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  • Shared parenting time frames

    Is there a physical amount of time that must be adhered to before a court will consider a matter shared parenting?

    My ex and I split with a 3 month old, for a year I maintained daily access and we went to trial and I was condensed to 2 overnights to control the levels of acrimony played up by my ex.

    Nonetheless, the access on the trial judgment was never adhered to. In November my ex varied the Order to relocate. It is on court record that for November, December and January 2009 I had the care and control but still paid CS and extra-ordinary costs.

    In February my ex vacated, I travelled and had 8 days out of the month with my daughter.

    Om March 29 my ex returned handed me my daughter and took off until mid April. We entered into a physical agreement that my access would be every Wed to Sat. This went through and is the pattern our 2.5 year old is on. I now have it in writing as the relocation order needs to be varied.

    My ex makes 45,000 a year more than I and other than 2 months since Nov 2008 she has been shared, other than documenting in my journal, emails, and phone records is there anything more I need to prove?

    My ex wants even more money from me now, if its shared why I am paying more than half of the daycare costs with the income differential?

    Can I seek an equalization payment?

  • #2
    check out this page: Family Law Centre


    "Shared" custody is "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". This is a new term for family law lawyers and it is not yet clear how this will be interpreted. For example, there is considerable uncertainty over how the courts will be figuring out what "40 per cent of the time over the course of a year" means. Does this include time when the children are in school or away at summer camp? Is there a difference if the camp is a day camp or an overnight camp? If the camp is paid for jointly, will the time there be counted equally?

    Where there is shared custody the situation is different and more complicated. The Guidelines provide as follows:
    "s. 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 amount 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 of the marriage for whom support is sought."
    As a result, where there is shared custody the court must first figure out what each parent would have had to pay for child support if the child was in the care of the other, then figure out the "increased" costs because of the "shared custody arrangements" and then take into consideration the "condition, means, needs and other circumstances of each spouse and of any child for whom the support is being sought." It is this last step which will create the greatest amount of uncertainty because it seems to put the courts back into the position before the Guidelines of looking into the "conditions, means needs and other circumstances of each spouse" as well as for the child. The wording here makes it pretty clear that in the case of shared parenting the court will get to look at a lot more than just the gross income of the non custodial parent and will have to be looking at the income and circumstances of the other spouse. Surely the "conditions, means, needs and other circumstances" include looking into the income and wealth of anyone with whom either party is living.

    It is widely felt that the section dealing with shared custody will be one of the earliest sections to be looked at for revision and clarification. But for the meantime, this is the section about lawyers can give clients the least amount of advice until after the courts have pronounced on how it is to be dealt with.


    It appears that for shared custody the kind of rules and certainty the Guidelines apply to other cases of child support aren't going to apply. In fact, it seems as though, on the regulations as now drafted, shared custody cases will be much like before the introduction of the Guidelines and the courts will be looking at the "means, needs and other circumstances" of the parties, something which it will not be able to do in other cases for child support under the regulations.

    In addition to these bigger questions, we don't yet know what costs of shared custody will be regarded as "increased" as opposed to normal. If a non custodial parent who has the children on alternate or even regular weekends needs to have an extra bedroom for them, will this be regarded as an "increased" cost if that parent has the children for 40 per cent of the time? If the extra room wold be necessary for 35 per cent of the time, perhaps is isn't an "increased" cost. Only time will tell.
    This is clearly a case where the simplification of matters has left more confusion than before. This may be addressed by the government before it finalizes the regulations, but whether or not there are changes, anyone in this situation is strongly advised to keep in touch with a family law lawyer to see just what the final regulations will say and how they are likely to be applied.

    Comment


    • #3
      There are 4 categories of special child-related expenses which the court can add to the table amounts if the judge finds that they are "reasonable and necessary" in light of the needs of the children and the means of the parents. They are:
      (a) net child care expenses for a child who is not in full-time attendance at school or for whom extraordinary arrangements are required. The extra amount will likely take into consideration any tax deduction or subsidy the custodial parent receives for child care expenses;
      (b) medical and health related expenses over $200 per year per child that are not covered by provincial or territorial health insurance plans. This could include, for example, orthodontic and psychological counselling expenses;
      (c) educational expenses for primary, secondary or post-secondary education or for an educational programmed that meets a child's particular needs. This might include tutors and special schools for the disabled; and (d) extraordinary expenses for extracurricular activities that allow a child to pursue a special interest or talent, or attend a specialized programmed. This might include figure skating, piano lessons or hockey or soccer leagues.

      Comment


      • #4
        “How much of the special or extraordinary expenses (add-ons) will I need to pay?”

        You and the other parent must share these expenses in proportion to your incomes. For instance, if you earn double what the other parent earns, you are required to pay 2/3 of these expenses, (double the 1/3 of these expenses the other parent pays).
        “The other parent has incurred special or extraordinary expenses (add-ons) without my consent - do I still need to pay them?”

        The reality is that the court looks at what’s best for the children - which normally means you must pay. If a parent unilaterally does something that’s very expensive - for instance, enrols your child in a $30,000 per year private school - then you may not be required to pay for this.
        “I am incurring many special or extraordinary expenses (add-ons), but the other parent isn’t contributing his or her share - what can I do?”

        You can always take legal action to get the other parent to contribute. However, this is a long and expensive process. Generally, it is best to wait until the expenses total a large enough amount that taking legal action makes sense. In the meantime, keep a proper paper trail of your consistent requests to the other parent to provide his or her contributions.

        Comment

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