Category Archives: Parenting Coordination

co-authored by Hilary Linton   We often work with parties who are unrepresented or whose counsel do not attend the mediation. This places added pressure on mediators to remain current with the law. The recent case of Craig v Niro (2022 ONSC 5178) is an instructive primer on the law of child support and s. 7 expenses for a child …
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Screening for power imbalances and family violence is mandated by Regulation 134/07 under the Arbitration Act. That Regulation requires family arbitrators, including parenting coordinators, to certify that they have screened both parents separately for power imbalances and family violence before they conduct any arbitrations and also throughout their retainer. Lawyers, parents, judges, and even some PCs are not always aware that …
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A recent Alberta Court of Appeal decision has confirmed that a court cannot order parents to retain a parenting coordinator. In SSG and SKG (2022 ABCA 379 CanLII) the trial judge had, after a lengthy trial, ordered the parents to “retain a parenting coordinator with arbitration powers to resolve day-to-day conflict that may arise related to the detailed parenting plan …
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We recently surveyed our family mediation and parenting coordination clients. Too often we are focused on the day-to-day pressures and challenges of each file. We don’t take enough time to ask “how did I do?” or to say “thank you!” The results were both rewarding and informative. Here is a summary of what our clients had to say about our …
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This is part one of a two-part series, originally published in The Lawyer’s Daily on October 18, 2022. By Hilary Linton and Lindsay Kertland.   It is common these days for lawyers to recommend to their clients, when negotiating parenting plans, that they agree to retain a parenting co-ordinator (PC) to help resolve future disputes. We have found that in some …
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As a parenting coordinator, I often want to learn more about how the child is feeling about the things the parents disagree on. In fact, I have a responsibility under the law to do so. One way to do this is to retain a professional to interview the child and prepare a Voice of the Child Report. In my experience, …
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Parenting coordination is a valuable conflict resolution service for parents who disagree about the details of their parenting plan. And it is in demand; at Riverdale there are four of us offering this service. In Ontario, parenting coordination exists as a voluntary dispute resolution option for parents. Aspects of the process are marginally (but importantly) regulated by law— namely the …
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This is part two of a two-part series. It was originally published on August 31, 2022 by The Lawyers Daily.  To view part one, click here. By Hilary Linton and Borzou Tabrizi.   With court delays limiting options for parents who have child-related disputes, parenting co-ordination is increasingly an appealing alternative. In part one, we gave a brief outline of …
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