Toronto Child Custody Lawyers Helping Parents With Parenting Disputes
Parents may consider working with a child custody lawyer when they need help deciding where their children will live, how parenting time will be shared, or who will make important decisions after separation.
Ontario family law now generally refers to these issues as decision-making responsibility and parenting time rather than custody and access.
Decision-making responsibility concerns authority over important decisions affecting a child, including matters such as health, education, religion, and other significant aspects of the child’s life. Parenting time refers to the periods when a child is in a parent’s care.
At Gelman & Associates, our Toronto child custody lawyers help parents resolve disputes involving:
- Decision-making responsibility
- Parenting time
- Parenting schedules
- Parenting plans
- Shared parenting
- Sole or joint decision-making
- Relocation
- Family violence and safety concerns
- Changes to existing parenting arrangements
- Enforcement of parenting orders
Our goal is to help you understand your rights, your responsibilities, and how Ontario’s best interests of the child test may apply to your circumstances.
To discuss a parenting or child custody matter with a Toronto family lawyer, call 1-844-736-0200 or contact Gelman & Associates.
Child Custody, Decision-Making Responsibility, And Parenting Time In Ontario
The terms “custody” and “access” remain widely used by parents across the province, but Ontario’s current family-law framework uses different terminology.
What Is Decision-Making Responsibility?
Decision-making responsibility refers to authority to make significant decisions concerning a child’s well-being.
These decisions can include:
- Health care
- Education
- Religious or spiritual upbringing
- Other important matters affecting the child
Decision-making responsibility may be allocated to one parent, shared by both parents, or divided by subject matter depending on the parenting arrangement.
Ontario’s Children’s Law Reform Act and the federal Divorce Act both use the modern terminology.
What Is Parenting Time?
Parenting time refers to the time a child spends in a parent’s care.
A parenting-time arrangement may establish:
- Weekday and weekend schedules
- Overnight parenting time
- Holidays
- School breaks
- Summer schedules
- Exchanges between homes
- Transportation responsibilities
- Telephone or video contact
- Travel arrangements
A parent can have parenting time without having sole or joint decision-making responsibility.
During parenting time, a parent will generally make ordinary day-to-day decisions for the child unless an agreement or court order provides otherwise.
Is “Child Custody” Still Used In Ontario?
Parents still commonly use “child custody” to describe parenting disputes, and lawyers understand what the term means.
However, current legislation and court documents generally use decision-making responsibility and parenting time.
Our Toronto child custody lawyers can help translate the terminology and explain what a proposed parenting arrangement would actually mean for your family.
How Do Ontario Courts Decide Child Custody And Parenting Arrangements?
The central legal test is the best interests of the child.
Under Ontario’s Children’s Law Reform Act, courts must consider all factors relevant to the child’s circumstances and give primary consideration to the child’s physical, emotional, and psychological safety, security, and well-being.
The court may consider factors such as:
- The child’s needs and circumstances
- The child’s relationship with each parent
- The child’s relationships with siblings and other important people
- The history of care for the child
- Each parent’s ability and willingness to meet the child’s needs
- Plans proposed for the child’s care
- The ability of the parents to communicate and cooperate where joint decisions are proposed
- The child’s views and preferences where appropriate
- The child’s cultural, linguistic, religious, and spiritual upbringing
- Any family violence
- The stability of proposed parenting arrangements
- Each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent where appropriate
There is no automatic rule that mothers receive custody or that fathers receive equal parenting time.
The court’s task is to determine what arrangement best serves the particular child.
Is There A Presumption Of 50/50 Custody In Ontario?
No, not necessarily. Ontario law does not automatically require children to spend exactly equal time with both parents.
The law does recognize the principle that children should have as much time with each parent as is consistent with their best interests, but that does not create an automatic 50/50 parenting schedule. Ontario’s legislation expressly ties parenting time to the best-interests analysis.
