The ‘best interests of the child’ is the most important consideration.

Parenting involves many issues and ongoing communication about your children’s well-being. A Parenting Plan (see below), which includes a parenting schedule, helps you structure your time by clarifying each parent’s child-care responsibilities. The children have the security of a predictable plan and parental conflict is greatly reduced because the need for frequent scheduling and caretaking discussions is removed. A well thought out Parenting Plan acts as a road map that can be changed by agreement as the children get older or your circumstances change, so that your children’s needs are met.

If you have children under the age of 16, you will likely need to create a Parenting Plan. 

Separation can be very stressful for children, and for parents. Remember: Most children love and want to maintain a relationship with their parents. 

Parents can minimize harm by modeling respectful behavior, accepting differences in their parenting styles, and avoiding any disagreements when the children are present or able to overhear.

The terms ‘custodial parent’ and ‘access parent’ are no longer used. The law now refers to ‘shared parenting’.