If you have children, your most important concern will likely be how they will be affected by your separation or divorce. During a divorce one of the most significant sources of stress relates to concerns around child custody and access: Who gets custody? How is custody determined? Where will the children live during the separation?
As one of Toronto’s most trusted family law firms, almost all of our matters at Stephen Durbin and Associates involve child custody and access arrangements. We strive with each client, each family, to bring back value to family law. To do so, we understand that there is a need to comprehend the process, and we are committed to helping every step of the way.
As one of Toronto’s most trusted family law firms, almost all of our matters at Stephen Durbin and Associates involve child custody and access arrangements. We strive with each client, each family, to bring back value to family law. To do so, we understand that there is a need to comprehend the process, and we are committed to helping every step of the way.
To better reflect the responsibilities of a parent or family member, “custody” is now referred to as the “decision-making responsibility” for the children and “access” is the “parenting time” and primary place of residence of the children upon separation or divorce.
The responsibility of making “significant decisions about a child’s well-being, including … (a) health; (b) education; (c) culture, language, religion and spirituality; and (d) significant extra-curricular activities”.
Decision-making responsibility can be…
Sole: the other parent does not need to be involved when making decisions for the children.
Joint: parents and/or family members share the right to make decisions for the children and must remain involved in same.
The time a child spends in the care of a parent or family member, including where the child will live and day-to-day decisions for the child.
This time is often determined by way of a schedule, and can be…
Shared: when a child lives with a parent at least 40% of the time.
Split: when there is more than one child and each parent has more than one child living with them most of the time.
Supervised: when there are safety concerns for the children, another person (either a friend, relative, or professional) will attend parenting/contact time.
Decision-making responsibility (custody) and parenting time (access) of the children should be determined by the best interests of the children, and a number of factors are considered, including each parent’s ability to care for the child; the child’s physical safety, emotional security,
Child support is determined using the Federal Child Support Guidelines, which considers each parent’s gross income, extraordinary expenses, and parenting arrangements.
In Ontario, children have a right to child support. To ensure these rules are followed when determining who should pay support and the amount payable each month, you can reach out to a family law lawyer for help when drafting your separation agreement or you can go to family law court, where a judge will make an interim or final order.
This will depend on where the children live, as it changes by province, territory, and country. Ontario uses the Federal Child Support Guidelines,
This includes any dependent children, either under the age of majority (18) or those who have reached the age of majority (18+), and are pursing
This refers to the amount of time the child spends with each parent. When the children live with a parent more than 60% of the time, the parent
The Federal Child Support Guidelines have different tables depending on the income; the number of children; and the province, territory, or
Our commitment is to bring a culture of excellence to family law, to our clients, and their families. Stephen Durbin & Associates is the top rated large family law firm in Ontario. We’ve earned this reputation because we do things differently. We do them better.
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