Most common child custody arrangement in Ontario?

[Jupitor]

Hi,
I am new here, so sorry if this has been discussed before. I would like to know, what is the most common child custody arrangement in Ontario? For a family with two children is the most common decision for shared custody or are the courts more in favour of sole custody. I understand there are other factors involved in determining the custody of children but would like to know statistically what is the most common arrangement in Ontario where two children, let's say 12 and 14 are involved?

I have read that in cases where one of the spouses is disputing custody, that the courts usually decide that one of the parents have sole custody. Not sure if this is true or not?

Thanks.

[#1StepMom]

Ideally... the children's parents will live relatively close to one another and close to the children's school so that they can have shared custody (50/50) with the children living with each parent equally, most often week-on/week-off.

However, that isn't always possible.

In cases where shared or split custody isn't a reasonable situation (ex: the parents don't both reside within the school boundaries; the children wish to stay together instead of one living with mom and the other with dad) you can have joint custody with one parent having primary residency. This means, that both parents are able to make decisions pertaining to the child (which means that both parents are also capable of discussing important issues and coming to agreements) but due to the distance between homes or the parents' schedules, the children reside with one parent the majority of the time and reside with the other parent every-other-weekend and half of all vacations (Christmas, March Break, Summer).

The latter is the most common these days, and usually - if the distance between homes and the parents' schedules allow - allows for one midweek visit as well (ex: 4pm-8pm) with the "non-custodial" parent (ie. the parent that does not have primary residency).

I know that all the terminology is quite confusing. Did you try reading the family law guides online? They are quite helpful answering questions such as yours.

This is a great FAQ site: Ministry of the Attorney General - Family Law Resources

[Jupitor]

Thanks a lot for the explanation and the reference to the site.

[first timer]

No that is not true - "I have read that in cases where one of the spouses is disputing custody, that the courts usually decide that one of the parents have sole custody. "

[Jupitor]

Originally Posted by first timer

No that is not true - "I have read that in cases where one of the spouses is disputing custody, that the courts usually decide that one of the parents have sole custody. "

Thanks for the clarification.