Figuring out the legal concepts relating to parenting after separation got a lot easier after the federal ''[[Divorce Act]]'' changed was updated on 1 March 1, 2021. Before it changed, the ''Divorce Act'' talked about parenting after separation in terms of "custody" and "access," which were a difficult fit with the provincial ''[[Family Law Act]]'', which uses terms like "parental responsibilities," "parenting time" and "contact." Now the ''Divorce Act'' uses the terms "decision-making responsibilities," which are a lot like parental responsibilities, as well as "parenting time" and "contact." However, it's still only the ''Family Law Act'' that talks about "''guardianship''," and that's because making laws about guardianship is a provincial responsibility. Still, the harmony between the approach to parenting after separation by the ''Divorce Act'' with the approach taken by the ''Family Law Act'' is very welcome. It makes things a lot easier for separated and separating parents.

Not all that long ago, guardians were "Guardians" are people who were responsible for the care of someone else, usually someone under a legal disability (like being under the age of majority or being mentally incompetent) or someone who couldn't otherwise care for themself (because of advanced age , physical illness or significant mental illness). Guardians can be responsible for managing all of someone's affairs, or just some of them. Guardians are appointed under a written agreement , like a power of attorney or a living will, or under a court order. A parent, for example, might place their child into the care of like an order making someone else, with the understanding that they would look after their child, feed and clothe them, make sure they had a basic level of education, and so on. The person into whose care the child was given became the ''litigation guardian'' of the child, and the child became their ''ward''. The guardian had the same rights and responsibilities with respect to the child as the parent did, including the responsibility for making decisions about important aspects of the child's life, including the child's health care and education, just like or a parent. In fact, the permission slips schools need adults to sign still ask committee for the signature of a student's "Parent or Guardiansomeone."

Under British Columbia's old ''Family Relations Act''In family law, a guardian is someone who is responsible for making decisions for a child, both big decisions, which was the law in this province before like deciding where the child will live or how they get treated when they''Family Law Act'' was introduced in 2013re sick, to smaller decisions, separated parents would ask like giving consent for orders appointing them as the guardians of their children, along with orders about having custody of their childrena school field trip or deciding which after-school sports they'll play. Parents could be the "sole guardians" of Guardians are also responsible for looking after their children, which meant that only making sure they could make decisions on behalf of their children're fed, or clothed and have "joint guardianshipa place to live," which meant that both of them were responsible and making sure they go to school for making decisions on behalf of their childrenas long as the law requires.

Under British Columbia's old ''Family Relations Act'', which was the law in this province before the ''Family Law Act'' was introduced in 2013, separated parents would ask for orders appointing them as the guardians of their children, along with orders about having custody of their children. Parents could be the "sole guardians" of their children, which meant that only they could make decisions on behalf of their children, or have "joint guardianship" of their children, which meant that both of them were responsible for making decisions on behalf of their children. The ''Family Law Act'' changed this. Instead of having to be appointed as the guardians of their children after separation, parents are usually presumed to be their children's guardians , both while their relationship is intact ''and'' after separation, butthey separate. And, just like in under the old days''Family Relations Act'', people who are not the parents of a child can still be appointed as a guardian of the child. Since not all parents are automatically the guardians of their children, and since people other than parents can still be made the guardians of a child, this means that what's important under the ''Family Law Act'' is being a ''guardian'', not being a ''parent''.