Parenting Apart

This section is all about putting your children first. It provides a brief introduction to parenting after separation and looks at different types of parenting issues, including parenting schedules and parenting plans. It also provides a selection of related parenting resources and reading materials.

While the other sections in this chapter discuss the legal issues involved in determining how children will be cared for after a couple separate, they do not talk about the non-legal issues. This section will discuss issues such as: what it means to parent after separation, how separation affects children, and how parents can talk to their children about their separation.

Important changes
Look for explanations under this heading to read about recent changes to family law affecting the information provided in this section.

Introduction

If you've got children and you've separated from your partner, you have three things to consider.

First, you've got to get a grip on all the emotional baggage that comes along with the end of a relationship. Second, you've got a pile of legal issues you have to sort through. Finally, but most importantly, you and your former partner have to develop a strategy for parenting your children after the relationship ends.

No matter how pressing the first two issues are, you must remember that the post-separation parenting of your children must take priority over everything else. If you think the end of your relationship is difficult for you, imagine how confusing and unsettling it must be for your children. Their needs and best interests must come ahead of your own, and those of your partner. This is certainly the view that the court will take.

You may have found that during your relationship, issues involving the care of your children just sort of worked themselves out, perhaps smoothly, perhaps not. In general, you will have developed a routine, a routine that you and your partner were comfortable with and one that your children have become accustomed to.

After separation, that routine just may not be possible anymore, especially if you and your partner are living in separate homes. Suddenly, the children can no longer rely on both of you being around the house, or on the schedules you used to keep. They can no longer count on all the little things like the bedtime story from dad, the special breakfast, playing catch after school with mum, and so forth. On top of all that change and uncertainty, the children will be fully aware that something isn't right between their parents, even if they don't quite grasp exactly what's going on.

Separation can also see parents changing their roles. A parent who has not been as involved may become more involved. This can be challenging for some parents and what must be kept in mind is that children need all people in their lives to be doing their best. A more involved parent is almost always something that helps children. What harms children is conflict; conflict in both intact and restructured families.

While this may sound a little preachy, the fact is that no matter how adults are able to rationalize the consequences of the end of their relationship, children can't. Your job, regardless of your own emotional and legal entanglements, is to protect your children from your dispute as much as possible, and to develop a parenting regime that will be in the best interests of your children.

Language

The words we use often shape how we see the world around us. There's a big difference, for example, between saying "Pat lied to me about ..." and "Pat was mistaken when he told me that..." In the same way, there's a difference between saying "Tuesday is my access day" and "Tuesday is when I visit with Moesha."

Over the past ten years or so, the courts and policy makers have become increasingly sensitive to how the words used to describe a parent's involvement with their child can impact on both the child's and the parent's perception of that relationship. As a result, shared parenting is becoming increasingly the standard, even in situations where, twenty years ago, Parent A would be described as the "access parent" and Parent B would be described as the "custodial parent." The phrase "access parent" can often lead to a sense, shared by everyone, including the children, that this parent is somehow a lesser parent, has less of a role to play, or is less important to their child's life. It also encourages the idea that there are "winning parents" and "losing parents" when it comes time to determining the parenting arrangements for a child.

Words like "custody" and "access" are still used in the federal Divorce Act. As noted above, these can be loaded terms with a lot of extra meanings that aren't particularly helpful to the children, or to each parent's view of their role with the children. This is one reason why the newer provincial Family Law Act talks about the care of children in terms of guardians who exercise parental responsibilities and have parenting time with their children, and people who are not guardians who have contact with a child. This is a huge improvement, and the language of the Family Law Act should be used whenever possible.

Important changes
Under the changes to the Divorce Act that took effect on 1 March 2021, "custody" is now known as decision-making responsibility and "access" is now known as parenting time, for people who are or used to be married to each other, or as contact for other people.

A few notes from JP Boyd

I am not a psychologist, a psychiatrist, or a counsellor. As a result, this section should be read with a grain of salt, as it is based on my observations of my clients' experiences and a healthy dose of common sense. For the same reason, you are cautioned that this section should not be used as an authority on parenting. The goal of this section is simply to provide some information that may be helpful for parents to consider as they approach the issue of parenting after separation.

