- 4.7 ⭐ 150+ Reviews
Parenting Matters
on the Central Coast
Sorting out arrangements for your kids after separation? We give calm, trauma-informed advice focused on their safety and stability.
- Trauma-informed advice led by DV Advocate Krystal Johnson
- Focus on the child's safety, stability and wellbeing
- Toukley and Erina offices, members of the NSW Law Society Professional Standards Scheme
Parenting Arrangements and Orders for Central Coast Families
Ryan & Ryan is a family-run Central Coast law firm with offices in Toukley and Erina. We help separated parents put arrangements in place for their children, either by agreement or through the Court. We represent clients in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, and in the Wyong, Gosford and Woy Woy Local Courts.
The law’s focus is the children’s best interests, and their safety comes first. There is no presumption that parents share major decisions equally, and no default week-on, week-off arrangement. What’s right depends on your children’s ages, needs and relationships. Parents can agree informally, sign a Parenting Plan, or make their agreement enforceable through Consent Orders. Where they can’t agree, the Court decides, usually only after mediation has been attempted.
We help you work out what’s realistic for your family and support you through mediation. Any agreement you reach, we make enforceable, and we represent you in Court if the other parent won’t cooperate. Where family violence or coercive control is involved, Krystal Johnson’s domestic violence experience shapes how we approach safety from the first conversation.
Why Central Coast Parents Choose Us
You get calm, practical guidance, not point-scoring. Parenting disputes are personal and emotionally charged, and our approach focuses on what actually gets a workable arrangement in place for your child.
We take family violence and coercive control seriously, and understand it doesn’t always look dramatic from the outside. Krystal Johnson, our Associate Solicitor and DV Advocate, brings that lens to every parenting matter she runs, whether or not violence is part of your situation.
And where urgent protection is needed, we can move immediately, see interim orders – while continuing to work toward a lasting arrangement.
How We Handle Parenting Matters
1. Get in touch
Call (02) 4397 1500 or book a time. You don't need a plan yet, just tell us what's happening.
2. First consultation
We listen to the whole picture, including anything that feels messy or hard to say, and give you a realistic view of workable arrangements.
3. A clear plan and price
You get the realistic range of outcomes, whether mediation, a Parenting Plan or Court involvement is the right path, and what it's likely to cost.
4. We get it done
We negotiate, mediate, or represent you in Court, with your child's stability as the constant priority.
Parenting Matters Across the Central Coast
We run family law matters from two offices, Toukley for the northern Coast and Erina for the south, and we meet by phone, Zoom or Teams when getting in is hard. Where agreement can’t be reached, we appear in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, and at the Wyong, Gosford and Woy Woy Local Courts for related matters.
What Our Clients Say
Reviews from clients we’ve acted for across family, estate, property and business matters.
Parenting Matters FAQs
A Parenting Plan is a written agreement between parents that isn’t legally enforceable on its own. Consent Orders cover the same kind of arrangements but are approved by the Court and are legally binding, meaning they can be enforced if one parent doesn’t comply.
In most cases, yes, attending Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) is generally required before applying to the Family Court for parenting orders, unless an exemption applies, such as family violence, urgency, or risk to a child.
The Court looks at a range of factors, with particular weight on the child’s safety and protection from harm, alongside their emotional and physical wellbeing and the benefit of a meaningful relationship with both parents, where that’s safe. Every family’s circumstances are assessed individually.
It’s central to the assessment, not incidental to it. Safety comes first, and arrangements are built around what protects the child and the affected parent, which may mean supervised time, no direct contact between parents, or other safeguards. Tell us early, even if you’re unsure whether it counts.
Talk to a Central Coast parenting lawyer about arrangements for your kids.
The first conversation will help you understand what a realistic, workable arrangement looks like for your family.