Depending on the family, an appropriate arrangement might involve:
- Approximately equal parenting time
- A primary residence with one parent
- Week-on/week-off parenting
- A 2-2-3 schedule
- Alternating weekends and additional weekday time
- Supervised parenting time
- Another schedule designed around the child’s needs
The appropriate arrangement depends on the child’s circumstances rather than a mathematical default.
Sole Vs. Joint Decision-Making Responsibility
Sole Decision-Making Responsibility
Where one parent has sole decision-making responsibility, that parent generally has authority to make the important decisions assigned to them under the agreement or court order.
The other parent may still have significant parenting time.
Sole decision-making responsibility does not necessarily mean that the other parent has little or no relationship with the child.
Joint Decision-Making Responsibility
Joint decision-making responsibility means the parents share authority over important decisions concerning the child.
This arrangement typically requires an ability to communicate and cooperate sufficiently to make significant decisions.
Ontario’s public guidance specifically notes that joint decision-making works best where parents can cooperate and communicate despite their separation.
Can Decision-Making Responsibility Be Divided By Issue?
In some families, responsibility can be allocated differently for different subjects.
For example, one parent might have final responsibility for a particular area while other important decisions remain shared.
The wording of an agreement or parenting order matters considerably, so parents should understand exactly which decisions each person has authority to make.
What Is Shared Parenting In Ontario?
Shared parenting generally refers to an arrangement in which a child spends substantial time with each parent.
It is important not to confuse parenting time with decision-making responsibility.
Parents can share parenting time without necessarily sharing all major decisions equally. Likewise, parents can share decision-making responsibility even where the child spends more time in one household.
For child support purposes, the Child Support Guidelines use a 40% threshold for shared parenting time, but that support rule does not determine what parenting schedule is in the child’s best interests.
Parents with questions about the financial consequences of shared parenting can also speak with our Toronto child support lawyers.
How Do Parenting Plans Work?
A parenting plan sets out the practical details of how parents will care for their children after separation.
A useful parenting plan can address much more than where children sleep.
It may include:
- Regular parenting schedules
- Weekends and weekdays
- Holidays and school breaks
- Birthdays and special occasions
- Pick-up and drop-off arrangements
- Travel within Canada or internationally
- Passports
- Medical appointments
- School communication
- Extracurricular activities
- Telephone and video communication
- How parents exchange important information
- How new disagreements will be resolved
- How future schedule changes will be handled
A detailed plan can help reduce uncertainty and conflict.
Ontario law allows courts to incorporate agreed parenting-plan terms into a parenting order where appropriate and consistent with the child’s best interests.
For practical planning considerations, see our guide to creating a parenting plan.
At What Age Can A Child Decide Which Parent To Live With In Ontario?
There is no fixed age at which a child automatically gets to choose which parent they will live with.
A child’s views and preferences can be relevant to the best-interests analysis, but the weight given to those views depends on the child’s age, maturity, circumstances, and other evidence.
The court does not simply ask a child to choose between parents.
In some cases, the Office of the Children’s Lawyer may become involved to provide information about the child’s views or assist the court in understanding the child’s circumstances.
Ontario confirms that the child’s wishes are one factor in the best-interests analysis, with the weight depending on the facts of the particular case.
What Is The Office Of The Children’s Lawyer?
The Office of the Children’s Lawyer, commonly called the OCL, may assist in some contested parenting cases.
If requested by the court and accepted by the OCL, its involvement may include:
- A lawyer representing the child
- A clinician meeting with family members and preparing a report
- Both legal and clinical services
The OCL does not automatically become involved in every custody or parenting dispute.
A judge may request its involvement where additional assistance could help the court understand parenting-time, decision-making, contact, or the child’s circumstances.
Can A Parent Prevent The Other Parent From Seeing Their Child?
A parent should not simply ignore an existing parenting agreement or court order because they disagree with it.
Where there are immediate and legitimate safety concerns, urgent legal steps may be required.
Ontario recognizes that parenting time may be restricted or refused where there is a serious concern that a parent may harm the child, harm the other parent, or fail to return the child.
