop that from happening.

An urgent and temporary border alert through Interpol can also be put in place to safeguard any urgent imminent removal of the children from New Zealand.

Generally, children are born with two guardians – their parents. As a guardian you have the right to have a say about things like, where your child lives, which school he/she attends, what medical treatment is received and religious education. If there is a dispute about these issues, then you may be able to apply to the Family Court to resolve the dispute.

If you have an existing court order that is not being followed, then Trudy can help you to understand your rights and enforcement options. Sometimes, it may be necessary to apply for a warrant to enforce an order, the payment of a bond into court or an application for admonishment (telling off).

It may be that the original order is dated and the situation for the child or children has changed and a new order may be needed.