Custody And Parental Authority Under The Civil Code of Quebec

You are wondering what custody and parental authority mean under the Civil Code of Quebec?

You’ve heard of the concept of parental authority and want to know what it entails?

Perhaps you are curious to learn about the Quebec custody laws!

No worries, we’ve got you covered!!

In this article, we will discuss what is custody based on Quebec laws, what is parental authority, routine or important decision in the life of a child, relocation with the child and more.

This article is divided into the following sections:

What Is Custody Based On Quebec Law?
What Is Parental Authority?
Make Decisions Concerning The Child While Having Custody
Objections Raised For Routine Custody Decisions
Relocation With The Child By Parent Having Custody
Best Interest Of The Minor Child
Takeaways

What Is Custody Based On Quebec Laws?

Having custody of a child means having the right to make decisions about the care of the child.

In the Province of Quebec, having custody does not mean the same thing as having parental authority.

While custody has to do with taking physical care and maintenance of a child, parental authority is the concept of making important decisions about a child.

You can consider custody is a component of the rights and obligations of parental authority.

Article 599 of the Civil Code of Quebec states that “the father and mother have the rights and duties of custody, supervision and education of their children. They shall maintain their children.”

The Civil Code clearly states that each parent has a duty to care for the child and ensure they are well maintained and educated.

What Is Parental Authority?

Parental authority refers to the rights and responsibilities of the parents to ensure they make the important decisions relating to a child’s development, progress and well-being.

Article 600 of the Civil Code of Quebec states “the father and mother exercise parental authority together”.

Concretely, parental authority means that the parents must:

Ensure they take care of their children until at least the age of 18
They provide the child with a safe and secure environment
They make decision in the best interest of the child
They provide the child education
They make all health and medical-related decisions in the best interest of the child
They provide the child with food and shelter
They offer the child with psychological support
They provide moral and religious values to their child

Essentially, all the important decision impacting the life of a child is captured under the notion of parental authority.

Under the Civil Code, both parents will have parental authority regardless of the custody and access rights arrangement.

The parenting time does not take away parental authority rights of a parent or component of it.

The court has the ability to deprive a parent of parental authority rights or attributes of parental authority if there is a “grave reason and in the interest of the child”.

Make Decisions Concerning The Child While Having Custody

A parent with custody over a child will have the right and obligation to maintain the child and make the day-to-day decision relating to the child.

Day-to-day decisions mean what time the child wakes up, what the child wears, with whom they hang out with, what time they come home, what time they are allowed to stay out at night, how much time they spend on the computer and so on.

When a parent has the physical custody of the child, that parent will be legally entrusted to make the best decisions to ensure the child goes through the day happily and safely.

Objections Raised For Routine Custody Decisions

If a parent having custody is negligent or recklessly puts the child or children in danger, even though that parent is entrusted with the right to make the day-to-day and routine decisions for the child, the other parent may object to it.

The objection is grounded upon the fact that any decision made relating to a child must be in the child’s best interest and to keep the child safe and secure.

If a parent consumes excessive quantities of alcohol and is not in a good state of mind, the other parent may ask to court to reconsider the custody arrangement.

The court may take custody time away from a parent if that parent is unable to adequately care for the daily and routine decisions relating to the child.

It must be noted that if the court reduces a parent’s parenting time with the child, unless the court expressly deprives that parent of parental authority rights or attributes of parental authority rights, then that parent’s parental authority remains intact.

This means that both parents will need to mutually consult one another on important decisions concerning the child.

Relocation With The Child By Parent Having Custody

The relocation with a child can quickly become a highly disputed and adversarial between the parents.

If a parent has the custody of a child, that parent, in normal circumstances, will have the right to move.

The breakup or a custody order must not prevent a parent from being able to move on with their lives and exercise their fundamental freedoms of movability we enjoy in a free and democratic society.

However, if the relocation will adversely impact the child, then the other parent may object to this decision and ask the court to intervene.

If it’s proven that the relocation may do more harm than good to the child or children, the court may potentially prohibit the relocation.

Here are some circumstances where the court may most likely disapprove of the relocation:

The move is primarily intended to frustrate the other parent
The move will adversely affect the children
The children are old enough to express their opinion and are highly against the move
The children have a good relationship with the other parent and the move will prevent the continuation of the healthy relationship

The court will be guided by the principle that all decisions must be made in the best interest of the minor child.

Best Interest Of The Minor Child

All decisions concerning the custody, access rights and parental authority must be done in the best interest of the minor child.

The best interest of a child is not fixed and exactly identical for all children.

Every child has different needs and every family’s situation is unique.

The parents must exercise proper diligence in deciding what’s best for their children by taking their family circumstances into consideration along with the psychological and emotional needs of their child.

There are some factors you can consider in evaluating what’s in the best interest of the child such as:

Your child’s age
How your child has been developing so far
Your child’s special needs
Your child’s level of maturity
Your child’s relationship with siblings
Your child’s relationship with each parent
Your child’s opinion and wishes
The caring abilities of each parent
How each parent has been handling himself of herself after separation
The ability of the parents to cooperate
The ability of the parents to communicate well
Cultural differences
Religious differences
Language barriers

The list can go on.

What’s very clear is that a judge will want to consider any variable that can affect a child in a divorce case or separation to come up with the best possible parenting arrangement.

Takeaways

We hope this article helped clarify for you the concept of custody and parental authority under the Quebec laws.

A parent with custody has the right to make the routine and daily decisions concerning the child.

Both parent are automatically vested with the right and obligations resulting from parental authority which is to make important decisions in the life of their child.

Should you have any questions or need the assistance and support of a child custody lawyer, our family law firm is happy to help.