Possible arrangements in higher-risk cases can include:
- Supervised parenting time
- Supervised exchanges
- More structured communication
- Restrictions on travel
- Other protective terms
Ontario also provides supervised access services that can facilitate parenting visits or exchanges in a neutral environment where appropriate.
How Does Family Violence Affect Child Custody?
Family violence is directly relevant to parenting decisions.
A court must consider its impact when deciding what arrangement is in a child’s best interests.
The analysis may include:
- The nature and seriousness of the violence
- Whether there is a pattern of coercive or controlling behaviour
- Whether the child witnessed or experienced violence
- Whether a parent or child fears for their safety
- The effect of the violence on parenting capacity
- Whether requiring parental cooperation would create additional risk
- Existing criminal, family, or child-protection proceedings
Safety takes priority over attempts to impose a cooperative parenting structure where cooperation would be inappropriate.
Our Toronto domestic violence lawyers can assist where parenting disputes intersect with family violence or urgent safety concerns.
Can A Parent Move With A Child After Separation?
Relocation can become a significant parenting issue where a proposed move would substantially affect the child’s relationship with another parent or their existing parenting arrangement.
A move to another neighbourhood may have relatively little impact. A move to another city, province, or country may have much more serious consequences.
Relocation disputes can involve questions such as:
- How far the proposed move is
- Why the parent wants to relocate
- The impact on the child’s relationships
- The existing parenting arrangement
- School and community ties
- Travel costs
- New parenting schedules
- The child’s best interests
Parents should obtain legal advice before making a major relocation decision or assuming that they can simply move with the child.
Read more in our guide to child relocation after separation.
Can Unmarried Parents Get Child Custody In Ontario?
Yes. Parenting rights and responsibilities are not limited to parents who were married.
Ontario’s Children’s Law Reform Act governs many parenting disputes involving unmarried parents and uses the same core concepts of decision-making responsibility, parenting time, and the best interests of the child.
For more information, see our guide to child custody rights of unmarried parents.
Can Grandparents Get Parenting Time Or Contact?
Non-parents, including grandparents, may in appropriate circumstances seek a contact order.
Ontario distinguishes parenting time, which is generally available to parents, from contact with a non-parent such as a grandparent. Whether an order is appropriate will depend on the child’s best interests and the circumstances of the relationship.
Our guide to child visitation rights in Canada explains how the modern concepts of parenting time and contact differ, including for grandparents.
Whether an order is appropriate will depend on the child’s best interests and the circumstances of the relationship.
Read more about grandparents’ rights in Ontario.
How Are Child Custody Disputes Resolved?
Not every parenting dispute requires a trial.
Negotiation
Parents and their lawyers can exchange proposals and negotiate a parenting plan or separation agreement.
Family Mediation
A neutral mediator can help parents discuss possible solutions while the parents remain responsible for deciding whether to settle.
Learn more from our Toronto family mediation lawyers.
Collaborative Family Law
Each parent can retain their own collaboratively trained lawyer and participate in a structured process designed to resolve the dispute without litigation.
Learn more about how our Toronto collaborative family law lawyers may be able to help.
Family Court
Court may be necessary where:
- Parents cannot reach agreement
- There are urgent safety concerns
- Family violence is involved
- One parent refuses to follow an existing arrangement
- A relocation dispute requires resolution
- One parent seeks restrictions or supervision
- An enforceable parenting order is necessary
Ontario law requires courts to determine parenting disputes according to the child’s best interests.
What Happens In A Child Custody Court Case?
Where parents cannot reach an agreement, either may ask the court for a parenting order.
Depending on the matter, the process can involve:
- Starting or responding to a family court application
- Filing evidence about the child and parenting history
- Case conferences or settlement conferences
- Temporary parenting motions
- Assessments or involvement of the Office of the Children’s Lawyer
- Negotiations throughout the proceeding
- A trial if the dispute cannot otherwise be resolved
Our Toronto child custody lawyers represent clients in parenting disputes before the Ontario Court of Justice and Superior Court of Justice.
