When you or the other parent face a BC family child mobility case, where someone is asking to move away with your child, hiring the top* BC Child Relocation lawyers can help increase your chances of success. Sometimes a move makes sense but other times it can be a disaster for your child. Our Top* BC Child Relocation Lawyers have handled precedent setting move away cases for both the moving and remaining parent.
Notice provision requirements and how a person responds are crucial. Our Top* BC Child Relocation Lawyers can help you increase chances of success in protecting your child. Our Calgary and BC child mobility lawyers can help you navigate this stressful issue.
MacLean Law is a multiple award winner of Vancouver’s best family law firm so you can meet with us in confidence by calling us toll free across BC and Calgary Alberta at 1-877-602-9900.
BC Child Relocation Lawyers Know The Other Parent Matters When You Move
BC Child Relocation Lawyers know divorce or separation is a major life change inherently bringing with it other major changes, such as the desire to leave the province (or even the country) for new work opportunities, to be closer to a new partner or family, or just an overall change from the scene of the marital breakdown and the former partner’s life.
BC Child Relocation Lawyers also know that whatever the reason for the move, when children are involved, families involved in this situation face a complex legal process. If you are seeking to move with your child out of the area or are seeking to prevent the relocation, our experienced Top* BC Child Relocation Lawyers can guide you through the intricacies of court process that invariably will be involved – whereas few decisions are as likely to trigger the other side to retain counsel and engage the court system than the threat you will “take their kids and move away.”
BC Child Relocation Lawyers
When the other parent challenges the move, things can get complicated quickly. Top* BC Child Relocation Lawyers understand that from the viewpoint of the judge, however, th result can depend on whether each side followed the procedural dictates of Family Law Act Division 6, the current custody arrangement and visitation plan, and primarily the best interests of the child in light of the proposed move.
But as importantly, as the relocating parent it will be up to you to show the court that you have made arrangements to preserve your child’s relationship with the other parent.
Top* BC Child Relocation Lawyers note that in last week’s decision of Mercado v. Sani, 2016 BCSC 1724, Mr. Justice Myers for the Supreme Court of British Columbia found that proper arrangements had been made under the following facts, beginning at paragraph 49 of the opinion:
In her affidavit, Ms. Cantillo says: Acknowledging that the conflict between myself and the Respondent takes a back seat to Lucia’s best interests, I propose the following, to ensure that Lucia continues to have a relationship with her father if I move to Montreal:
- I will make best efforts to facilitate Lucia speaking to the Respondent, on regular, scheduled, intervals, by either Skype, telephone or some similar means, including e-mail when Lucia learns to read and write. To facilitate I would like the Respondent to provide me times he is always able to be available each week and try his best not to cancel or change times so that Lucia can have a regular schedule
- If the Respondent gives me advance notice of at least a few weeks, I can offer the Respondent somewhere to sleep if he wishes to fly to Montreal to visit Lucia. If this is not workable due to conflicts between ourselves, I ask that the Respondent stay at a hotel, but I could assist him with making bookings. If the Respondent comes to Montreal I am willing to give him generous parenting time, including him taking Lucia on trips to nearby communities such as Ottawa, provided that I am given an itinerary;
- From 2017 in the summer I will agree to escort Lucia on flights to the Respondent’s house in Washington State provided that the Respondent continues to cover the travel costs per the Final Order. We will need to figure out where I would stay as I think that it would be a bad idea for me to stay at the Respondent’s house. I suggest a 2-week period in the summer. Once I find a job I am hopeful that my employer will agree to let me have a bloc of time in the summer to continue to facilitate this;
- If the Respondent’s family wishes to visit Lucia in Montreal I will coordinate with them so they can spend time with her;
- If the Respondent or his family wishes to meet Lucia in some other place, such as Ottawa, I will make best efforts to facilitate this provided that there is an affordable means by which I can escort Lucia to these locations
- When or if Lucia becomes mature enough to travel on her own I will agree to work with the Respondent to develop a schedule by which Lucia can fly to the Respondent’s house in the United States or some other agreeable location during her vacations from school, however, note that I do not know when this will be considering Lucia’s special needs and this could be many years from now;
- I will keep the Respondent informed of Lucia’s developments, both her medical and school developments. I am often unsure how much information the Respondent wishes to have about Lucia’s schooling and medical treatments. Sometimes he does not want to be told a lot of information, other times he wants to be told more than I tell him. Often we have arranged things so that the doctors send any written reports to him directly. To help me keep the Respondent informed I would ask that he provide me a list of what sort of information he wishes to know that could be completed by me within 5 to 10 minutes. I also propose to look into having Lucia’s Quebec doctors and schools send reports directly to the Respondent;
- I will make best efforts to teach Lucia about her father and his culture; and
- If the Respondent has any other requests I will try my best to accommodate them.
50 Mr. Sani has made no detailed criticism of this other than to say that Ms. Cantillo would be unlikely to cooperate because of her past conduct. While there has been conflict in making arrangements for parenting time, which I will not detail here, that can be laid at feet of both parties. I therefore find that the proposed plan is reasonable. However, if the move is approved I will allow Mr. Sani to ask for it to be modified or fine-tuned. It is not written in stone; rather, it meets the threshold requirement of s. 69(4)(a)(ii). There is nothing in the section that requires the court to adopt the proposed plan in its entirety.
51 Ms. Cantillo has therefore met the requirements of s. 69(4)(a). The onus is on Mr. Sani to show that the move to Montréal would not be in Lucia’s best interests.
BC Child Relocation Lawyers Know Maintaining Contact Is Crucial
MacLean Law’s top* BC Child Relocation Lawyers, want you to know that the Mercado case demonstrates the types of commitments that you, as the moving parent, might make to the other parent in order to satisfy the requirement of preserving your child’s relationship with them.
The consequences of a move-away case can profoundly impact both the parents and their children and the cases are far more conflicted than the typical child custody dispute where the parents fight over the amount of time each will have with the children – and the children are caught in the middle. But at the same time, this is an opportunity for you to show how much thought and concern you have given to the other parent’s relationship with the children, including refraining from acting a way before your move that compromises that relationship, or from speaking negatively about them to, or in the presence of, the children. A move to a location with extended family nearby is always helpful, and the Top* BC Child Relocation Lawyers MacLean Law will get your papers filed as early as possible in order to beat a potential interim custody order with move-away restrictions against you.
Call our BC Child Relocation Lawyers now at any of our 5 locations across BC and in downtown Calgary at 1-877-602-9900.
