Relocation Rights in Ontario

Our Family Lawyers Can Protect Your Parental Relocation Rights

According to the Divorce Act, relocation refers to a change in the place of residence of a child of the marriage or of a person who has parenting time or decision-making responsibility – or who has a pending application for a custody or parenting order – that is likely to have a significant impact on the child’s relationship with a person who has parenting time, decision-making responsibility, or an application for a parenting order in respect of that child pending, or a person who has contact with the child under a contact order.

Parental relocation rights can present numerous complexities best addressed by an experienced lawyer. If you are looking to relocate or are a parent with parenting time (under the Children’s Law Reform Act) or a person with non-primary parenting time or contact (under the Divorce Act) and want to dispute a proposed move by the custodial parent or parent with primary parenting time, a family law lawyer at Feldstein Family Law Group P.C. can help you understand your rights and your options. Taking the appropriate measures will be essential if your relationship with your child is to be protected to the fullest extent.

• Our lawyers can address issues related to parental relocation in situations such as: Parental child abduction and getting your child back; Applying for parental relocation to another city, province, or country; How your current parenting time and decision-making responsibility agreement may affect relocation rights; Modifying a current parenting time or decision-making responsibility agreement to address relocation; and when relocation requires court approval and when it does not.

Do not wait to act if you have questions about mobility rights. Call (905) 581-7222 for a free consultation and make the right choices for you and your child.

Determining Factors in Allowing Parental Relocation

Section 16.9(1) of the Divorce Act provides that a person who has parenting time or decision-making responsibility in respect of a child of the marriage and who intends to undertake a relocation shall notify any other person who has parenting time, decision-making responsibility, or contact under a court order with respect to that child at least 60 days before the expected date of the proposed relocation. If you have given this notice, you may relocate the child as of the date referred to in the notice if the relocation is authorized by the court or if the person with parenting time or decision-making responsibility who was given notice does not object to the relocation within 30 days after the notice was received.

According to section 16.92(1) of the Divorce Act, in deciding whether to authorize the relocation of a child of the marriage, the court shall determine what is in the best interests of the child by taking into account the existing parenting arrangement and the relationship between the child and any person who has parenting time or contact with the child, as well as a number of other factors. Case law has dictated that the best interests of the child must be observed, not the best interests of the custodial parent. However, the court will not consider whether, if the child’s relocation was prohibited, the person who intends to relocate would relocate without the child. If a parenting order provides for the child to spend the vast majority of their time in the care of the party who intends to relocate, the party opposing the relocation has the burden of proving that the relocation would not be in the best interests of the child. Having an Ontario family lawyer to present your case in a clear and compelling manner can make a significant difference in asserting your relocation rights or your rights as a parent with parenting time, decision-making responsibility, or contact pursuant to a court order.

For more information and for answers to your specific custody-related questions, call (905) 581-7222. We serve Oakville, Mississauga, Vaughan, Markham, and all of Ontario.