The Family Court provides access to a Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) service, where a mediator will help you try to reach an agreement. This process is free to people whose income is below a certain amount; other people will need to pay. See “‘Family Dispute Resolution’: Mediation through the Family Court” earlier in this chapter
If you decide to take your dispute to the Family Court, you and the other person usually have to go through the Family Dispute Resolution process with an approved FDR mediator first. You (the person applying) usually have to go to a Parenting Through Separation course through the Family Court.
In some cases the judge may arrange a lawyer to represent your child. See, “Will a lawyer be appointed for your child” earlier in this chapter
If the dispute isn’t resolved at an earlier stage, such as at a settlement conference, the last resort will be a court hearing (a “defended hearing”) where a Family Court Judge will decide what the care arrangements will be. See in this section, “The court hearing: How the judge decides what to do”