What Is a Parenting Order in Manitoba and What Does It Cover?

If you are separating, you may hear that you need a parenting order. The term sounds technical, but it simply describes a court order about how children are cared for after a separation.

This article explains what a parenting order is, what it can include, and how it differs from an agreement between you and the other parent.

This article covers the law of Manitoba.

What a parenting order is

A parenting order is an order that provides for the exercise of parenting time or decision-making responsibility. It takes the place of what used to be called custody and access orders in Manitoba.

Under the Family Law Act, either or both parents can apply, as can a person other than a parent who stands in the place of a parent. A non-parent needs leave of the court and must give notice to the parents. Under the Divorce Act, a court may make the order on application by a spouse or by certain other persons.

What a parenting order can include

• Parenting time, which may be set out in a schedule unless a schedule is unnecessary.
• Decision-making responsibility, covering significant decisions about health, education, culture and religion, and significant extra-curricular activities.
• An allocation of time and decisions to either parent, to both parents, or to others as the Act permits.
• Authority over day-to-day decisions, which the person with parenting time generally holds during that time.
• Whether the order lasts for a definite or indefinite period, and whether it authorizes or prohibits relocation of the child.
• A direction to attend a family dispute resolution process, subject to provincial law.

On communication, a parenting plan covers how decisions are made and how information is shared. When a court decides what is best, it also looks at each person's ability and willingness to communicate and cooperate on matters affecting the child.

How the court decides what goes in the order

The court considers only the child's best interests and gives primary consideration to the child's physical, emotional and psychological safety, security and well-being. A child should have as much time with each parent as is consistent with the child's best interests.

Family violence is also a factor, including whether it is appropriate to require cooperation on matters affecting the child. The same best-interests approach applies to interim orders and to orders that change an earlier one.

Parenting order versus parenting agreement

An agreement or parenting plan is something you and the other parent work out together, while an order is made by a court. If the parties submit a parenting plan agreement, the court must include it in a parenting order unless it is not in the child's best interests, in which case the court may modify it.

Parties are expected, to the extent appropriate, to try to resolve matters through negotiation, mediation, collaborative law or family arbitration. A parenting plan is also required to proceed in Manitoba court where parents do not agree.

What to do next

• Decide what schedule and decision-making arrangement would work for your child.
• Draft a written parenting plan covering time, decisions and information sharing.
• Consider mediation or another dispute resolution process before going to court.
• If a grandparent or step-parent is involved, ask about contact orders, which are a separate application.
• Speak with a lawyer before signing anything or filing in court.

Frequently asked questions