“We will share parenting” leaves many questions unanswered. A useful outline describes the child's ordinary week, how important decisions will be made and what happens when the routine changes. Preparing an outline gives you a way to identify workable proposals and unresolved concerns. It is not a reason to ignore an existing order or an agreement.
Parenting time and decision-making responsibility address different things. Parenting time concerns time a child is in a parent's care. Decision-making responsibility concerns significant decisions about the child's life, including health and education. Ontario's guide explains both and describes arrangements made informally, through agreements or through court orders. Ontario parenting guide.
1. Describe the child's needs before proposing a schedule
Start with school or childcare hours, medical needs, activities, travel time and the current care routine. Record each parent's work constraints and available transportation. Keep the focus on what the child needs to experience consistently rather than on labels such as “winning custody.”
Use an ordinary school week as your first example. Then test school holidays, summer, birthdays and other important occasions. State proposed start and end times and where exchanges would happen. If a schedule relies on someone else's help, identify that dependency rather than assuming it is always available.
2. Separate routine arrangements from important decisions
Make a list of decisions that need a clear process: schooling, significant health care and other important matters. How would information be shared? How much notice would a proposed decision require? What happens if there is disagreement? Do not assume a particular division of parenting time automatically answers these questions.
Keep existing orders and agreements with your outline. If the language is unclear or no longer workable, ask about the proper way to address it. A new personal proposal does not itself change an order.
3. Plan for predictable changes
Consider illness, delayed pickups, cancelled activities and requests to switch a day. A practical outline can identify a contact method, expected notice and how changes will be recorded. Avoid using children to carry legal messages or financial disputes between adults.
Do not treat a proposed move as a routine schedule change. Moving with a child can engage notice and other legal requirements that depend on the circumstances and governing law. Get advice before committing to a move or assuming the other parent's response resolves every legal issue. This page does not provide a relocation deadline.
4. Raise safety concerns before choosing a process
Family violence can affect the parenting arrangement and whether direct negotiation or another dispute-resolution process is appropriate. Ontario's guidance states that a judge must consider family violence when making a parenting order. Tell the lawyer about threats, controlling behaviour, unsafe exchanges or related criminal proceedings. Describe dated incidents and available records without confronting someone to create evidence. Ontario parenting guide.
Supervised parenting time or exchanges may be relevant in some situations, but are not automatic. Immediate danger requires emergency help: call 911. A website inquiry does not secure urgent court relief or emergency assistance.
Bring the unresolved questions into focus
Finish with three lists: arrangements you believe are agreed, points still disputed and safety or practical concerns. A sample week and a short question list can be more useful than a long account that mixes parenting, property and relationship grievances. A lawyer can assess your options in light of the child's best interests and the legal framework that applies.
See Decision-Making & Parenting Time for related practice information. To ask whether the firm can assist with a parenting matter, contact the office. Use a safe contact method and identify upcoming court dates.
Jared Persaud is licensed as a lawyer in Ontario and practises at Persaud Hussain LLP.
General information for Ontario; not advice about the appropriate arrangement for a particular child.