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Enforcing Orders, Awards and Agreements Involving Children

3,227 bytes added, 20:44, 24 August 2022
When parenting time or contact is denied
==When parenting time or contact is denied==
Section 61 (1) of the ''[[Family Law Act]]''allows a person with an order or agreement given them parenting time or contact, to apply for certain orders when their parenting time or contact has been "wrongfully denied" by a guardian. (Under section 19.20 of the act, arbitration awards are enforced like court orders, so this section applies to awards as well.) The orders that can be applied for are listed in section 16(2) and include orders that: *the parties participate in a dispute resolution process, such as meeting with a Family Justice Counsellor, parenting coordination mediation and arbitration,*one or more of the parties and the child attend counselling,*the person denied parenting time or contact have make-up time with the child,*the guardian denying parenting time or contact reimburse the person for expenses they incurred as a result of the denial, such as travel costs and child care costs,*transfer of the child between the parties be supervised,*the guardian denying parenting time or contact pay money into court as a guarantee that they will comply with another order made under section 61(2), and*the guardian denying parenting time or contact report to the court. Under section 61(2)(g), the court can also make an order that the guardian denying parenting time or contact pay up to $5,000 as a fine or to the person denied parenting time or contact. The key to section 61 is that the denial of parenting time or contact must be "wrongful." Obviously, the intentional breach of an order, award or agreement for parenting time or contact is wrongful. However, section 62(1) of the ''Family Law Act'' lists some specific circumstances in which a denial of parenting time or contact is ''not'' wrongful, namely when: <blockquote><tt>(a) the guardian reasonably believed the child might suffer family violence if the parenting time or contact with the child were exercised;</tt></blockquote><blockquote><tt>(b) the guardian reasonably believed the applicant was impaired by drugs or alcohol at the time the parenting time or contact with the child was to be exercised;</tt></blockquote><blockquote><tt>(c) the child was suffering from an illness when the parenting time or contact with the child was to be exercised and the guardian has a written statement, by a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner, indicating that it was not appropriate that the parenting time or contact with the child be exercised;</tt></blockquote><blockquote><tt>(d) in the 12-month period before the denial, the applicant failed repeatedly and without reasonable notice or excuse to exercise parenting time or contact with the child;</tt></blockquote><blockquote><tt>(e) the applicant</tt></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) informed the guardian, before the parenting time or contact with the child was to be exercised, that it was not going to be exercised, and</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(ii) did not subsequently give reasonable notice to the guardian that the applicant intended to exercise the parenting time or contact with the child after all;</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><tt>(f) other circumstances the court considers to be sufficient justification for the denial.</tt></blockquote>
==When parenting time or contact isn't exercised==