Decision-Making Responsibility and Parenting Time
When you separate or get divorced and have children, you must also decide how you will continue to care for them. Two key concepts guide these arrangements: decision-making responsibility and parenting time.
The Family Law Act says that when you separate from your child’s other parent, you each have joint decision-making responsibility and shared parenting time. However, you can agree on a different arrangement with a valid written agreement. If you both agree, you do not have to go to court. If you can’t come to an agreement, either of you can apply to the court and ask for an order.
Decision-making responsibility means making important decisions about a child’s well-being. It can be assigned to one parent or shared between both.
Please note: Under New Brunswick’s Family Law Act, parents have joint decision-making responsibility. There are some exceptions, like when the parents have a court order or a parenting agreement.
Decision-making responsibility includes decisions about:
- Health
- Choice of medical treatment
- Vaccinations
- Specialized care
- Education
- Choice of school
- Academic support
- Academic guidance
- Language, culture, religion, and spirituality
- Religious practices
- Language learning
- Major extracurricular activities
- Sports
- Arts
- Educational trips
After separation, parents may have different kinds of arrangements for decision-making responsibility.
Here are the different types of decision-making responsibilities and how they work:
- Shared decision-making responsibility: Parents must consult each other and make decisions together. This option works best when parents can communicate and collaborate effectively.
- Shared decision-making by area: Each parent makes decisions in separate areas. For example, one parent makes decisions about a child’s medical care and the other parent makes decisions about their education.
- Sole decision-making responsibility: One parent makes all important decisions.
Note: The best interests of the child must always be the main deciding factor when choosing the type of decision-making responsibility. The main goal is to ensure a safe and stable environment for the child.
Parenting time can be organized in different ways:
- Shared parenting time: The child spends at least 40% of their time with each parent.
- Majority parenting time: The child spends more than 60% of their time with one parent. The other parent has less than 40% of the parenting time.
- Split parenting time: When there are several children, each parent has at least one child in their care the majority of the time. For example, one child lives mainly with one parent, and the other child lives mainly with the other parent.
- Supervised parenting time: When parenting time is spent with a third-party present. For example, if there are safety concerns or domestic violence, a parent’s parenting time might happen only with another family member or a social worker present.
Note: New Brunswick’s Family Law Act says that when parents separate, they have shared parenting time. However, parents can agree on a different arrangement and put it into a written agreement without going to court. If the parents cannot agree, either parent can apply to the court and ask for an order.
The best interests of the child must always be the main deciding factor when choosing a parenting time arrangement. The division of time must consider thigs like the child’s age, their relationship with each parent, and their routine. The goal is to provide a stable environment that is in the child’s best interests.
Neither parent has automatic “final say” by law. If you and your child’s other parent disagree about decision-making responsibility or parenting time, you can ask for the court’s help. Either parent can file an application with the court to ask for a parenting order. PLEIS NB has resources to help you apply for a parenting order without a lawyer.
The court will make an order based on the best interests of the child
The best interests of the child is a principle that the court uses to make important decisions about children in difficult family situations, such as divorce or separation. The goal is to ensure that all decisions made support the child’s safety, happiness, and healthy development by taking various factors into account. We have a page with more information about the best interests of the child.
The court will consider many factors to decide the decision-making responsibility and parenting time arrangement:
- The best interests of the child: All decisions must be made with the child’s well-being in mind. This is the main priority in all family law decisions about children. To identify the child’s best interests, there are many factors a court can consider.
- Flexibility: Courts can adjust arrangements according to the parents’ schedules and the child’s needs.
- Stability: The court will try to maintain a stable routine for the child. This is considered beneficial, especially after a separation.
- Active participation of parents: Courts consider whether parents provide active support in a child’s life to ensure their well-being and development.
- Parental cooperation: The court will consider whether the parents are able to communicate effectively. Their level of cooperation could guide the court in identifying the specific needs of the situation. Effective collaboration between parents helps reduce the child’s exposure to conflict.
- Neutrality and impartiality: Decisions must be made neutrally based on the best interests of the child.
- Long-term impacts: Courts can consider the long-term consequences of a parenting arrangement. This will prioritize the child’s resilience and positive development.
- The wishes of the child: Courts can consider the child’s views and preferences, but this will not be the deciding factor. Courts do not ask children to choose between their parents.
The court may consider the child’s preference to live with one of their parents. This is one of the factors the court can use to help identify the best interests of the child. When weighing the child’s preferences, the court will also consider the child’s age and maturity. However, the court avoids putting a child in the difficult position of having to choose between parents.
In general, children do not testify in family court. Decisions are based instead on testimony and evidence presented by parents and other adult witnesses. Sometimes, if the court wishes to hear the child’s wishes “directly,” it may order an evaluation of the child’s views. This process involves meetings between the child and a professional who talks with the child and prepares a report for the court.
People other than parents can ask the court for time with a child as well. The court can grant a contact order giving a third party the right to spend time with a child. A third party can include grandparents or other family members, or any other adult who has a meaningful and significant connection to the child.
The time granted in a contact order is not considered the same as parenting time. A contact order allows a third party, such as grandparents or other relatives, to spend time with the child.
The court will only grant this order if it is in the best interests of the child.
For more information on contact orders, please visit our page on the topic.