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Difference between revisions of "Custody and Access"
From Clicklaw Wikibooks
→Joint custody
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Whether parents have joint or sole custody depends more on their relationship and approaches to parenting than it does on how much time each parent has with the children. A parent can see the children only on every other weekend, or live in another province altogether, and still have joint custody with the other parent. Joint custody is not about an equal sharing of the children's time. | Whether parents have joint or sole custody depends more on their relationship and approaches to parenting than it does on how much time each parent has with the children. A parent can see the children only on every other weekend, or live in another province altogether, and still have joint custody with the other parent. Joint custody is not about an equal sharing of the children's time. | ||
When spouses have joint custody, they need to work together and co-operate in raising the children. This can sometimes be difficult, particularly when there is a lot of conflict in the spouses' relationship with one another. Before the ''Family Law Act'' came into effect, the rights and obligations involved in joint custody were usually addressed through a 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 spouses' rights and obligations in the same way. However, since joint custody involves the need to work together and co-operate in making parenting decisions, the models can still work. They just need to be changed a bit. | |||
====The Joyce Model for joint custody==== | ====The Joyce Model for joint custody==== | ||
The ''Joyce model'', created by Mr. Justice Joyce, is fairly detailed and requires spouses to consult with one another on all important decisions affecting the child and to make their best efforts to work together to reach a solution that is in the best interests of the child. When spouses can't agree on a decision, the Joyce model might say that one spouse will have the last word, or it might say that the spouses will try to mediate the issue, consult a child psychologist about the issue, or ask a judge for an order on the issue. | |||
Here's the standard version of the Joyce model adapted for spouses who have joint custody: | |||
<blockquote>The spouses will have joint custody of the child on the following terms:</blockquote> | |||
:#in the event of the death of a spouse, the surviving spouse will have sole custody of the child, | |||
:#each spouse will have the obligation to advise the other spouse of any matters of a significant nature affecting the child, | |||
:#each spouse will have the obligation to discuss with the other spouse any significant decisions that have to be made concerning the child, including significant decisions about the health (except emergency decisions), education, religious instruction and general welfare, | |||
:#the spouses will have the obligation to discuss significant decisions with each other and the obligation to try to reach agreement on those decisions, | |||
:#in the event that the spouses cannot reach agreement on a significant decision despite their best efforts, the spouse with the primary residence of the child will be entitled to make those decisions and the other spouse will have the right to apply for an order respecting any decision the spouse considers contrary to the best interests of the child, under s. 16(1) of the ''Divorce Act'', and | |||
:#each spouse will have the right to obtain information concerning the child directly from third parties, including but not limited to teachers, counsellors, medical professionals, and third party care givers. | |||
===The Horn Model for sharing parental responsibilities=== | |||
The ''Horn model'' is more about the guardians' rights to get information about the child, usually about the child's schooling, health, and extracurricular activities. The Horn model implies that the guardian with whom the child mostly lives will be entitled to make decisions about the child as he or she sees fit, with the other guardian having a right to information about the child. Under s. 49 of the ''Family Law Act'', however, that guardian will always have the right to ask the court for directions on the subject of the other guardian's decision. | |||
