“3. The background is that the mother is British and the father is American. They had the briefest of relationships while the father was working in this country and as a result C was born in 2014. In early 2015 the father moved to work in Canada. Unfortunately, there has been almost continual parental strife throughout C’s life. There have been two substantial sets of proceedings about him plus applications by both parents for injunctions and enforcement and parallel proceedings about financial support.
4. The first set of proceedings under the Children Act 1998 began with an application in September 2015 by the father for parental responsibility, for a change of surname and for orders governing his time with C. That litigation ended in April 2016 when His Honour Judge Jordan approved a detailed consent order arrived at after lengthy negotiations. The Judge first had contact with the case shortly after it started, and by the time he came to make the orders now under appeal it had been before him not less than a dozen times. The 2016 consent order had the unusual feature that the care of C was to alternate not only between the parents but also between countries, with him spending 8 weeks at a time with his mother and 4 rising to 6 weeks with his father. These arrangements were negotiated in the knowledge that C has special characteristics, and in October 2017 a formal diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder was confirmed. In order to achieve his potential, he needs a professionally led support package and it was intended that the father’s time would rise to 6 weeks at a time once this was in place in Canada as it is in England. In the light of the parental conflict, the Judge also made a family assistance order to the CAFCASS officer.”
i) C’s welfare is central to my consideration. However, it is not the paramount factor as it might be in section 8 Children Act proceedings.
ii) The order that I made reflecting the circumstances as they did at the time, which was not appealed, must be the starting point of my considerations. The significant change in circumstances whereby C now lives with his father but spends time with his mother must be set against that starting point and I must reflect the current reality of C’s circumstances.
iii) The matters to which the court is to have regard in making orders for financial relief under section 4(1) of schedule 1 of the Children Act must guide the exercise of my discretion just as it did in December 2016. That requires me to have regard to all the circumstances including:
a) The income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources which each person mentioned in subparagraph (4) [father and mother] has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future.
b) The financial needs, obligations and responsibilities which each person mentioned in subparagraph (4) has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future.
c) The financial needs of the child.
d) The income, earning capacity (if any), property and other financial resources of the child.
e) Any physical or mental disability of the child.
f) The manner in which the child was being or was expected to be educated or trained.
The current financial circumstances