Can A Parenting Order Be Changed?
Yes, but an existing parenting arrangement is not changed simply because one parent would now prefer something different.
A court will generally require an appropriate legal basis for varying an existing order, commonly involving a material change in circumstances affecting the child or the parenting arrangement.
Examples can include:
- A significant relocation
- Major changes to a parent’s availability
- Changes in the child’s needs
- New safety concerns
- A substantial change in the parenting arrangement
- New circumstances affecting a parent’s ability to care for the child
Our Toronto variations lawyers can help assess whether an existing parenting order may need to be changed.
What If The Other Parent Is Not Following The Parenting Order?
Repeated failure to comply with a parenting order can require legal intervention.
Examples include:
- Repeatedly denying parenting time
- Failing to return a child as required
- Ignoring exchange arrangements
- Withholding information required under an order
- Repeatedly interfering with the child’s relationship with the other parent
The appropriate remedy depends on the seriousness and circumstances.
Parents should be cautious about responding by simply withholding parenting time themselves unless there is an urgent safety issue requiring immediate action.
A lawyer can advise on enforcement, variation, make-up parenting time, or other potential court remedies.
Frequently Asked Questions About Child Custody In Ontario
Does The Mother Automatically Get Custody In Ontario?
No. Ontario law does not automatically prefer mothers over fathers when determining parenting arrangements.
The court focuses on the child’s best interests rather than the gender of either parent.
Parents looking for information about issues affecting fathers can also visit our Toronto father’s rights lawyers page.
Can A Father Get Sole Custody In Ontario?
A father can receive sole decision-making responsibility where that arrangement is found to be in the child’s best interests.
The same legal test applies regardless of whether the applicant is the child’s mother or father.
Can Parents Have 50/50 Parenting Time?
Yes. Some families use equal or approximately equal parenting schedules.
However, 50/50 time is not automatic and must still be appropriate for the child.
Does Joint Custody Mean 50/50 Time?
No.
Joint decision-making responsibility concerns major decisions. Parenting time concerns the child’s schedule.
The two concepts are related but not the same.
Can I Get Custody Without Going To Court?
Yes, if the parents can agree.
Parenting arrangements can be documented in a separation agreement or parenting plan without asking a judge to decide the dispute.
Legal advice is useful before finalizing an agreement so that each parent understands its effect.
What Happens If We Cannot Agree On A Parenting Schedule?
Parents may try negotiation, mediation, or collaborative family law.
If agreement remains impossible, either parent may ask the court to make a parenting order based on the child’s best interests.
Can Parenting Time Be Supervised?
Yes. Supervised parenting time or supervised exchanges may be used where appropriate, including in circumstances involving safety concerns. Ontario recognizes supervised access arrangements and supervised access centres as potential options.
Can A Child Refuse To See A Parent?
This can become a complicated issue and depends heavily on the child’s age, maturity, reasons for refusing, existing orders, and the surrounding family circumstances.
Parents should not assume that a child’s stated refusal automatically cancels an existing parenting order. Legal advice may be needed to determine the appropriate next step.
Speak With A Toronto Child Custody Lawyer Today
Parenting disputes can affect where your child lives, how much time they spend with each parent, who makes important decisions, and how your family functions after separation.
At Gelman & Associates, our Toronto child custody lawyers assist parents with:
- Decision-making responsibility
- Parenting time
- Parenting plans
- Shared and sole parenting arrangements
- Parenting negotiations
- Mediation
- Court proceedings
- Family violence concerns
- Relocation
- Supervised parenting time
- Changes to parenting orders
- Enforcement disputes
Whether you are trying to reach an agreement or responding to a contested parenting application, we can help you understand the legal framework and the options available.
To discuss your circumstances with a Toronto child custody lawyer, call 1-844-736-0200 or contact Gelman & Associates online.