There are a ton of Parenting After Separation (PAS) programs conducted by trained psychologists and counsellors available throughout British Columbia. If you are separating or have separated, I highly recommend that you attend one of these programs. No matter how good (or bad!) you think your relationship is with your ex-partner, these programs are usually very helpful. Also, in some cases, you, your former partner, or both of you may be ordered by the court to attend a Parenting After Separation program.

Parenting after separation

Some psychologists and many separating parents believe that the best post-separation parenting arrangement is one of equal or near-equal (i.e. shared) time.

The Family Law Act specifically dismisses this perspective.

Section 40 (4) reads:

In the making of parenting arrangements, no particular arrangement is presumed to be in the best interests of the child and without limiting that, the following must not be presumed:

(a) that parental responsibilities should be allocated equally among guardians;

(b) that parenting time should be shared equally among guardians;

(c) that decisions among guardians should be made separately or together.

Children need their parents to continue to contribute to their care and upbringing after separation. Further, children have the right to expect their parents and caregivers to work together, whenever possible, to ensure that their needs are met.

While many families work well with a week on/week off schedule or other shared parenting arrangements, the Family Law Act rejects the notion that parents should have the right to, or the expectation of, an equal, or near-equal, amount of time with their children before or after separation, as set out in section 40(4) of the Family Law Act.

Not all parents can separate in a civil manner, and not all parents share an equal interest or ability to participate in the lives and parenting of their children. Some parents may be quite content to walk away and start a new life; others are painfully torn by the conflict between their former partner and their role as a parent. However, in the absence of some serious problem (such as abuse, alcoholism, or pedophilia) that renders a parent unfit to play a meaningful role in their child's life, the practical reality of parenting after separation is this: it is almost always in a child's best interests to grow up with two parents, with as strong a bond with both parents as possible, and to spend as much time with both parents as possible.

Parenting tips

Divorce or separation doesn't mess kids up — conflict does. Conflict in intact families and separated families is bad for children.

Community Mediation Ottawa, formerly the Ottawa Center for Family and Community Mediation, offers the following parenting dos and don'ts.

Things to think about:

Children can best deal with their feelings surrounding the separation experience in a climate of cooperation.
Working together as parents means cooperating with the other parent about raising the children. If you can't do this in person, try communicating by phone or by using notes that are exchanged with the child.
It is a myth that parents who did not get along as a couple cannot work together as parents. They can. It takes time and effort but parents can redefine the relationship from being a couple, to a more business-like relationship of being partners in the parenting of their children.
Go directly to the other parent for information, an answer, or a solution to a problem. Do not allow the child to be in the middle, to act as a messenger, or act as a spy. If you cannot deal directly with the other parent, use another adult.
Give the benefit of the doubt to the other parent’s motives.
Do not let yourself get caught in any angry feelings the child may have towards the other parent. Encourage the children to speak about their difficulties with the other parent to the other parent; do not get caught in the middle. Do not let the children become caught in the middle.

Children may be harmed if they:

are restricted or prevented from spending sufficient time with both parents,
are told that one parent is good and the other is bad,
are encouraged to take sides, or
don't feel free to love both parents and also stepparents.

Parents may harm their children if they:

don’t prepare children for changes that will occur,
burden children with adult problems, such as their legal issues or financial woes,
compete with or criticize the other parent in front of the children,
badmouth or blame the other parent in the children’s presence or earshot, or
expect children to comfort them.

In short, you are the parent, and your children have the right to expect you to do the job of parenting.

Parenting schedules

While a common public assumption might be that equal or near-equal shared time is generally the best parenting arrangement possible, this is not the law in British Columbia. Section 40(4) of the Family Law Act reads:

(4) In the making of parenting arrangements, no particular arrangement is presumed to be in the best interests of the child and without limiting that, the following must not be presumed:

(a) that parental responsibilities should be allocated equally among guardians;

(b) that parenting time should be shared equally among guardians;

(c) that decisions among guardians should be made separately or together.

Shared parenting is not necessarily equal parenting, and what children need is for their parents or guardians to cooperate as much as possible, focusing on what the children need. Some things to be considered when you are developing a parenting schedule are: the child's age, relationships, and each parent's parenting skills and abilities.

