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Difference between revisions of "Custody and Access"
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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 | 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 | ====The Joyce model for joint custody==== | ||
The | 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: | Here's the standard version of the Joyce model adapted for spouses who have joint custody: | ||