Does the mother automatically get custody in Manitoba?
This answer covers the law of Manitoba.
No. Manitoba does not give the mother automatic custody, and the law does not favour either parent because of gender. Since the Family Law Act replaced the ideas of custody and access, courts make parenting orders that set parenting time and decision-making responsibility. In making one, the court considers only the best interests of the child.
Until there is a parenting order, parents generally have joint rights to exercise parental responsibilities for their children. The exception is where the parents never lived together after the child's birth: then the parent the child resides with is the only parent with decision-making responsibility, unless a parenting order says otherwise. That turns on where the child lives, not on whether that parent is the mother or father. A parenting order can give parenting time and decision-making responsibility to either parent or to both.
The court gives primary consideration to the child's physical, emotional and psychological safety, security and well-being. Beyond that, it weighs factors such as the child's needs, relationships and history of care. Which law applies depends on whether a divorce is claimed, and a lawyer can confirm.
Key takeaways
- Manitoba gives neither parent automatic custody, because parenting orders are decided on the child's best interests alone.
- Until there is a parenting order, parents generally have joint rights to exercise parental responsibilities.
- If the parents never lived together after the child's birth, the parent the child resides with is the only one with decision-making responsibility unless an order says otherwise.
- A parenting order can allocate parenting time and decision-making responsibility to either parent or to both.