Very young children, especially breastfeeding children, require more constant attention and are not able to be away from one parent (generally the breastfeeding mother) for long periods of time. In situations like this, there may be very frequent but shorter periods of parenting time for the non-breastfeeding parent. This will change, of course, as the child grows older.

Not all parents have the time to devote to a shared parenting arrangement, and not all parents have the skills and resources to offer the children.

Different parenting schedules

The Langley Family Justice Center published an excellent pamphlet called "Suggested Visitation/Time-Sharing Skills" which they gave to their clients, drawn from Gary Neuman's book, Helping your Kids Cope with Divorce the Sandcastles Way. The following is adapted from this pamphlet, and is intended for parents who do not intend to establish an equal time-sharing arrangement.

Age	Basic Recommended Time	Limited Parenting Skills	Good Parenting Skills
Birth to 8 months	2 or 3 weekly visits for 2 to 3 hours each	supervised visits in the primary parent's home	2 weekly visits for 6 to 8 hours each, plus one shorter visit
9 to 12 months	2 or 3 weekly visits for 4 to 8 hours each, plus one longer weekend visit	2 to 4 weekly visits for 3 hours each	2 or 3 weekly visits for 6 to 8 hours each, plus one weekly 24-hour overnight visit
13 months to 3 years	1 or 2 weekly visits for 6 to 8 hours each, plus one weekly 24-hour overnight visit	1 or 2 weekly visits for 4 to 6 hours each, and possibly one weekly short overnight visit	2 weekly 24-hour overnight visits that are not consecutive, plus one weekly visit for 6 to 8 hours, and a less than equal sharing of holidays
4 to 5 years	1 or 2 weekly visits for 6 to 8 hours each, plus one weekly 24-hour overnight visit	1 or 2 weekly visits for 4 to 6 hours each, and possibly one weekly short overnight visit	2 weekly 24-hour overnight visits that are not consecutive, plus one weekly visit for 6 to 8 hours, and a greater sharing of holidays
6 to 8 years	every other weekend, from Friday after school until Sunday evening, plus one weeknight after school until one hour before bedtime, plus 3 consecutive weeks during the summer holiday, and half of all other holidays	one weekly 24-hour overnight visit, plus one weeknight after school until one hour before bedtime, plus 3 two-day visits during the summer	every other weekend, from Friday after school until Sunday evening, plus one weeknight after school until one hour before bedtime, plus 3 consecutive weeks during the summer holiday, and half of all other holidays
9 to 12 years	every other weekend, from Friday after school until Sunday evening, plus one weeknight after school until one hour before bedtime, plus 3 consecutive weeks during the summer holiday, and half of all other holidays	every other weekend, Saturday morning until Sunday evening, plus one weeknight after school until one hour before bedtime, plus 3 three-day visits during the summer	every other weekend, from Thursday after school until Monday morning before school, plus one weeknight after school until one hour before bedtime, plus half of all holidays
13 to 18 years	every other weekend, from Friday after school until Sunday evening, plus one weeknight after school until one hour before bedtime, plus 3 consecutive weeks during the summer holiday, and half of all other holidays	every other weekend, Saturday morning until Sunday evening, plus one weeknight after school until one hour before bedtime, plus summer visits set in consultation with the child	every other weekend, from Thursday after school until Monday morning before school, plus half of all holidays

Shared Schedule

In a shared parenting schedule, the time that a very, very young child, less than 18 months of age, requires to integrate fully with the other parent can be compressed.

Some children may be able to start spending a shared amount of time with each parent by the time they enter kindergarten, although the weeks should be divided so that the change in home is more frequent.

By grade two or three, many children may be able to do a whole week with one parent, followed by a whole week with the other parent. Most parents exchange the child on Fridays after school to minimize disruption to the child's schoolwork, although exchanging on Tuesday prevents any arguments about who was responsible for ensuring that weekend homework got done.

By the time the child is in their early teens, the week-on/week-off arrangement may be extended to two weeks with each parent. This will change as the teenager gets older, and their preferences should be taken into account. Some parents even wind up working on a month-on/month-off arrangement with older teens; again, though, this will depend on the child and the parents.

