1. Family Law as it affects Custody & Financial Responsibility for Children ECMC54 Prof. Gordon Cleveland

2. Family Law as it affects Custody & Financial Responsibility for Children Presented by: Kristina Valentini Kristina Vittas Lori Maassarany

3. Family Law as it affects Custody & Financial Responsibility for Children  What is Custody? the physical control of the parents or guardians over the child the right of the parents or guardians to determine the child’s:  Education  Healthcare  Religion  Overall Well-being

4. Family Law as it affects Custody & Financial Responsibility for Children  Relevant Objectives of Family Law Act (Ontario) and Federal Divorce Act: to encourage and strengthen the role of the family to ensure a fair and orderly settlement when partnerships end to ensure the sharing by parents of responsibility for their children

5. Family Law as it affects Custody & Financial Responsibility for Children  Types of Custody: Sole Custody Joint Custody Shared Custody Split Custody

6. Family Law as it affects Custody & Financial Responsibility for Children  Who Gets Custody? Until decided in court both parents have equal rights to custody of their children Court’s decision based on child’s best interests

7. Family Law as it affects Custody & Financial Responsibility for Children  Federal Child Support Guidelines Objectives: to establish a fair standard of support for children to reduce conflict and tension between spouses by making the calculation of support more objective

8. Family Law as it affects Custody & Financial Responsibility for Children  How is Child Support Calculated? the number of children the province or territory where the child’s paying parent lives the paying parent's gross annual income

9. Family Law as it affects Custody & Financial Responsibility for Children

10.  How is Child Support Calculated (cont.)? For income higher than $150,000, a different calculation is used:

11. Family Law as it affects Custody & Financial Responsibility for Children  Who pays Child Support? Non-custodial parent A person who “stands in the place of a parent”

12. Family Law as it affects Custody & Financial Responsibility for Children  Affect on Family Decision-Making: Support Recipients (Spouse and Child)  Monthly lump-sum payment adds to “unearned” income  Affects hours of work versus hours of “leisure” decision  Affects spending decisions, i.e. private schooling versus public schooling

13. Family Law as it affects Custody & Financial Responsibility for Children  Affects on Family Decision-Making: Payer of Child Support  Individual has less income each month due to payments  Affects hours of work versus hours of “leisure” decision making  Non-custodial parent, therefore spending decisions are affected

14. Family Law as it affects Custody & Financial Responsibility for Children  Criticism of Policies Criteria to determine the “best interest of the child”, while considered universal, varies with each situation Sole custody is awarded to the mother or female parent in a large number of cases

15. Family Law as it affects Custody & Financial Responsibility for Children  Are the objectives being achieved?