We at First Law have found that many clients don’t really have a good idea of what to expect from their lawyer or from the litigation process as a whole. So we thought that we’d put some thoughts together to give clients some context. This time we’re concentrating on documents related to decision making regarding children and living arrangements for children. Next time we’ll comment on documents related to child support.
The legal system is very document intensive. It is always necessary for the parties to prove what the facts are. You prove facts generally by swearing in an affidavit or testifying in court but also by having documents to substantiate what you’re swearing to. Different documents are necessary for different purposes.
Documents That May Be Helpful Regarding Best Interests of Children
Decisions regarding living arrangements for children, decision making responsibilities, and time with each parent, are based on what is in the best interests of the children.
The Family Law Act (BC) includes a list of possible factors to consider with respect to best interests. Those factors include health, emotional well being of the children, history of child care, ability of the parents to exercise responsibilities regarding children, family violence, and cooperation.
The Family Law Act (BC) includes a list of parental responsibilities including the making of decisions regarding day to day supervision, where children will reside, who children will associate with, education, extracurricular activities, cultural upbringing, religion, health, and finances.
Documents Relating to the Children
Documents relating to the children that may be useful in shedding light on the various factors to consider regarding best interests of the children and ability of each parent to exercise parental responsibilities include:
- Report cards for the children for the past and present school year;
- Individual education plans or other education specific documents;
- Comments by teachers on assignments, essays or tests written by the children;
- School journals written by the children;
- Records signed by the parents to confirm the children’s completion of homework or reading assignments or spelling practice and the like;
- School attendance records and tardiness records;
- Certificates of attendance or completion for the children for extracurricular activities;
- Schedules of practices and games, recitals, tournaments, and the like for extracurricular activities;
- Certificates of recognition for volunteer activities for the children;
- Medical records for the children from the family doctor and any specialists or other practitioners such as physiotherapists or counsellors;
- Photographs of the children at various activities and events.
Documents Relating to the Parents
Documents relating to the parents that may be useful in shedding light on the various factors to consider regarding best interests of the children and ability of each parent to exercise parental responsibilities include:
- Certificate of Attendance at Parenting After Separation (or other parenting specific programs or self improvement programs);
- Certificates of recognition for volunteer activities (whether involving the children or not);
- Photographs of the parents and children at various activities and events;
- Copies of emails or other documents or communication evidencing the level of involvement by the parent with the scheduling of and attendance at extra curricular activities and events;
- Schedules of activity practices and games or recitals;
- If a parent has participated in coaching of an activity, or fundraising for an activity, records to demonstrate the level of involvement;
- Records signed by the parents to confirm the children’s completion of homework or reading assignments or spelling practice and the like;
- Medical records for the parents from the family doctor and any specialists.
There will be other documents that relate to each specific case. The lists above are not meant to be exhaustive but rather to provide a starting point and some general categories of documents to think about and gather together.
In future blog posts we’ll give you some more suggestions of specific documents to gather together to address other issues like asset division and some more background on how the process works and ways to try to avoid court or prepare as well as possible for court if court is necessary. So check back for more information.
We at First Law look forward meeting with you soon and working together to resolve your family law issues.
Russell Tretiak Q.C., Lori Gerbig, Candice Hall, Brandon Hastings, Rasjovan Dale (Articled Student)
Lori Gerbig