There are some parents who achieve shared parenting by the unequal sharing of holidays.

The Family Law Act also requires that parents, guardians, and the court consider the child’s views, “unless it would be inappropriate to consider them” (section 37(2)(b)). Many parents and guardians know what their children want and need; however, children have a legal right to have a voice.

The Hear the Child Society offers useful information about the rights of children and a roster of people who prepare non-evaluative reports of children’s views.

Parenting plans

A parenting plan is a written agreement that describes how issues involving the care of children will be handled, typically with a long-term view that addresses how visitation and other arrangements should evolve as the children grow up and mature. Parenting plans are most common when the children are very young when their parents separate, or when parents need extra clarity.

The main reasons why parents might want to make a parenting plan are to address future issues ahead of time and to minimize the likelihood of future conflict. A parenting plan takes the basic developmental points in the children's life into consideration:

The parenting schedule appropriate for a breastfeeding one-year-old won't be appropriate when the child is weaned.
The parenting schedule that works for a three-year-old won't work when the child turns five, enters the school system, and is suddenly tied to a schedule neither parent controls.
The schedule of a seven-year-old must accommodate sports and other extracurricular activities as well as homework and other take-home assignments.
Nine-year-olds will be starting to go to day camps or overnight camps during the summer.
The schedule of a twelve-year-old must take into account their social schedule and activities with friends.

In other words, a parenting schedule can't be static; it has to be able to evolve with time. This is precisely what a parenting plan is intended to address.

Parenting plans also typically address guardianship issues and cover how the parents will make decisions about the children's care, medical needs, and schooling. Since parenting plans aren't mentioned in the Divorce Act or the Family Law Act, there are no rules about what should and shouldn't be in a parenting plan. It's up to the parents to be as inclusive and creative as they want.

Parenting plans can be included in separation agreements, but not always, or in court orders. Usually, court orders contain a general statement about guardianship and parenting time. However, at times, especially when parents do not agree, the court can and will make very specific orders about the parenting arrangements, such as who is responsible for taking the children to the dentist and the sharing of birthdays, just to name a few. Detailed orders are usually crafted to a particular family in an attempt by the court to cover as much of a child's day-to-day life as possible in the hopes of minimizing conflict between the parents.

Parenting plans can also stand on their own as a separate document.

What is crucial in developing a parenting plan is to have a plan that accommodates and meets the children's needs and is not simply in place for the ease or convenience of parents. The same parenting plan may not work for all children in a family, and the goal of all parents should be to support the healthy development of children as individuals and not simply as a sibling group.

Important changes
Under the changes to the Divorce Act, the court is required to include the parts of agreements about parenting after separation, which it calls parenting plans, into orders about children. However, if the court decides that any part of a parenting plan is not in the best interests of a child, it can change the terms of the parenting plan in its order.

Sample parenting plans

A lot of users of this resource have asked about sample parenting plans. I can't post an example of a parenting plan or separation agreement of my own, as I always draft those from scratch to reflect the unique needs and circumstances of each client. I can, however, post the link to the federal Department of Justice's Parenting Plan Tool, and the following parenting plans that are drawn from the Idaho Benchbook, a creation of family law lawyers from the Idaho state bar and judiciary. Other parenting plans and parenting agreements can doubtless be found online.

Sample #1: developed for a young child with a primary parent, frequent contact with the other parent but no overnight visitation, and this plan also addresses safety and transportation issues.
Sample #2: developed with a primary parent, every other weekend visitation, and this plan also addresses substance abuse issues.
Sample #3: developed as a 50/50 shared parenting plan and addresses extra-circular activities and summer vacations.

Note three things about the Idaho plans:

Much of the legal language in the Benchbook plan is suited to American law and won't be suitable for British Columbia parenting plans; you'll have to adapt the terminology accordingly.
The plans refer to American subjects (like holidays and social security numbers) that you'll have to change or delete.
The plans can be adapted to include visitation schedules that will evolve as the children grow up.

You might also want to have a look at the Parenting Time Guidelines found in the Indiana Rules of Court, which are extremely detailed and very child-focused.

