42
edits
Changes
This page has now been fully reviewed; however, I would like the chance to re-read before confirming the legal accuracy date. I hope to do so this week.
==Reports and assessments==
Parents, guardians, and the court sometimes need help in deciding what is in the best interests of the children and need to get someone else's input, which might be from a psychologist, clinical counsellor, family justice counsellor or social worker, or from the children themselves. The two most common ways of doing this are through ''needs of the child assessments'', which used to be called "section fifteen reports" or "custody and access reports," or through ''views of the child reports''.
# Custody and access reports;# Section 211 of the ''[[Family Law Act]]'' allows the court to order that an assessment be conducted of the children's wishes, the children's needs, and the ability of a person to meet those needs. Needs reports; or# Views of the child assessments are helpful to the court and can be very useful when the parties are trying something other than court, like mediation, collaborative settlement processes, or arbitrationreports.
=== Custody and access report=== A Custody and Access Report is a report that is prepared by a neutral third party, usually a psychologist or registered clinical social worker. This is an older term and in most cases, the courts will be making an order for a “section 211 report,” which is a report prepared pursuant to section 211 of the ''Family Law Act''. The B.C. Supreme Court discussed the purposes of the old custody and access reports in a 2001 case called ''[http://canlii.ca/t/4xfd Gupta v. Gupta]'', 2001 BCSC 649, which is also sometimes referred to as ''G. (L.E.) v. G.(A.)''. The Court's comments apply just as well to the new needs reports prepared pursuant to section 211 of the child assessments''Family Law Act'':
<blockquote>"The purpose of a [court-ordered report] ... is to assist the Court in determining the issues before it, including the paramount of issues of what is in the best interests of the children. The section itself contemplates that the person doing the investigation must be approved by the Court, and must be independent or neutral. ... The investigation is carried out for the purposes of the Court, and in the best interests of the children, and not those of the partial parents who are embroiled in what is seen as the dispute of their lives, who generally represent the extremes of every issue, and whose evidence is often found to be coloured to say the least."</blockquote>
A more recent case where the court discusses why a Section section 211 Report report should be ordered is ''[http://canlii.ca/t/g2nxw Smith v. Smith]'', 2014 BCSC 61. ===Section 211 reports===
Once the assessment is finished, a process that can take anywhere from two months to five months, the assessor sends the assessment to the parties, as well as to the court if the assessment was court ordered. These assessments can be used in two ways: to encourage settlement; and, at trial, to persuade the court that the parenting proposal of one parent or guardian is to be preferred over that of the other. The person who prepared the assessment can be called to testify at the trial and will be subject to cross-examination as to how he or she conducted the assessment and reached his or her conclusions and recommendations.
===Views of the child reports===
==Children's caregivers and extended family==
#being appointed as a guardian of the children.
No matter how valid or legitimate a grandparent's or other non-parent's concerns might be, the court will place a great deal of weight on the wishes of the parents. In a 2003 case of the B.C. Supreme Court, ''[http://canlii.ca/t/572w M.(D.W.) v. M.(J.S.)]'', 2003 BCSC 1229 the court said that while it must give "paramount consideration" to the best interests of the child, "significant deference must be accorded the custodial parent and their ability to determine the child’s best interests."
===Legislation===
The ''[[Family Law Act]]'' talks about ''guardians'' who have ''parental responsibilities'' and have ''parenting time'' with children, and about people who are not guardians who have ''contact'' with a child.
Any person can apply to be appointed as the guardian of a child under s. 51 of the actAct. However, these applications can be difficult and time-consuming and the court must be satisfied that the appointment is in the best interests of the child. A person who is applying to become the guardian of a child, an ''applicant'', ''must'' fill out a special affidavit required by the [http://canlii.ca/t/85pb Provincial Court (Family) Rules] and the [http://canlii.ca/t/8mcr Supreme Court Family Rules]
that talks about:
Applicants must also get a new criminal records check, and a records check from the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD).
Any person can apply for contact with a child under s. 59 of the actAct. The court must be satisfied that the contact asked for is in the best interests of the child. People who are applying for contact don't need to get a criminal records check or an MCFD records check done.
===Custody and guardianship===
*poor parenting skills on the part of the guardian.
Grandparents and other non-parents shouldn't be too discouraged by the generally pessimistic tone of this discussion. There are quite a few cases in which grandparents have been awarded custody, guardianship and/or contact with their grandchildren. It is possible to succeed on a custody or guardianship application, although the chances of success depend wholly on the circumstances of each case. For example in a B.C. Supreme Court decision ''Popovic v. Andjelic'', 2014 BCSC 2522 http://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2014/2014bcsc2522/2014bcsc2522.html?autocompleteStr=Popovic%20v.%20Andjelic&autocompletePos=1, the child and her mother resided with the maternal grandparents. The child's father lived in another country. After the mother died suddenly, the grandparents applied to be appointed the guardians of the child and the court granted their request. The father also remained a guardian but without [[parental responsibilities]].
===Access and contact===
*Non-parents may also have to demonstrate that they offer some positive benefit to the child before access or contact will be allowed, and they must demonstrate that the child's time with them will be in the child's best interests. Normally, grandparents and other non-parents are allowed only the amount of access or contact that the guardians will agree to.
Where both guardians are still in the picture, the court will usually require that grandparents' access or contact occurs during the time that their child has the grandchild. In other words, maternal grandparents will usually have access or contact, if the court makes the order at all, during the mother's time with the child. See the B.C. Provincial Court decision called ''N.H. v. D.H.'', 2013 BCPC 413 http://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcpc/doc/2013/2013bcpc413/2013bcpc413.html?resultIndex=1 Where only one guardian is in the picture, the court will usually determine what access or contact the grandparents ought to have independently of the interests of the guardian.
As with applications for custody or guardianship, grandparents and other non-parents should not be discouraged by the generally pessimistic tone of this discussion. There are numerous cases in which grandparents have been awarded time with their grandchildren; it ''is'' possible to succeed on an application for access or contact.
===Financial support===
When a non-parent obtains custody of a child or an order that the child live mostly with him or her, that person can apply for child support to be paid by the parents or guardians of the child. The same rules will apply to a non-parent's application for child support as apply to a guardian's application, except that grandparents and other non-parents can only apply for child support under the ''[[Family Law Act]]''; they cannot apply under the ''[[Divorce Act]]''. See section 147 and 149 of the ''[[Family Law Act]]''.
Grandparents are also entitled to ask for financial support from the provincial government to help meet the cost of caring for any grandchildren in their care. The province of British Columbia pays grandparents who are looking after their grandchildren at the same rate as foster parents. It's not a princely sum, but it's better than a kick in the teeth.