Is this shared custody?

[treegirl97]

Would it be considered a shared custody arrangement if my stbx has our child 2 evenings a week for supper (4:30-7), Saturday (9-4) and one additional overnight/week. That means supper at ex's house 3 nights a week. Based on this 60/40 split I keep reading about, would this qualify or is that based on the number of overnights? A bit confused about how everything works and no, this is not about money.

[shellshocked22]

From what I gather, the family law act does not actually DEFINE how to count time for the "percentage" of time each parent has. That is, is it hours, overnights, "face time", does "at school" count and if so which parent, etc. Typical effing mess courtesy of our wonderful Family Law Act which is designed to profit lawyers/govt at expense of hard working people but I digress.....

Having said that, "in general" courts usually define "overnights" as counting. That is, if you have the child OVERNIGHT (ie. the kid sleeps at your home) two nights each week , 2 divided by 7 x 100 = 28.5%.

I assume others will add their understanding shortly....

[shellshocked22]

Sorry, forgot to address your question specifically. I suspect having them only "for supper" WON'T count. In other words, since the child is overnight for only one day per week, my hunch is courts would view it as 14.2%. I don't think your spouse will get any "credit" for the "supper time".

[NBDad]

Yeah, usually it's OVERNIGHTS that count. You can try and argue based on nearly anything, as long as you can prove it.

In this situation, even if you calculate by the hour he still only has like 21%.

2.5H 2 days a week
7 hours 1 day a week
1 overnight 1 day a week (so max 24h)

24+7+2.5+2.5=36h per week (max)

24H day * 7 days a week = 168 H/week

36/168 = 21.4%

[Kenny]

The Federal Child Support Guidelines, SOR 97-175 (a Divorce Act Annex) states:

“Split custody

8. Where each spouse has custody of one or more children, the amount of a child support order is the difference between the amount that each spouse would otherwise pay if a child support order were sought against each of the spouses.

Shared custody


9. Where a spouse exercises a right of access to, or has physical custody of, a child for not less than 40 per cent of the time over the course of a year, the amount of the child support order must be determined by taking into account

(a) the amounts set out in the applicable tables for each of the spouses;
(b) the increased costs of shared custody arrangements; and
(c) the conditions, means, needs and other circumstances of each spouse and of any child for whom support is sought.”

You will find many cases in the Superior Court of Ontario where the judge will truly admit that there is no complete and standard definition of the various types of custodies. Therefore the courts will use the two definitions above. Even on the Family Law Rules Form 15C, there are only two types of custody from which to choose: they are “custody” or “joint custody.”

Also, despite the government’s attempt to define custody, each case is different. I know of a couple right now where the only thing the child does is sleep at the other parent’s house. One parent picks the child up at 7:00 am and drops the child back ready for bed at 7:00 pm and only on school nights.

For how the courts might view your particular case, it would behove you to check CANLII for similar case decisions and talk to a lawyer if you can.