For an example from British Columbia, see the Parenting After Separation Worksheet #4 about creating a parenting plan.

There is also a Separation Agreement kit on the Legal Services Society's Family Law website, which contains some information about parenting plans. Under the section "Agreements" see "Write your own separation agreement."

Common visitation issues

There are lots of stumbling blocks that can crop up in preparing a parenting schedule, and it can be very difficult to anticipate all the special days that you might want to address in addition to the week-to-week schedule. Most often, these special days are things like Mothers' Day or Fathers' Day, the children's birthdays, and religious holidays.

Other problems can come up when the parenting schedule is ignored by a parent or refused by a child. Some solutions to issues like this are discussed below. More information can be found in other sections in this chapter, including the Estranged & Alienated Children section.

Weekends

Weekends can be especially important to schedule carefully, and it may be important that they be shared between parents, particularly if the children are going to school. Often the parent who has the children during the work week becomes the disciplinarian, since that parent has the burden of telling the kids to go to sleep on time, do their homework, and so forth. The other parent, on the other hand, becomes the "fun" parent, taking the kids to the park, to the movies, and buying them treats on the weekend.

It may be important that weekends be shared to avoid the children developing a discipline parent/fun parent dynamic. It is rarely a good idea to come up with a schedule that gives one parent all of the children's weekends, unless of course that is what your particular family needs and what will be in your children's best interests.

Statutory holidays and Professional Development Days

Make sure that statutory holidays and school professional development days are taken into account when you work out a parenting schedule. Many schedules that require a parent to return the child on Sunday evening, for example, allow that the child be returned on Monday evening if the Monday is a statutory holiday or professional development day at your child’s school.

Special days

When you're working out your parenting schedule, don't forget about special days like birthdays, Fathers' Day, Mothers' Day, religious holidays, and so forth. Some (but not all) parents do things like alternating the children's birthdays, or making special arrangements for extra time on Fathers' Day and Mothers' Day.

For religious holidays, like Christmas, many parents work out a plan so that in even-numbered years, one parent will have the children from Christmas Eve to the afternoon of Christmas Day, and the other parent will have them from the afternoon on Christmas to the evening of Boxing Day, a schedule that reverses on odd-numbered years. Be creative about scheduling these sorts of special days. In the case of Passover, for example, some parents alternate the first and second nights each year.

School holidays

The main school holidays are the winter break (usually about two to two-and-a-half weeks), the spring break (a week or two weeks) and the summer holiday (slightly more than two months). These holidays can be split up, shared between parents every other year, or treated with the same schedule as if the child was in school.

Particularly during the school closures during the summer, both of the parents should have a fair chunk of time with the children. Summers don't have to be split equally — some people's work schedules just won't give them that much time off — but each parent should at least have a solid week with the children. During times like this, the usual parenting schedule is suspended so that each parent's holiday visits are uninterrupted.

For working parents, summer holidays may require cooperation (or not) regarding the scheduling of camps and day camps. Ideally, parents can arrange their holidays around the children's availability. However, not every parent has that flexibility. What parents need to keep in mind are the memories that they are creating for their children. Will their children remember summer holidays as being a tug-of-war between parents, or a time of relaxation and fun?

Children's refusal to visit

Children can be resistant to change and transitions can be difficult for them. Sometimes children will not want to leave one parent and this could be the result of many things, not necessarily a real desire not to see the other parent. Separation anxiety, misplaced loyalty, or simply a reaction to all the changes a child may be facing can be common reasons for resistance to visits.

The Family Law Act confirms that when determining what parenting plan is in a child’s best interests, the court and the parties must consider the child’s “...view, unless it would be inappropriate to consider them” (section 37(2)(b)).

There is no age provided in the Family Law Act as to when a child’s views are to determine their own parenting schedule. While people typically think the age of 12 is somehow a determining age for when children can make their own decisions on their own parenting schedule, the language of the Family Law Act does not specify any particular age when a child's views determine the parenting arrangements.

Generally, children should not be responsible for making their own parenting arrangements or be involved in negotiating that issue between their parents. If a child is saying that they do not want to see the other parent, then that is a factor the parents need to consider. A child’s voice must be heard; however, it is important to make the distinction between a child having a “voice” compared to a child making a “choice”.

