Tips for building a safe co-parenting relationship 

Violence does not always end when the relationship ends, especially when children are involved. If you share children with your ex-partner, establishing a new co-parenting dynamic is necessary. However, ensuring this relationship prioritizes your safety is crucial, and that can present significant challenges.   Here are some tips, from our toolkit, The Law and Parenting Arrangements…

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Recent Case: Changing a final parenting order

Luke's Place

This case involved a father who wanted to change a final order about parenting that had been made over 7 years earlier. In order to change a final order, the father brought a motion to change and had to prove that there had been a “material change in circumstances” since the making of the final…

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Recent case: Best interests of the child and family violence

A happy Black mother and her daughter hugging and smiling outdoors

McIntosh v Baker 2022 ONSC 4235 This case provides a thorough analysis of the best interest of the child test in the context of family violence. While this case touches on property issues and child support, it will not be the focus of this case comment.   The applicant mother and respondent father have three young…

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Parenting arrangements: The best interests of the child test

Family courts use what is called the best interests of the child (BIC) test when they make parenting decisions. Whether a family is using the Divorce Act or the Children’s Law Reform Act, the judge will consider the following 11 factors in the BIC test as they make decisions about the children: It is important…

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Recent case: Abuse of counsel may amount to family violence

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In Armstrong v Coupland, Madam Justice Chappel applies a broad and nuanced understanding of the definition of family violence contained in the Children’s Law Reform Act (CLRA). The motion, brought by the father for increased and unsupervised parenting time with the young child (almost three years old), was the most recent in a long series of court appearances…

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‘No’ to shared parenting presumptions

Two women talking at a table

In his recent article in The Lawyer’s Daily, Gene C. Colman takes the position that the majority of Canadians support creating a rebuttable presumption in favour of shared parenting in family law (“Equal shared parenting has huge support”).  I beg to differ with both his assertion that this is something most Canadians want and the wisdom of…

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