Divorce Act terms about parenting

The federal Divorce Act applies to parents who are (or used to be) married to each other. The Divorce Act calls them spouses. (Although we still call them parents in this section, you’ll likely see the term spouse used in your legal documents.)

In March 2021, the Divorce Act changed to use words similar to those in the BC Family Law Act to talk about parenting after separation, including:

• decision-making responsibilities
• parenting time
• contact

The Divorce Act also emphasizes that decisions must be in the best interests of the children.

Decision-making responsibility

The responsibility for making important decisions and getting information about a child’s:

• health care,
• education,
• culture,
• language,
• religion and spirituality, and
• significant extracurricular activities.

Parents can agree to divide or share these responsibilities in whatever way works best for the child. If they can’t agree, the court can make an order.

Parenting time

This is the time each parent spends with the child.

• During parenting time, the parent who the child is with makes day-to-day decisions (like bedtime and meals) and supervises the child. They can also get information from others (like teachers and health care providers) about their child’s well-being.
• Parents can share parenting time equally, or one parent can have the child most of the time. They can arrange parenting time in any way that’s in the best interests of the child.

Parents who aren’t or weren’t married, or any person who stands or intends to stand in the place of a parent, can apply for a parenting order under the Divorce Act. They must first apply for permission to do so, in BC Supreme Court.

Contact

The time that someone who isn’t a married or formerly married parent spends with the child.

• Grandparents, aunts and uncles, step-parents, and other people who might be important to your child can apply to court to get contact. They must first get the court’s permission to apply.
• People with contact don’t have a right to make decisions about a child. Nor can they get information about the child’s well-being.

Parents’ responsibilities and children’s rights

Parents are legally responsible for supporting their children until they’re at least 19, and after they turn 19 if they’re still financially dependent.

• Even if you never lived with your child or your child’s other parent, you still have a legal responsibility to contribute to your child’s support.
• If there’s any dispute or uncertainty about whether someone is a parent, the court can order a parentage test.
• Child support is the child’s legal right.

Adoptive parents

Married couples, couples who live together in a common-law relationship, and single people can apply to adopt a child. You can adopt your spouse’s child from another relationship if the child’s other parent agrees. If the child is 12 or older, they must also agree to being adopted.

If adoptive parents separate, they have the same responsibilities and rights as biological parents to make decisions about their child, parenting time, and child support.

Step-parents

Under the BC Family Law Act, you’re a step-parent if:

• you and the child’s parent are or were married, or lived common-law for at least two years, and
• you lived with the child’s parent and the child during the child’s life.

Under BC family law, a step-parent doesn’t automatically become a child’s guardian. You must apply for guardianship of your step-child. But, even if you’re not a guardian, you might have to pay child support for a step-child after you separate.

As a step-parent, you have to pay child support after separation if:

• you contributed to the child’s support for at least one year; and
• a child support application is made within a year of the last time you contributed to the child’s support.

A step-parent’s responsibility to pay child support comes after the child’s parents’ or other guardians’ responsibility.

When deciding if a step-parent should pay child support, courts look at various factors, including:

• the child’s standard of living when they lived with the step-parent, and
• how long they lived together.