The Keeping Children Safe Act and Ontario Divorce Cases

Most instances of family violence would not make interesting movies, although abuse and coercion, with or without physical violence, is a factor in many divorce cases. Some people who file for divorce do it because they fear that their spouse will be physically violent toward their children if the whole family continues living together in the same house, or because this violence has already happened. In other cases, one spouse stays because the thought of co-parenting, where sometimes the children will be alone in the house with the other spouse, is terrifying. One spouse might think, “If we get divorced, who will protect our children from my spouse’s violent temper?” Canada recently enacted the Keeping Children Safe Act, which aims to prevent violence against children within the family and introduces mechanisms to implement parenting plans that minimize children’s risk of physical abuse because of family members. If you have minor children, and domestic violence was a factor in your decision to divorce, contact a Mississauga family lawyer.

If Not Shared Parenting, Then What?

It is usually the parents, not a judge, who decide which days of the year the children spend with each parent. Judges only set the terms of the parenting plan when parents cannot reach an agreement in mediation, and they base their decisions on the best interests of the children. Until recently, the family courts of Canada used to assume that it was in children’s best interests to spend an equal amount of time with each parent.

The Keeping Children Safe Act includes a provision that judges should make findings about physical abuse or coercive control, between the parents or toward the children, before they decide how much parenting time each parent should get. It also encourages the use of Voice of the Child reports. These reports are presented by a social worker who has met with the couple’s children. Children do not have to testify in court or meet with judges. The goal is for these reports to identify coercive and abusive behavior that the parents might not mention during their case.

Divorce Lawyers Have a Responsibility to Discern and Speak Up About Abuse and Coercive Control

Many family lawyers try to discern whether there is abuse or coercive control in their clients’ families, even if the clients are reluctant to talk with their lawyers about this. The Keeping Children Safe Act puts more responsibility on family lawyers representing clients in divorce cases to identify patterns of abuse in families with minor children. The new law gives judges and lawyers more tools for looking for red flags and signs that children and their parents have been subjected to more coercive control that they will freely admit before the court.

Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP About Divorce From a Controlling Spouse

A family lawyer can help you if the thought of your children being alone with your ex scares you for reasons that you have trouble putting into words.  Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP in Mississauga, Ontario to discuss your case.

Source:

insidehalton.com/news/divorce-act-ontario-canada/article_b9fc03be-9ff7-5d8c-9873-9b4f67f12d20.html