A child’s interests are not necessarily served by limiting contact with one parent when a child requests it. It is important to know why a child is taking a resistant position and to address any underlying factors that may be affecting the child’s choice in the matter.

Private counselors and other resources, such as the Hear the Child Society, which has a roster of reporters, are both options for having a Hear the Child report prepared. In addition to non-evaluative reports, people may wish to obtain a Views of the Child Report, which can offer recommendations or insight as to why a child is behaving in a particular way. If a child is consistently refusing to see the other parent, then it is important to know why.

Parents' refusal to visit

Children need stability and consistency in their lives. It is disruptive to both them and the other parent when a parent misses a scheduled visit, cancels at the last minute, or just fails to show up at all. This is an absolute no-no. Both parents need to be able to rely on a fixed parenting schedule; this benefits the child by giving them a reliable routine, and it benefits both parents by allowing them to plan their life apart from the child. Some flexibility from both parents is a wonderful thing, but a situation where one parent is constantly backing out, cancelling, or changing dates is not good for anyone.

Under section 63 of the Family Law Act, if a parent routinely fails to exercise parenting time or contact, then the other parent can apply to court to be reimbursed for the costs associated with the failure to exercise the scheduled time. In an application brought under this section, a Court may also order a parent or both parents to participate in family dispute resolution, have one or both parents and/or their child attend counseling or specified services or programs, or involve a supervisor for transfers of a child. Addressing missed visits is an option that was not previously available to parents under the old legislation.

Parenting resources

There are quite a lot of public and community resources available to help parents deal with parenting issues, including issues arising while the parents are together. No matter what your circumstances are, if you are having problems, get help. Whether that help involves reading a book or a pamphlet, or going to a seminar, or meeting with a support group, your children are worth it.

Programs and agencies

The Parenting After Separation program is run by the provincial Ministry of Justice. It is the mandatory program required of parents by certain Provincial (Family) Courts, but is open to everyone. A list of the agencies that provide this service is available from the Family Justice division through Clicklaw. You can download the Parenting After Separation Handbook online, in English, Chinese (simplified), Punjabi, and French.

The Parenting After Separation program is offered in Cantonese and Mandarin in Surrey, Richmond, and Vancouver; call 604-684-1628. The program is also offered in Punjabi and Hindi in those areas; call 604-597-0205.

Simon Fraser University offers Information Children, a fairly broad and extremely useful non-profit program that deals with parenting issues and includes mediation services. This program offers parenting workshops in New Westminster and Burnaby, and has a handy parenting helpline. Contact Information Children through their website or at:

604-291-3548 phone
604-291-5846 fax

The provincial Justice Access Centres may be able to direct you to other helpful parenting resources, and are located across the province. Contact them through Clicklaw's HelpMap or at:

Vancouver: 604-660-2084
Victoria: 250-356-7012

Resources and links

Legislation

Family Law Act
Divorce Act

Links

This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by JP Boyd March 6, 2021.

JP Boyd on Family Law © John-Paul Boyd and Courthouse Libraries BC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada Licence.

Parenting Apart

Contents

Introduction

Language

A few notes from JP Boyd

Parenting after separation

Parenting tips

Parenting schedules

Different parenting schedules

Shared Schedule

Parenting plans

Sample parenting plans

Common visitation issues

Weekends

Statutory holidays and Professional Development Days

Special days

School holidays

Children's refusal to visit

Parents' refusal to visit

Parenting resources

Programs and agencies

Recommended reading for parents

Recommended reading for children

Resources and links

Legislation

Links

Navigation menu

Parenting Apart

Introduction

Language

A few notes from JP Boyd

Parenting after separation

Parenting tips

Parenting schedules

Different parenting schedules

Shared Schedule

Parenting plans

Sample parenting plans

Common visitation issues

Weekends

Statutory holidays and Professional Development Days

Special days

School holidays

Children's refusal to visit

Parents' refusal to visit

Parenting resources

Programs and agencies

Recommended reading for parents

Recommended reading for children

Resources and links

Legislation

Links

Navigation menu

Search