Family Matters FAMILY
Family Matters A The term “custody” means that bundle of rights and obligations which a parent has to make decisions for their child in the child’s best interests.
Thomas Dart PARTNER
Q What does “custody of children” mean?
When you live together as parents, you both have “joint custody”, meaning, the right to make all the important decisions in your child’s life – their name, their education, their health care and so on. Joint custody, in the right case, can continue after separation. Under The Child Support Guidelines, the term ‘shared parenting’ on separation means that one of the parents has the child at least 40% of the time over the course of a year. This is not the same thing as shared or joint custody. It just relates to the time sharing arrangement.
FAMILY LAW
Most often shared time with the children is part and parcel of an agreement or court order which provides that the parents also have shared decision making or ‘joint custody’. But that is not always the case. Sometimes parents just can’t get along but they can agree to share time on an equal basis. Courts today even divide up the decision making – for example, giving one parent sole authority to make decisions about education while giving the other parent sole authority over medical decisions. This is often called “parallel parenting”.
Don’t worry about the terms if you separate. Instead think about what the “parenting plan” should look like around both decision making and time sharing. Phone: 705 792 9200 [email protected] Email: [email protected] Web: barristonlaw.com
BARRIE n BRACEBRIDGE n COLLINGWOOD n COOKSTOWN n HALIBURTON n HUNTSVILLE
Thomas Dart PARTNER
Q What does “custody of children” mean?
When you live together as parents, you both have “joint custody”, meaning, the right to make all the important decisions in your child’s life – their name, their education, their health care and so on. Joint custody, in the right case, can continue after separation. Under The Child Support Guidelines, the term ‘shared parenting’ on separation means that one of the parents has the child at least 40% of the time over the course of a year. This is not the same thing as shared or joint custody. It just relates to the time sharing arrangement.
FAMILY LAW
Most often shared time with the children is part and parcel of an agreement or court order which provides that the parents also have shared decision making or ‘joint custody’. But that is not always the case. Sometimes parents just can’t get along but they can agree to share time on an equal basis. Courts today even divide up the decision making – for example, giving one parent sole authority to make decisions about education while giving the other parent sole authority over medical decisions. This is often called “parallel parenting”.
Don’t worry about the terms if you separate. Instead think about what the “parenting plan” should look like around both decision making and time sharing. Phone: 705 792 9200 [email protected] Email: [email protected] Web: barristonlaw.com
BARRIE n BRACEBRIDGE n COLLINGWOOD n COOKSTOWN n HALIBURTON n HUNTSVILLE
