Parenting Orders and Shared Time

Sometimes, parents agree on equal shared parental responsibility of the children, and agree to the children spending equal time with each parent.

Where both parents agree on shared parental responsibility and equal time, or if the court intends to make an order for equal shared responsibility, the court must consider:

  • whether the child spending equal time with each parent would be in the best interests of the child;
  • and whether this is reasonably practicable in the circumstances of the case.

Where a court does not make an order for equal time, the Court must consider the child spending “substantial and significant time” with each of the parents. The same considerations of whether it is in the best interests of the child and whether it is reasonably practicable for a child to spend substantial and significant time with a parent.