Joint Custody in Divorce

Excerpt : There had been a growing trend, in Ontario, in family and divorce law, over the last few years, for family courts to order joint custody of children. The hope, by some, was that the parenting skills

There had been a growing trend, in Ontario, in family and divorce law, over the last few years, for family courts to order joint custody of children. The hope, by some, was that the parenting skills of the parties could be improved with awards of joint custody. The recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision of Kaplanis v. Kaplanis, has tried to put this trend into perspective.

In this decision, the parties were married in 1998 and separated in January 2002. The parties had a daughter who was born in October 2001. At trial, the

Practical Solutions To Divorce & Custody Concerns Also see : Divorce and Rowing to Emotional Recovery Divorce and Rowing to Emotional Recovery Late summer of '92. Bent over, arms on knees, resting, trying to recover from a long hard row against the tidal current. Pleased with this not-so-easy accomplishment. Too bad there wasn't...read more In Divorce, Women No Longer Have All the Power The stories go something like this: "She took the house, she took the car, and then she took my children away." For many years the process of divorce was a process heavily biased toward women, to balance out the fact that it was a man's...read more

father requested joint custody and the mother opposed the application, stating that the parties could not communicate without screaming at each other. The trial judge granted the parties joint custody and the mother appealed the order. The appeal court set aside the order of joint custody and the mother was granted sole custody.

The Appeal Court held that, for an award of joint custody to be granted, there must be some evidence that demonstrates, that despite the parent’s own strong conflict with each other, the parties can and have

Also see : Q: As a result of my divorce, I'm left with more debt than I can handle. Is there an alternative to bankruptcy? One of the often-unintended consequences of divorce is the burdensome debt that was formerly handled by two, now to be handled by one. Creditors hold both spouses liable for debt incurred during the marriage. Any agreement between the spouses...read more "Women and Divorce: How Women Should Protect Themselves Financially Regarding Divorce" Women who believe a divorce is a possibility or who think that their husband will be asking about getting a divorce at some point should put their emotions aside and plan "just in case" their intuition is correct that a divorce may be coming in the...read more

cooperated and communicated appropriately with one another. In this case there was evidence to the contrary, there was no expert evidence to help the trial judge determine how a joint custody order would advance the child’s emotional and psychological needs and the child was too young to communicate her own wishes.

Approximately the same time this case was decided, the Ontario Court of Appeal also ruled on the case of Ladisa v. Ladisa, where the appeal court upheld the trial judge’s order of joint custody. In this case the trial judge

Also see : Extramarital Affair: Should You Get A Divorce Just Because One Of You Had An Extramarital Affair? Having to deal with an extramarital affair can be a life-changing event, regardless of whether you stay married or not. Inescapable feelings can come over both people that will never be forgotten by either of them. The person who actually had the...read more Divorce - Contested Or Uncontested Most often a divorce is contested when the man and women cannot find a common consensus. Most of the disagreements concern the Children, Visitation and how to divide the assets of the marriage along with Child Support, Alimony, How to deal with...read more

had the benefit of hearing the evidence of the Children’s Lawyer who presented the children’s wishes and who recommended joint custody. It was held that the trial judge had heard evidence from third parties with respect to cooperation and appropriate communication between the parties. The trial judge also looked at the history of co-parenting during the marriage and that despite their intense conflict, the parties could and had effectively communicated with each other and placed the interests of their children ahead their own, when

Also see : Rebuilding Your Finances After Divorce Generally speaking, when it comes to women and divorce, financial preparedness is the key to an easy divorce… or at least as close to it as you can get. It may be true that men may find themselves set back, financially, after a divorce. This is...read more Arrangements After Divorce Maintenance. After a divorce there is an obligation to maintain one’s spouse. This applies to both women and men. The less well-off partner can demand a financial settlement from the other. It can be an immediate payment of capital or the...read more

required.

To summarize, in Ontario joint custody cases, it would appear that the courts will now be looking more closely for evidence from third party and expert witnesses, which can demonstrate that the parties can and have cooperated and communicated appropriately and have been able to put aside their own differences and conflict, for the benefit of the children. The lack of historical cooperation and appropriate communication between the parties will greatly limit the success of a joint custody application. The assumption by some,

Also see : Getting a Divorce Many of todayís marriages have divorce as end results. Typically, both parties in the divorce process aim to resolve all issues that is between them like property division, child custody and support. If you are planning to get a divorce,...read more "America’s Voiceless” The Children of Divorce When people start a new relationship, it is as though Cinderella and her Prince stepped out of that childhood story. A more realistic way to look at it is to think of it as two people who are running for office, campaigning to be in the other...read more

that the granting of joint custody will improve the parenting skills of the parties, will not be a sufficient reason on it’s own to grant joint custody, in the absence of existing good cooperation and communication between the parties.

About The Author

Erwin Seltzer practices Family and Divorce Law and Wills and Estates Law in York Region and Toronto. Erwin can be reached at (905) 474-4333. www.erwinseltzerdivorcefamilylaw.itgo.com

Now You Can Stop Your Indecision & Pain About Whether to Stay Married or Get a Divorce!

More Divorce Articles

Divorce Advice | sitemap
copyright www.seekdivorceadvices.com 2006