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Difference between revisions of "Guardianship, Parenting Arrangements and Contact"
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Guardianship, Parenting Arrangements and Contact (view source)
Revision as of 20:14, 10 March 2013
, 20:14, 10 March 2013→Parental Responsibilities and Parenting Time
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==Parental Responsibilities and Parenting Time== | ==Parental Responsibilities and Parenting Time== | ||
People who are the guardians of a child have ''parental responsibilities'' in respect of that child and their time with the child is called ''parenting time''. Section 40 of the ''Family Law Act'' talks about who has parental responsibilities and parenting time and how they are shared: | People who are the guardians of a child have ''parental responsibilities'' in respect of that child and their time with the child is called ''parenting time''. Together, parental responsibilities and parenting time are known as ''parenting arrangements''. Section 40 of the ''Family Law Act'' talks about who has parental responsibilities and parenting time and how they are shared: | ||
<blockquote><tt>(1) Only a guardian may have parental responsibilities and parenting time with respect to a child.</tt></blockquote> | <blockquote><tt>(1) Only a guardian may have parental responsibilities and parenting time with respect to a child.</tt></blockquote> | ||
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<blockquote><tt>(1) For the purposes of this Part, parenting time is the time that a child is with a guardian, as allocated under an agreement or order.</tt></blockquote> | <blockquote><tt>(1) For the purposes of this Part, parenting time is the time that a child is with a guardian, as allocated under an agreement or order.</tt></blockquote> | ||
<blockquote><tt>(2) During parenting time, a guardian may exercise, subject to an agreement or order that provides otherwise, the parental responsibility of making day-to-day decisions affecting the child and having day-to-day care, control and supervision of the child.</tt></blockquote> | <blockquote><tt>(2) During parenting time, a guardian may exercise, subject to an agreement or order that provides otherwise, the parental responsibility of making day-to-day decisions affecting the child and having day-to-day care, control and supervision of the child.</tt></blockquote> | ||
You have basically two choices if it becomes important to formalize the parenting arrangements for a child. You can come up with an agreement with the other guardians, by negotiation, mediation or a collaborative settlement process, or, if you can't agree, you can go to court. It sometimes takes awhile for guardians to get to the point where they feel they must get something formal in place. Sometimes, people are just content with the status quo. In cases like this, where a stable set of arrangements has managed to gel over time, s. 48 says that a guardian shouldn't make unilateral changes to those arrangements without talking to the other guardians first: | |||
<blockquote><tt>(1) If</tt></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(a) no agreement or order respecting parenting arrangements applies in respect of a child, and</tt></blockquote></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(b) the child's guardians have had in place informal parenting arrangements for a period of time sufficient for those parenting arrangements to have been established as a normal part of that child's routine,</tt></blockquote></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><tt>a child's guardian must not change the informal parenting arrangements without consulting the other guardians who are parties to those arrangements, unless consultation would be unreasonable or inappropriate in the circumstances.</tt></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><tt>(2) Nothing in subsection (1) prevents a child's guardian from seeking</tt></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(a) an agreement respecting parenting arrangements, or</tt></blockquote></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(b) an order under section 45.</tt></blockquote></blockquote> | |||
When formal arrangements are required, s. 44 allows two or more of a child's guardians to make an agreement about the allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time, as well as how disputes about those parenting arrangement will be resolved. (Agreements like these can't be made until the guardians have separated or are about to separate.) If agreement is impossible, a guardian can apply for a court order about parenting arrangements under s. 45 of the act. | |||
==Contact== | ==Contact== | ||
