Parental Decision Making is the right to make the major decisions for children in respect of education, health care, welfare and religion.
The main kinds of custody are:
- Sole
- Joint
- Split
Parenting Time is usually the right to see the child, often at prescribed times, every week.
There is often a confusion between custody and primary residence.
Just because a child resides primarily with one parent does not mean that parent must or should get sole custody. However, if a child does reside primarily with one parent, and has done so for some time, that parent might well have an advantage in a custody battle in court, particularly if the child or children are quite young.
Disputes about custody and access are common in family law.
Sometimes these disputes are crucially important for the well-being of the child or children.
Sometimes they are proxy fights for feelings of upset or anger between separating spouses and the children end up getting caught in the cross-fire.
Guy Hunter can help you try to separate out what you really want.
Sometimes parents who are separating are mad at each other and can not separate (pardon the pun) their anger or disinterest in their former spouse from that person’s ability as a parent.
Frequently both parents wish to have more time with the children or themselves and less time or more restrictive time for their children with the other parent.
When Custody or access are disputed, the courts look to section 24 of the Children’s Law Reform Act which sets out a test for what is called the best interests of the child.
Legally, the factors the court considers are the same in custody and access disputes.
The main factors are:
- Who has the strongest bonds of love and affection with the child
- What are the child reviews and preferences
- The length of time that lived in a stable home environment
- The ability and willingness of each person to provide the child with guidance and education the necessaries of life and any special needs the plan proposed to the child for the child the permanence and stability of the family unit with which to live
- The ability of each person apply to act as a parent
The court is also supposed to consider if there is any history of violence between one of the parents and one or more children.
For couples who are married, there is also the maximum contact principle to consider.
When every attempt is made to provide helpful information in this website, you may not rely on the information above as legal advice.