Parenting Plans

Separated parents are now required to prepare a Parenting Plan before they are allowed to take their parenting dispute to court. 

The Judges have decided it would be helpful to have each parent give some consideration to exactly how they would like the parenting time and parental decision-making authority shared between them. 

Occasionally a parent requests a trial date, stating that they want "custody" of the children. They have not however given thought to the other parent's time, school holidays, summer vacations, birthdays, extended family time, travel, relocation, illness, cultural practices, medical appointments and education decisions. The parenting plan should have these specifics in it.

Preparing the Parenting Plan can be a great idea even for separated parents who do not need to go to court. Using the plan as a template can help parents turn their minds to topics they may not have considered. If parents are getting along well and working on an out-of-court settlement, they may not be aware of good options for sharing time with the children, how to share holidays or
ideas for when there may be a difference of opinion on a parenting decision. 

The Department of Justice website has a helpful toolkit for parents to use if they are unsure where to start:

https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/parent/ppt-ecppp/form/form.html