Getting married is a crucial decision for everybody. Usually, people tend to find the right choice for themselves. But the odds are that you might also end up with the wrong person. In such cases, the best thing to do is to get separated and save yourself and your partner from lifelong misery.
When it comes to divorce, the things are not equally pleasant for children. For them, the road full of potholes has just begun. In order to ensure a safe ride for them throughout this road, parents have to be equally accountable.
Child Support
- Firstly, it is the legal duty of the parents to support their children financially even after the divorce. Therefore, once you have worked out the housing arrangements for your children, you will need to look at the expense of child support.
- To help you figure out the expenditure of child support, you will have to use a set of rules, called child support guidelines. The Canadian government has produced a number of publications to help you calculate this amount.
- Who pays how much child support depends on the child’s residential arrangements. The basic amount is based on three things:
- The payer’s income
- The number of children involved
- The province or territory where the payer lives
According to the Department of Justice Canada in some special circumstances the base support amount can be increased or decreased. Such special cases are:
- If the children have special expenses such as childcare, then the sustainable amount can be elevated.
- In order to grant a fair judgement, the amount can also be reduced. For example, if the parent paying the child support is suffering from a hardship.
Before granting a divorce, the judge must be satisfied that appropriate financial arrangements have been made.
Custody of the children
Deciding who should have responsibility for children after a marriage is over is a trivial task. It is possible that both parents might want the custody of the children. Therefore, in such circumstances, the judge must make a conclusion by considering the following factors:
- The child’s wishes
- Who dealt with the child most of the time?
- The parent-child relationship and bonding
- Parenting abilities
- The parents’ mental, physical and emotional health
- The parents’ and the child’s schedules
- Sibling issues. Generally, brothers and sisters should remain together, but under some circumstances it may be necessary to consider separating them.
Joint Custody
There are times when a couple wants a divorce, but feel the need to share their responsibilities as parents equally. In such cases, the parents are awarded joint custody of their children.
In other words, both parents have an equal say in making all the major decisions concerning the children (about discipline, school, major outings, holidays, etc). The living arrangements are also different for the children. They may live with each parent for an equivalent time or live mostly with one parent.
Spending time
If the custody of the children is given to only one parent, then the other one has a right to spend time with them. Generally, a parent with access usually has a right to:
- Spend time with the children, such as on a weekday evening, on weekends and on holidays.
- Seek information about the children’s health and well-being and about their progress in school.
- Receive a 30 days prior notice if the other parent intends to move the children to another home.
- However, if you don’t follow the court order or if you act in a way that is harmful to your children, then the court can decide to change the access arrangements.
Not many parents go to court regarding the custody. Expensive proceedings and stressful times are the main reason. Undoubtedly, you have choices other than the court; but if you choose us, then we can assure you of a peaceful and a fair judgement for your child.
