Parenting After Separation in Alberta: What to Expect and Strategies for Success

Separation is never easy—especially when kids are involved. Successfully navigating parenting after separation requires a clear understanding of your legal obligations and what the courts expect.
At Jones Divorce & Family Law, our Calgary parenting time lawyers have access to resources designed to support families during this difficult transition. In this guide, we will look at important information on parenting courses, court considerations, and strategies for effective co-parenting to ensure your child’s well-being is always at the forefront.

Getting Started: The Parenting After Separation Course

In Alberta, parents going through a separation or divorce are encouraged to participate in educational programs designed to minimize the negative impact on children. The free, online Parenting After Separation (PAS) course acts as a guide that provides valuable insights into:

What Happens During Separation and Divorce: Demystifying the legal process.
How Kids Feel: Providing insights into how children are affected and how best to support them.
Talking to Your Ex: Teaching how to communicate better, even when things are tense.
Legal Information: Explaining the laws that impact you and your kids.
Problem Solving: Offering strategies for finding solutions as a team.

This course emphasizes working together to meet your children’s needs, and encourages mediation and alternative dispute resolution to manage conflict.

The Parenting After Separation for High-Conflict Families (PASHC) course offers specialized guidance for families experiencing high conflict. It focuses on reducing tension between parents to minimize conflict. Parents are encouraged to create parenting plans that limit direct contact and promote a stable environment for children.

Parenting Through the Alberta Courts System

While many parenting issues can be solved through mediation or collaborative law, some situations require court intervention. When parents can’t reach a parenting agreement, the Alberta courts will intervene in the best interest of the child. To support you through this, it is important to discuss your situation with a Calgary parenting time lawyer.

The Family Law Act outlines factors the court evaluates, including your child’s:

Needs: Physical, psychological, and emotional, emphasizing stability appropriate to their age and development.
Relationships: The history of care and their relationships with each parent.
Background: Cultural, linguistic, religious, and spiritual upbringing.
Voice: Views and preferences, if the child is old enough to express it.
Safety: Any history of family violence and its impact on the child’s safety and well-being.

The court will also assess the parents’ ability and willingness to co-parent and communicate effectively in order to support your child. Past behavior is only considered if it impacts parenting capabilities, with particular attention to any history of violence.

Best Interest Tests

When deciding what is best for a child in a divorce, Alberta judges use a series of ‘best interest’ tests. While it is rare for a judge to directly ask a child what they want, their feelings and needs are still important.

Parents should listen carefully to their children and include insights in their proposed parenting plans. Ultimately, these are adult decisions, and parents need to communicate clearly their desired parenting arrangements to their parenting time lawyers. If a judge feels it is necessary, they may appoint an external expert, like a social worker, mental health specialist, or psychologist, to conduct an independent assessment.

Co-Parenting Strategies: Making It Work

Parenting during a separation and after a divorce is difficult, but if you and your co-parent can work together for the best interest of the children, it can be less stressful for all parties involved. For effective and positive co-parenting:

Focus on the Child’s Well-Being: First and foremost, discussions with the co-parent should be focused on what the children need. If this is a high-conflict situation, contact should be limited to pickups and drop-offs to avoid arguments.
Separate Your Personal Differences From Parenting: While your ex may have been a terrible spouse, they can still be a great parent. Separate your emotions about the divorce and any hard feelings about your ex so your child can continue having a relationship with their other parent.
Avoid Arguing in Front of Children: Arguing with your ex in front of the children can stress them out and create trauma. Regardless of how you feel in the moment, refrain from fighting and discuss the situation when the children are not around to hear.
Handle the Situation with Maturity: Remember, you and your ex are the adults in this situation, and children are influenced by the behaviours you model. Avoid bad-mouthing your ex in front of your children, remain amicable, and keep a child-focused approach.
Develop a Detailed Parenting Plan: Outline clear arrangements regarding living situations, decision-making responsibilities, and schedules to provide consistency and reduce misunderstandings.
Access Professional Support: Engage with parenting coordinators or parenting time lawyers in Calgary to help navigate high-conflict situations and encourage effective communication.

For parents facing significant communication challenges, parallel parenting may be the right choice. This strategy minimizes direct contact between parents, allowing them to manage their parenting responsibilities independently. Through this process, both parents adhere to a structured plan based around communication, scheduling, and decision-making processes.

Child Support Considerations

Child support is a critical factor in post-separation arrangements—the number one goal being to ensure the child’s financial needs are consistently met. In Alberta, both parents are required to contribute to their children’s upbringing.

Support amounts are determined by the Federal Child Support Guidelines, and are typically based on:

Each parent’s income.
How many children you have.
Parenting time arrangements.

A clear child support agreement can help prevent disputes and ensure financial stability for your children. A parenting time lawyer in Calgary can help you draft and formalize these agreements, ensuring they’re clear and enforceable.

Common-Law Separation and Parenting

In Alberta, common-law—or Adult Interdependent Partnerships—face similar considerations to legally married couples where parenting and child support are concerned. While property division may differ, parenting arrangements and child support obligations are determined based on the child’s best interests.

Parenting Time Lawyers in Calgary: Let the Professionals Help

Navigating co-parenting after a separation can be complex and emotionally taxing. By engaging the help of experienced parenting time lawyers in Calgary, you’ll gain access to invaluable guidance tailored to your unique circumstances.

Jones Divorce & Family Law offers comprehensive services, including parenting coordination and assistance with child support agreements, to help families transition smoothly during these challenging times.

Our team of dedicated parenting time lawyers in Calgary is committed to prioritizing the well-being of your children and ensuring that parenting plans and support arrangements are fair, clear, and sustainable. Contact us today to discuss how we can help you create a stable and supportive environment for your children post-separation.

The content provided in the blog posts of Jones Divorce & Family Law is general information and should not be considered legal advice. Please contact a lawyer for legal advice tailored to your specific situation. All articles are current as of their original publication date.