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→Introduction
There's a lot more involved in making decisions about parenting after separation than what you'll find in the ''Divorce Act'' and the ''Family Law Act''. The romantic relationship between the parents may be over, but they'll always be parents, no matter the nature of their relationship with each other. Separated parents have a duty to their children to try to overcome their differences and always put their children first, no matter how hard it is for them to cope with the emotional and legal issues that arise from the breakdown of their relationship with each other.
===The ''Divorce Act'' and the ''Family Law Act''law about parenting after separation===
For married spouses, the law about parenting after separation is governed by the federal ''Divorce Act'' and the provincial ''Family Law Act''. Although married spouses can ask for orders under both the ''Divorce Act'' and the ''Family Law Act'', it's usually best to just pick one act or the other to deal with issues about parenting after separation.
====The ''Divorce Act'', decision-making responsibility and parenting time====
The ''Divorce Act'' talks about parenting after separation in terms of married spouses who have "decision-making responsibilitiesresponsibility" for their children and have "parenting time" with their children. The ''Divorce Act'' started using this language on 1 March 2021. Before then, the ''Divorce Act'' talked about married spouses who had "custody" of their children and "access" to their children. The new language focuses more on the interests of children than the rights of parents, and is very similar to the language used by the ''Family Law Act''.
''Decision-making responsibilities'' are the responsibilities parents have to make important decisions on behalf of their children, about things like where the children go to school, how they're treated when they get sick and which sorts of extracurricular activities they'll participate in. Under the old ''Divorce Act'', people with custody had the responsibility for making decisions like these. Decision-making responsibility under the ''Divorce Act'' is a lot like "parental responsibilities" under the ''Family Law Act." (People other than married spouses may be able to ask for decision-making responsibilities when there's already a court proceeding under the ''Divorce Act''.)
''Parenting time'' is the schedule of the time that each parent has with their children. Under the old ''Divorce Act'', we talked about the children's schedule in terms of "access," but "access" only referred to the schedule of the parent who saw the children the least. Parenting time under the ''Divorce Act'' means almost exactly the same thing as "parental time" under the ''Family Law Act''. (People other than married spouses may be able to ask for parenting time when there's already a court proceeding under the ''Divorce Act''.)
A person who has decision-making responsibilities or parenting time is entitled to get information about the education, health and wellbeing of their children from anyone who has that information. A person who has parenting time is also entitled to make day-to-day decisions about the children during their parenting time, including emergency decisions.
====The ''Divorce Act'' and contact====
"Contact" is the time that people other than married spouses have with children. Someone who has ''contact'' is ''not'' entitled to make day-to-day decisions about the children during their contact with the children, and they are ''not'' entitled to get information about the education, health and wellbeing of the children. Contact under the ''Divorce Act'' means almost exactly the same thing as "contact" under the ''Family Law Act''.
The court can make orders about contact when the children's parents are already involved in a court proceeding under the ''Divorce Act.''
====The ''Family Law Act'', guardianship, parental responsibilities and parenting time====
The ''Family Law Act'' talks about puts the emphasis on people who are ''guardians'', rather than on people who are ''parents''. Guardians are usually, but not always, the parents of a child. They can A child's guardians might also include : *people who are parents because of an assisted reproduction agreement. People , *people other than parents may be able to ask for a who are appointed by the court order appointing them as a guardian of a childguardians, under certain conditions. Parents and*people who are not guardians can be appointed as by a guardian of their child by making an agreement with as guardians when the child's other guardians appointing guardian dies or by asking for a court order appointing them as becomes to sick to be a guardian. Guardians have "parental responsibilities" for their children and have "parenting time" with their children.
''Parental responsibilities'' are the responsibilities guardians have to make important decisions on behalf of their children, about things like where the children go to school, how they're treated when they get sick and which sorts of extracurricular activities they'll participate in. Only guardians can have parental responsibilities.