One of the most important things that happen during a divorce between people who have children is the child custody order. Child custody is one issue that can cause great strife between parents. Learning about some basic points of child custody can help you to know what to expect. It can also help you to make decisions during the child custody determination process.

What is the difference between access and custody?

Access is granted to the parent who doesn’t have custody of the children. Custody is either sole, joint or split. This term means who the child will live with. If a parent has sole custody, that parent’s home is where the child lives most of the time. The other parent would usually have access to the child, which means the right to visit the child and ask about the child.

How is child custody determined?

When parents can agree about what will happen with the children, they can often come up with a parenting plan on their own. In this case, the agreement would be what governs the child custody issues. If the parents are unable to come to an agreement about the child, the court will have to step in to decide on a custody order. The court will consider all factors presented to it before deciding what is in the child’s best interests.

If you are in the midst of a child custody battle, you should understand your rights. You should also work to understand how the law pertains to your case. All of this is crucial so that you can make decisions whenever necessary.

Source: FindLaw Canada, “How is child custody determined?,” accessed March 18, 2016

Coquitlam BC Divorce Lawyer

Laughlin & Company Lawyers Mediators
2755 Lougheed Hwy #710, Port Coquitlam, BC V3B 5Y9
(604) 945-4370

When you’re married, you may decide to use Facebook for fun, just to connect with people. When you’re getting divorced, you may keep using it as both a way to share information and to vent. However, when you step into the courtroom, these posts could come back to haunt you.

For this reason, lawyers often caution clients not to use their various social media sites, if they can help it until the case is over.

As an example, take a look at it from the other side. Imagine you are trying to get child support from your spouse. He or she says there’s just not enough money to pay as much as you want or to pay at all. However, Facebook is covered in pictures from a trip to the Caribbean or status updates showing that your spouse loves the new BMW 5-Series.

These expensive purchases can be used as evidence of how much wealth exists. They could even lead to investigations if it appears your spouse lied about what he or she earns.

Another issue could be with the right to raise children. You may want to be solely in charge of this, but your spouse could turn to Facebook to show that you’re not going to be a good parent. With just a few posts, it’s easy to skew things so that it looks like you travel too much, party too much, or take on behaviors that could put the kids at risk.

Now, this may not be fully accurate, but it may only take a few Facebook pictures to sway a decision.

If you’re getting divorced, be sure you know what the law says about Facebook and how it may be used.

Source: The Huffington Post Canada, “How Facebook Can Be Used Against You in Divorce Court,” Christine Marchetti, accessed Nov. 27, 2015

Coquitlam BC Real Estate Lawyer

Laughlin & Company Lawyers Mediators
2755 Lougheed Hwy #710, Port Coquitlam, BC V3B 5Y9
(604) 945-4370
https://www.laughlinlaw.ca