Difference between revisions of "Grandparents and Extended Family Members"

A child's caregivers and extended family members can ask for orders about the care of a child under the provincial ''Family Law Act''. If the child's parents are married and have an order made under the federal ''Divorce Act'', the child's caregivers and extended family members ''must'' make any applications about the child under that act and they must get the court's permission first.

Where a child's caregiver or extended family member must apply for orders about the child under the ''Divorce Act'' they will be asking for orders about ''custody'' and ''access''. These applications will usually be applications to change, or ''vary'', an order that has already been made between the child's parents.

Whether a caregiver or extended family member is applying for guardianship, and the rights that go along with it, or for contact, he or she must show why it is in the best interests of the child for the court to make the order he or she is asking for, and the court will usually extend a great deal of respect to the wishes of the child's guardians and often, depending on the child's age and maturity, to the wishes of the child. These issues are discussed in more detail in the section [[Guardianship, Parenting Arrangements and Contact]] in the chapter on [[Children in Family Law Matters|Children]].

Under s. 40(1) of the ''[[Family Law Act]]'', only people who are the guardians of a child have ''parental responsibilities'' and ''parenting time'' in relation to that child. People who are not the guardians of a child may have ''contact'' with the child and do not have the right to participate in making decisions about the raising of the child or the right to get information from the important people involved in the child's life, such as doctors, teachers, coaches and so on.