Issues regarding children do not need to involve the courts. Parenting time without orders in Toronto is common, especially when both parents are willing to cooperate and compromise for the good of the children. Parents who can agree on a parenting time arrangement need not get a court order to implement it.
However, enforcing agreements between the parents may be challenging. Parents concerned about their co-parent’s willingness to comply with the parenting agreement should consult a trusted family lawyer. A legal professional can offer advice about formalizing the agreement, including seeking a court-issued parenting order when necessary.
Parents who do not live together with their children can negotiate an arrangement that covers parenting time. The arrangement can call for shared parenting time, with the children splitting time between the parents equally or near equally, or provide that the children live full-time with one parent while the co-parent has periodic access.
These arrangements are often called parenting plans. Some are quite detailed and include a specific schedule, transportation arrangements, pick up and drop off times, and similar information. Other parents form a general agreement that they will share time with the children and work out the details as they go along.
Different approaches work better for different families. Parents might work with a Toronto lawyer, a mediator, a collaborative divorce team, or negotiate a parenting time agreement directly with each other. When parents negotiate and draft an agreement on their own, it is always advisable to have a legal professional review it.
Any informal agreement between the parents, no matter how detailed, will be more difficult to enforce than a court-issued parenting order. However, obeying basic contract principles can enhance the enforceability of a parenting agreement.
You can work with a Toronto lawyer to ensure your parenting time agreement will be enforceable, even if a court did not issue it. Your agreement should be in writing, you and your co-parent must sign it, and someone must witness your signatures. When the parenting time agreement also includes a child support arrangement, you can register it with the court.
Oral or unsigned agreements are not enforceable. A judge might consider the provisions of the informal arrangement but has no obligation to do so.
Parents sometimes make an informal or temporary agreement when they first separate. Over time they may find that the agreement is not working as expected or that one parent is frequently noncompliant. Seeking a parenting order from the court is often an effective strategy in these cases.
The Children’s Law Reform Act s.21 covers parenting g orders. A Toronto lawyer can explain the process of obtaining a parenting order from the court. They can ensure that you have completed all the required forms and help the process go smoothly.
A court order is not necessary to create an enforceable parenting time agreement. Many couples successfully manage parenting time without orders in Toronto.
Negotiating an agreement with your co-parent and a family lawyer is usually faster and more cost-effective than taking the matter to court. Lawyers at our firm are available around the clock, so get in touch now.
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