Difference between revisions of "Guardianship, Parenting Arrangements and Contact"

When a child has more than one guardian, the guardians need to work together and cooperate in raising the children. This can sometimes be difficult, particularly when there is a lot of conflict in the guardians' relationship with one another. Before the ''Family Law Act'' came into effect, the rights and obligations involved in raising children were usually addressed through a joint guardianship order under the ''Family Relations Act'', in particular through two models of joint guardianship, the Horn model and the Joyce model. The ''Family Law Act'' doesn't talk about guardianship the way the old law did and can't be used to spell out guardians' rights and obligations in the same way. However, since guardians need to work together and cooperate in making parenting decisions, the models can still work. They just need to be changed a bit.

The Joyce model, created by Mr. Justice Joyce, is fairly detailed and requires the guardians to consult with one another on all important decisions affecting the child, to make their best efforts to work together to reach a solution that is in the best interests of the child, and so forth. When guardians can't agree on a <span class="noglossary">decision</span>, the Joyce model might say that one guardian will have the last word, or it might say that the parents will try to mediate the issue, consult a child psychologist about the issue, or ask a judge for directions on the issue.