What to Do If Your Ex Won't Follow the Parenting Schedule in Alberta

You have a parenting order or agreement, but your ex keeps cancelling exchanges, showing up late, or keeping the children when they should be with you. It is exhausting, and it is hard to know whether to push back, wait, or go to court.

This article explains how to build a clear record, what an Alberta court can do when parenting time is denied, and how enforcement differs from asking the court to change the schedule. It is general information, not advice on your situation.

This article covers the law of Alberta.

Start by documenting what is happening

Courts work from evidence, not frustration. A clear, calm record is the most useful thing you can build while you decide what to do. It also matters for timing: a parenting-time enforcement order requires the court to be satisfied that there was a denial of time within 12 months of the application being brought.

• A copy of the current parenting order or agreement
• A dated log of each missed, late or refused exchange, with what the order said should have happened
• Messages, emails or texts where you asked for the time and what the reply was
• Notes on any police involvement or other witnesses
• A record of your own efforts to be flexible and to resolve it

Keep your messages short, polite and factual. A judge reading them later should see a parent who followed the schedule and tried to cooperate.

What an Alberta court can do about denied time

Under the Family Law Act, you can apply for an order enforcing your parenting time. To do this, you file the Claim – Family Law Act and the Statement – Enforcement of Time with a Child, along with a copy of the parenting-time order, at the court that granted it. The Act's penalties apply only if you apply to the court.

If the court finds time was denied, it can order a penalty of up to $100 for each day of denial, and imprisonment, either continuous or intermittent, up to a maximum of 90 days. The court can also direct police to help enforce a visit or to find and return a child who was not returned.

Where an enforcement order has a police-assistance provision, an enforcement officer must assist you on request and on production of a certified copy of the order. There is an exception: the officer need not bring the child to you if the officer decides, in the immediate circumstances, that it is not in the child's best interests.

Other routes: contempt, agreement or changing the order

Enforcement is not the only tool. Which one fits depends on whether the problem is a clear breach, a schedule that has stopped working, or a communication breakdown.

For civil contempt, notice of application in Form 27 must generally be served on the person like a commencement document, though service is not required in the listed situations where the person is already before the Court. Penalties can include imprisonment until the contempt is purged, imprisonment for up to 2 years, or a fine, and a party can face consequences such as having pleadings struck or evidence barred. If the person purges the contempt, the Court may waive or suspend any penalty. Contempt is a serious step, so it is worth talking it over with a lawyer first.

When the schedule itself needs to change

Sometimes repeated problems show that the schedule is no longer realistic. Under the Family Law Act, the court may vary, suspend or terminate a parenting order or any part of it, but must first be satisfied that a change in the needs or circumstances of the child has occurred. For parents who are divorced or whose divorce was started, the Divorce Act applies, and the court must be satisfied there has been a change in the circumstances of the child since the order was made.

Under the Divorce Act, in making or varying a parenting order the court considers only the best interests of the child, giving primary consideration to the child's physical, emotional and psychological safety, security and well-being. A child should have as much time with each spouse as is consistent with the child's best interests. How the best-interests question is approached under the Family Law Act depends on your situation, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer. In Greater Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer and Grande Prairie, you may have to follow the Family Justice Strategy resolution steps before going to court on a change application.

What to do next

• Gather your order and your record of missed time, and note the dates so you stay within the 12-month window.
• Decide whether you need enforcement of the existing order or a change to the schedule, since they are different applications.
• If you and your ex can still talk, consider a written agreement or family mediation before going to court.
• Keep following the order yourself, even when your ex does not.
• Speak with a family lawyer about which application fits your facts and how to prepare it.

Frequently asked questions