Legal Question in Family Law in Canada

Re: 50/50 split

In British Columbia the aim is generally to have a child spend as near to equal time with each parent as possible, because it is in the child's best interest to know both parents. You have not given enough information for a definitive answer, but we can attempt a general answer. If there is something wrong with the father that makes him not fit to be a parent and have care of the child 1/2 time, one has to ask, since you chose him to be the father of the child, if you have the judgment necessary to be the custodial parent. Similarly, if there is something about you that a judge finds questionable, one has to query the father's judgment in choosing you to be the mother of his child. You have to ask why a 50/50 split is not accpetable to you - is it your feelings that you are considering above all, or is there a real reason why equal time is not appropriate? At 20 months old, the child deserves to grow up with both parents, even if the parents can't live together. Your duty is to see to it that the child has a chance to develop a normal relationship with his father as well as you; the father has the same obligation. Your feelings are not terribly important in the matter, and neither are the father's. You have to put aside personal feelings and do what is best for the child, and that is unlikely to be that the child has only restricted contact with the child's father. It is not very material that the child has not lived with the father - that can easily be rectified. Since you work nights and the child is in daycare nights (and assuming that the father works days) why not have the dad have the child from 5:00 or 6:00 at night to morning when you get off work; then you have the child when dad is at work? Then assuming you are both off weekends, why not have 2 weekends a month each? That is one possiblility, but there are any number of possibilities to work it out so the child has close to equal time with each of you.