Upon or even before separation, parents should reach agreements regarding future parenting arrangements. Otherwise, the court decides what is in your child’s best interests.
We have two acts governing custody and guardianship: the Family Law Act and the Divorce Act. These issues are referred to as “guardianship”, “parenting time” and “parenting responsibilities” under the FLA and a “custody” and “guardianship” under the Divorce Act. The meat of the two acts is almost identical. The court must consider (“only” consider under the FLA), the best interests of the child. The Divorce Act stipulates that the child should have as much contact with each parent as possible insofar as such is consistent with the child’s best interests, and for that purpose consideration is given to the willingness of one parent to facilitate contact with the other parent. If both parents possess the skill and ability to exercise their parental responsibilities properly, the court may easily find that it is in the child’s best interest to spend the maximum amount of time with both parents.