By: Ashley Iyathurai, Law Office of Jeff Jiehui Li
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice. You should contact Jeff Li or a family law lawyer if you are concerned about your family law issues.
Sole custody grants the custodial parent control and responsibility for the children. This includes various aspects of the children’s care such as: religion, medical treatment, education, and where the children will live. While parents in a contested divorce will often seek sole custody, today, more and more often courts are favouring making a joint custody order.
However, the courts have established that joint custody is inappropriate where parents are unable to communicate effectively and cooperate in parenting their children together. In Izyuk v. Bilousov, the Court noted that “joint custody will only work if the parents have the desire and the capacity to make it work. It is not a risk-free option in the wrong family circumstances, a joint custody order can perpetuate hostilities, indecision, and power struggles.”
In making this determination, the courts will look to the parents’ relationship, and how the parents have historically interacted and communicated with one another. Where the parents have been able to do so effectively, this will make an order for joint custody much more tenable. Parents seeking sole custody should, therefore, consider carefully how effectively they are able to communicate with their spouse. Where communications have been hostile or have broken down, it is helpful to document these attempts. Courts will prefer evidence pointing to a lack of cooperation and communication, rather than either party propounding that communications will eventually improve as a result of their pending case.
Where parents face significant difficulty in communicating with each other and are unable to cooperate in parenting their children together, joint custody becomes a less viable option for the parties. While this is not entirely determinative in custody orders, there must be some evidence demonstrating that parents are able to communicate effectively. The expectation here is not that separating spouses are able to communicate perfectly, or without any issues. The courts recognize that often times, these communications occur within a tense, high conflict situation.
If you have are involved in a custody dispute, you may contact the Law Office of Jeff Jiehui Li or an experienced family law lawyer to obtain an assessment of the relevant issues, the best solution and how to achieve it.