Nobody plans on divorce when they marry but Alberta consistently ranks as one of the leading provinces in Canada for divorce rates.
Considering the needs of the children from the marriage and creating parenting plans and custody agreements are essential parts of the separation and divorce process. Protecting the rights of the children and clarifying the rights and responsibilities of both parents as they go their separate ways are paramount.
Skilled legal guidance from a family lawyer in Alberta can help you comprehensively cover all the main points in your parent plan or custody agreement.
Let us consider some of the basic requirements when creating these important documents.
Table of ContentsA parenting plan is part of a custody agreement, outlining how parents who no longer live together will raise dependent children. The plan must follow certain legal standards to be valid and approved by the Alberta courts.
Alberta’s Family Law Act is the principal legal framework that should guide the creation of your parenting plan. The Act outlines laws that protect the well-being of families and children after a divorce or separation and contains valuable information to help you write a legally enforceable parenting plan and custody agreement.
The key guiding principles are that the “child’s best interests” must come first and that both the mother and father should actively participate in the lives of their child unless this is not in the child’s best interests.
A parenting plan should consider the age of the child, his/her present needs, and how the plan might change as the child grows. It should include practical details and be written in plain language so that both parents are clear on their rights and obligations.
The “child’s best interests” are the central principle of a parenting plan or custody agreement.
The key criteria are defined by Alberta’s Family Law Act. Before you finalize details with your spouse, make sure that the agreement addresses how you meet each of the following considerations:
For the Alberta courts to approve a parenting plan/custody agreement, it should include the following:
If there are any other considerations about how you and the co-parent will serve the best interests of the child, include these details in your parenting plan and custody agreement to seek court approval.
Under Alberta’s Family Law Act, guardians must take care of many responsibilities relating to the welfare of the children in their care.
They are expected to nurture the child’s emotional, physical, and psychological well-being. They are also expected to provide the necessities, such as food, medical care, shelter, and clothing.
Decision-making responsibilities include deciding about the child’s well-being, health, welfare, and daily care, the primary place of residence, and their educational, lingual, religious, and cultural upbringing. Guardians also need to decide who the child lives and associates with.
A guardian must also make medical and legal decisions in the best interests of the child, and appoint a person to make emergency decisions in case he or she is unable to do so.
Ideally, parents work on their parenting and custody arrangements together. They are legally required to cooperate on child-related matters. Any mutually agreed parenting plan will usually become a parenting order by the Court provided it meets certain legal requirements.
However, sometimes the parents cannot decide on custody and parenting matters even after attending mediation. Couples may lose sight of the child’s best interests, and the Alberta courts can be petitioned to intervene with a decision and a parenting/custody order.
Unfortunately, the courts may occasionally make judgements that are not in the child’s best interests because judges do not know the children and can only work off the information provided. It is generally preferable, therefore, for parents to collaborate on parenting and custody arrangements.
Couples who cohabit and have children together are considered to be joint custodians of their children in Alberta—and indeed all of Canada— regardless of whether they are married. As such, under normal circumstances, they will need to jointly make custody and parenting agreements.
Generally, an unmarried parent who has the care and control of the child (usually but not always the mother) is considered to have sole custody of the child without requiring court intervention.
An unmarried father may need to prove paternity before claiming parental rights or child custody and having a say in how the child is raised.
If the couple is married, the spouses are presumed to be the parents of the child. A male is also generally presumed to be the father of a child if any of the following applies:
If you live in the Calgary & Airdrie area and need assistance with a parenting plan or custody agreement, the experienced lawyers at Jennings Family Law can help you. Book a case evaluation to discuss your situation.
Calgary: 403.264.9480
Duncan: 250.818.6700
E: warren@jenningsfamilylaw.com
Please Note: In the law there are exceptions to everything. This article is not intended to be legal advice, and it would be a very bad idea to rely on it as such. If you think anything here applies to you then you should talk a lawyer to find out more.
