Parental Responsibilities and Parenting Time in BC Explained

Parenting orders in British Columbia are built from two ideas that are easy to mix up: who makes decisions for a child, and who the child is with day to day. Understanding the difference helps you read any agreement or order you are offered.

This article explains each concept, how they work together, and how they can be set or changed. It is general information, so a lawyer can confirm how it applies to you.

This article covers the law of British Columbia.

Two separate ideas

Only a guardian may have parental responsibilities and parenting time. Parental responsibilities are the decision-making and care duties for the child. Parenting time is the time the child is with a guardian, as allocated under an agreement or order.

Time with a person who is not a guardian is called contact rather than parenting time.

What parental responsibilities include

The Act lists the responsibilities that guardians may hold. They include:

• Day-to-day decisions and care of the child.
• Deciding where the child lives, and with whom the child lives and associates.
• Decisions about education and activities.
• Cultural and religious upbringing.
• Consent to health care, subject to section 17 of the Infants Act.
• Applying for passports and benefits, receiving notices and information, and starting or defending legal proceedings for the child.

How parenting time works

During parenting time, the guardian may make day-to-day decisions and have day-to-day care, control and supervision unless the agreement or order says otherwise. Bigger decisions, such as schooling or health care, are parental responsibilities and follow the allocation set out in the agreement or order or, if there is none, the default rule.

That default rule is that each guardian may exercise all parental responsibilities after consulting the other guardians, unless consultation would be unreasonable or inappropriate. Responsibilities can be allocated to certain guardians only, and exercised separately or together. Government guidance describes this as guardians sharing all parental responsibilities or dividing them up.

Best interests, not a default split

No particular parenting arrangement is presumed to be in the child's best interests. The Act does not presume equal allocation of parental responsibilities, equal parenting time, or joint or separate decision-making. In making an agreement or order, the parties and the court must consider the best interests of the child only.

Factors include the child's health and emotional well-being, the child's views unless it is inappropriate to consider them, the child's need for stability, and the impact of family violence. An agreement or order is not in the child's best interests unless it protects, to the greatest extent possible, the child's physical, psychological and emotional safety, security and well-being.

Agreements, orders and changes

Guardians may make an agreement about parenting arrangements, including the allocation of responsibilities, parenting time, how it is carried out and how disputes are resolved. An agreement is binding only if made after separation, or when the parties are about to separate and it is meant to take effect on separation. A written agreement filed in court is enforceable as if it were a court order. The court must set aside or replace all or part of an agreement that is not in the child's best interests.

A guardian may apply to the court for an order on responsibilities, parenting time, implementation and dispute resolution, but an order must not be made if the guardians are the child's parents and are not separated. A parenting order can be changed, suspended or terminated if there has been a change in the needs or circumstances of the child.

What to do next

• Read your agreement or order and mark which parts deal with decisions and which deal with time.
• Keep a record of how the arrangement works in practice.
• If you need a Provincial Court order, the application is Form 3, Application about a family law matter.
• In Supreme Court, a family case starts with Form F3, Notice of Family Claim.
• Get legal advice before signing an agreement that divides responsibilities.

Frequently asked questions