If you are currently or have recently separated or divorced your partner, you will need to explore your options of how you want to move forward with co-parenting your children and making major decisions regarding their health, education, spiritual upbringing, and their extracurricular activities. It is important that you have a decision-making mechanism in place to ensure that when such a major decision has to be made, your child’s needs are well taken care of rather than ignored.
Occurs when only one parent is involved in making the major child-related decisions.
Occurs when the two parents make the major child-related decisions together.
Occurs when the major child-related decisions are divided up between the parents. For example, one parent may be responsible for health decisions while the other is responsible for decisions related to education.
If you cannot agree on a major decision, parents may choose to defer to a third party, wherein they will rely heavily on the recommendations of the children’s doctor or teacher, or the parents may retain a parenting coordinator with arbitration powers. The parenting coordinator can be a former judge, a lawyer, a social worker, or anyone you trust with the proper arbitration training.
When deciding the best decision-making mechanism regarding your children, you will want to consider whether you and your spouse have historically agreed on major child-related decisions and if not, then how you will resolve future disagreements to ensure a necessary decision regarding your children is made. Ultimately, when making these decisions, it is important to focus on what is in the best interests of your children, which can include your children’s history of care, your family’s cultural, linguistic, religious and spiritual upbringing and heritage, and any history of family violence.
Domestic abuse and violence in a relationship can impact whether parents can effectively make joint decisions regarding their children. Domestic abuse and violence can take many forms in a relationship including physical abuse, sexual violence, emotional or psychological abuse, financial abuse, or coercive control.
It may also be helpful to consider your child’s perspective, wants and needs when making major decisions. One way to obtain your child’s views can be through a Voice of the Child (VOC) Report, which is written by a qualified professional and can be ordered as part of the court process or the parents can agree to retain a professional privately.
You may want to seek legal advice if you and your spouse cannot agree on the best decision-making process, or you are having difficulty understanding where to start. Additionally, lawyers can help ensure your eventual agreement is binding and enforceable.
At INB Family Law, our lawyers are skilled in all areas of family law, therefore we can help you to come to an agreement outside of court, and if necessary advocate for you inside the court process. Please contact us to book a consultation if you have any questions or concerns regarding parental arrangements.