{"id":1102,"date":"2022-03-09T15:52:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-09T20:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alepin.com\/?post_type=publication&#038;p=1102"},"modified":"2025-08-04T15:53:45","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T19:53:45","slug":"a-new-era-in-family-law-amendments-to-the-divorce-act","status":"publish","type":"publication","link":"https:\/\/alepin.com\/en\/publications\/a-new-era-in-family-law-amendments-to-the-divorce-act\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Era in Family Law: Amendments to the Divorce Act"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A New Era In Family Law: Amendments To The Divorce Act<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On March 1, 2021, amendments to the Divorce Act came into force. It had been almost two decades since there had been such significant changes to federal Family Law<a href=\"https:\/\/www.alepin.com\/public\/Alepin\/#_ftn1\"><sup>[1]<\/sup><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why was a change necessary?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a fundamental legal principle in family law, it was essential to put the best interests of the child first<a href=\"https:\/\/www.alepin.com\/public\/Alepin\/#_ftn2\"><sup>[2]<\/sup><\/a>. The Divorce Act was flawed in that there were no clear guidelines for the courts as to a child\u2019s best interests. Today, the Divorce Act now lists the main criteria to be considered in assessing the best interests of children. To name a few:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>the needs of the child, including his or her need for stability;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>his or her views and preferences (based on age and maturity);<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>his or her social and cultural background,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>the presence or absence of family violence, etc.,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>are all to be considered, amongst others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus, the goal is to protect children from conflict,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.alepin.com\/public\/Alepin\/#_ftn3\"><sup>[3]<\/sup><\/a>&nbsp;and to promote alternative dispute settlement and cooperation between parents<a href=\"https:\/\/www.alepin.com\/public\/Alepin\/#_ftn4\"><sup>[4]<\/sup><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The main changes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There were many changes but let us highlight the essential ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First and foremost, there has been a significant change in the terminology used in the Act to adopt words that are less confrontational and promote the interests of children<a href=\"https:\/\/www.alepin.com\/public\/Alepin\/#_ftn5\"><sup>[5]<\/sup><\/a>. For example, the term &#8220;custody&#8221; has been changed to &#8220;parenting time&#8221;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.alepin.com\/public\/Alepin\/#_ftn6\"><sup>[6]<\/sup><\/a>&nbsp;and the term &#8220;custody order&#8221; has been changed to &#8220;parenting order.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, the Divorce Act defines &#8220;decision-making responsibility&#8221; as the involvement of parents in making important choices in their children&#8217;s lives, such as care or school choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, the Divorce Act introduces a regime for resolving disputes in the event of a relocation or a change in place of residence<a href=\"https:\/\/www.alepin.com\/public\/Alepin\/#_ftn7\">[7]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus, while one of the objectives of the amendments to the Act was to combat family violence<a href=\"https:\/\/www.alepin.com\/public\/Alepin\/#_ftn8\">[8]<\/a>, the Divorce Act now includes a definition of family violence<a href=\"https:\/\/www.alepin.com\/public\/Alepin\/#_ftn9\">[9]<\/a>. Specifically, the Divorce Act defines \u201dfamily violence\u201d as violence to which a child is directly or indirectly exposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, the Divorce Act now requires lawyers or other legal advisors to encourage dispute resolution processes, such as mediation,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.alepin.com\/public\/Alepin\/#_ftn10\">[10]<\/a>&nbsp;and to promote agreement or reconciliation between the spouses<a href=\"https:\/\/www.alepin.com\/public\/Alepin\/#_ftn11\">[11]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do not hesitate to consult a lawyer from our Family Law team who will accompany you through all the stages of a divorce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Alepin Gauthier Avocats Inc.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This text contains legal information of a general nature and should not replace legal advice with a lawyer or notary who will take into account the particularities of your situation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1103,"template":"","publication-category":[],"class_list":["post-1102","publication","type-publication","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alepin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication\/1102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alepin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alepin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/publication"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alepin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alepin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"publication-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alepin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication-category?post=1102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}