March 1, 2021, marked a very important day in family law across Canada. It saw the implementation of extensive amendments to the Divorce Act and, importantly for Ontario, to the Children’s Law Reform Act. The changes include, for example, new terminology for parenting - with the old, value-laden terms of “custody” and “access” being replaced with more modern and value-neutral terms of “decision-making responsibility” and “parenting time”.
Read MoreWhen family law lawyers use this term in Ontario, they are usually talking about a multi-page document which creates a "road-map" for parents on how to deal with their child(ren), and each other, after a separation.
A Parenting Plan may be authored by a variety of people. Many Parenting Plans are the result of negotiations between Mom and Dad, with the assistance of lawyers
Read MoreHopefully, this post will be irrelevant and outdated several months from now but in the meantime, parents should consider with care, and over time:
a) how their children are processing information about the pandemic; and
b) how their actions, as separated/divorced parents, impact their children while we grapple with today's uncertainty.
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