03/02/2020
The Family Law Act and Parenting
The Responsibilities of Guardianship
Usually both parents are guardians of a child. Guardians are responsible for the care and well being of the child.
Guardians are responsible for:
- making daily decisions about the children;
- supervising daily activities of the children;
- deciding where the children will live;
- deciding who the children can have relationships with;
- making decisions about the children’s education;
- making decisions about the children’s extra-curricular activities;
- deciding the children’s cultural upbringing;
- deciding the children’s religious and spiritual upbringing;
- deciding if the child should work and other employment matters;
- consenting to the child’s medical treatments;
- granting consent when a guardian’s consent is required;
- receiving and responding to any notices that a guardian is entitled to receive;
- dealing with any legal proceedings relating to the children;
- appointing someone to act on the guardian’s behalf in an emergency situation or when the guardian is temporarily absent;
- receiving health, education and other information that affects the child; and
- exercising other powers necessary to carry out the responsibilities of guardianship.
Do all children have guardians?
In Alberta, every child has a guardian unless the child has married or become an adult interdependent partner.
Can a child have more than two guardians?
Yes, a child can have multiple guardians at the same time. A child’s guardian does not have to be the child’s parent.
Who can apply to become a guardian?
You can apply to become a guardian if you are:
- the child’s parent but not a recognized guardian, or
- an adult who has had care and control of the child for more than six months
- you usually have to be from Alberta, or ask for special permission for the residency requirement to be waived.
Guardian is the person who is responsible for the care, maintenance and well-being of the child, and they have powers, responsibilities and entitlements under the Family Law Act
How Do I Know If I’m A Guardian?
- is there a court order that says you are the child’s guardian?
- Is there a court order that says you are not the child’s guardian?
- Are you legally married?
- Did you give birth to the child?
- Have you voluntarily offered money or paid money to support the child, within a year of finding out about the child?
- Did you give or offer any kind of support to the birth mother, before or after the pregnancy?
- Have you voluntarily offered or given non-financial support for the child, within one year of finding out about the child?
- Within a year of finding out about the child, did you demonstrate an intention to assume the responsibilities of guardianship?
- there a court order that says you are not the child’s parent?
- Is there an order in place that says the other parent is the sole guardian?
- Was the child born using assisted reproduction?
- Did you marry or have an adult interdependent relationship with the other parent within one year after the child was born?
- Were you married to the other parent, or had an adult interdependent relationship when the child was born?
- Is there an agreement in writing that you would be the guardian of the child?
- Did you live with the other parent for at least 12 consecutive months, during which time, the child was born?
- Were you married to the other parent before the child was born, but divorced less than 300 days before the child was born?
Parenting
Most people need to ask for a judge’s permission before making an application for contact with children.
Grandparents don’t have to ask permission if the parents are the children’s guardians and:
- The parents are living separate and apart, or one of them has died; AND·
- The contact between the children and the grandparent has been interrupted because of the guardians’ separation or because of the death of the guardian.
Parenting plans will usually have to change as the children grow up. You will need to make changes a few times to accommodate the needs of the children.
Parenting plans can be temporary or permanent. Sometimes a temporary plan is called an “interim parenting plan.
”Contact” is when someone who is not a guardian spends time with the children and is a term used in the Family Law Act.
Contact occurs when someone who is not a guardian spends time with the children. This could be a parent who is not a guardian, or other family members, like grandparents. It is important for children to continue to have significant relationships with family members. People who are not guardians do not get to make decisions about the children’s lives, and are not responsible for the well-being of the children.
The contact that can be asked for might be physical contact (visiting in person), or contact by phone, email or through some other means (like skype).
For more information contact:
AURORA LAW GROUP
Downtown Fort McMurray
Call 780 748 0700 for an appointment!
Or e-mail:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
