Difference between revisions of "Family Relationships"

Being in a family relationship can create legal obligations in addition to the moral and social obligations that we usually associate with a family relationship. Under the old common law, for example, a husband had the legal duty to provide his wife and children with shelter, food and the other basic necessities of life. Although this obligation still exists under the federal ''Criminal Code'', it has been a part of the legislation on family law since the English ''Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act'' was passed in 1857. As society has evolved, so have the obligations triggered by different kinds of family relationships. Family law in British Columbia presently deals with four kinds of family relationship.

If one or more of the requirements of a valid marriage are lacking, a marriage may be cancelled, or ''annulled''. To obtain an annulment, one of the parties must begin a court proceeding asking for an application for a declaration that the marriage is void. A marriage may be annulled if:

Separation is simple: the parties must simply start living "separate and apart" from each other, whether under the same roof or in separate homes. Contrary to popular opinion, you do not need to see a lawyer, sign something or file some sort of document in court to obtain a separation. You just need to call it quits and tell your spouse that it's over.

Unmarried spouses are separated when they begin to leave "separate and apart" from each other, whether under the same roof or in separate homes. Contrary to popular opinion, you do not need to see a lawyer, sign something or file some sort of document in court to obtain a separation. You just need to call it quits and tell your spouse that it's over.

The other group of people the ''Family Law Act'' talks about is ''parents'', and this group is broader than a lot of people might think.

Under s. 26, a child's parents are presumed to be the child's ''birth mother'' and ''biological father''. This includes ''everyone'' who is a mother or a father, regardless of the nature of the parents' relationship with each other. They could be married spouses or unmarried spouses, dating each other or not dating at all.

====Assisted Reproduction====

When one or two people need the help of others to have a child, some additional rules apply:

If you do the math, you'll see that under the ''Family Law Act'' a child can have up to five parents, and the act doesn't discriminate between parents who are intended parents and parents who are donors or surrogate mothers. In for a penny in for a pound, as the saying goes; a parent under an assisted reproduction agreement is liable to pay child support just like every other parent, but is also presumed to be the guardian of a child under s. 39(3).

Other people can have a legal interest in a child in addition to people who are parents. Most of the time these people are extended family members who have had a parent-like relationship with a child, such as a grandparent, an aunt or an uncle, or even a much older sibling, but any adult who has had a parenting role in a child's life may have an interest in a child.

This kind of legal interest plays out in one of two ways. Where a child's parents are doing a good enough job, an extended family member might want ''contact'' with the child if time with the child is being withheld. Section 59(2) of the ''Family Law Act'' says this:

<blockquote><tt>A court may grant contact to any person who is not a guardian, including, without limiting the meaning of "person" in any other provision of this Act or a regulation made under it, to a parent or grandparent.</tt></blockquote>

Where a child's guardians are no longer in the picture or if there's a concern about the child's welfare with his or her guardians, an extended family member might also apply for guardianship of the child. Section 51(1)(a) merely says that the court may appoint "a person" as a child's guardian, and an extended family member is certainly a person.