Child Custody and Parenting Arrangements in Calgary
Calgary family lawyer for parenting time, decision-making, child custody and access after separation
KEEPING YOU CONNECTED TO YOUR CHILDREN
Advantage Family Law understands the fears parents carry through a child custody dispute. Will you still see your children every day? Will you still have a say in their school, their sports, their future? We work with professionals and business owners to stabilize your parenting situation and to make sure your role as a parent continues after your marriage ends.
KNOW WHERE YOU STAND BEFORE YOU AGREE TO ANYTHING
How We Can Help with Your Parenting Arrangement
Parenting disputes are often characterized by high conflict and emotional turmoil. Unfortunately, this upheaval is experienced by both parents and children. Advantage Family Law helps to ease tension and provide clarity in these circumstances. Our legal team carries out a detailed, objective analysis of your unique family dynamic, carefully examining the roles each spouse has played in the children’s lives throughout the marriage. We also run “what-if” scenarios for parenting (which parent will have which child on which days) to determine appropriate future parenting arrangements. At the end of this process, our goal is to find common ground between parents that can form the basis of a mutually acceptable parenting agreement that is in the best interests of you and your children.
Our law firm prides itself on a “family first” approach to Parenting disputes. We want to know what your values are, and how you want to ensure these values are passed along to your children. While most custody disputes are resolved through negotiation, occasionally we must use the legal system to enforce your rights as a parent. The law recognizes the importance of both parents being involved in a child’s life. If your spouse is not honouring these principles, we can take direct legal action on your behalf.
No two parenting disputes look the same, and Christopher Bungay, our senior lawyer, personally reviews every case to build the right strategy for yours.
Negotiating Your Parenting Agreement
We negotiate agreements that clearly allocate parenting time and decision-making between you and your former partner, with rules for healthy, respectful communication built in, so your children’s routine is stable and the conflict stays out of their lives.
Helping You Restore Parenting Time
If your former partner is withholding the children or dictating the schedule on their own, we act to restore your parenting time. The longer an imposed arrangement runs unchallenged, the harder it is to unwind, so we move before it hardens into routine.
Acting When Your Children Are at Risk
If the other parent is unsafe, unreliable, or acting inappropriately, equal parenting may not serve your children’s best interests. We move quickly to seek parenting arrangements that protect your children’s well-being while ensuring you have the parenting time and decision-making authority.
CHILD CUSTODY AND PARENTING RIGHTS
How Parenting Arrangements Work in Alberta
Every parenting arrangement in Alberta involves three questions: 1) At what times/when are the children with each parent? 2) How do parents work together to make major decisions for the children? 3) How do parenting arrangements get placed into a binding agreement or order? In most cases, the law assumes that children will benefit from having a meaningful relationship with both parents. Usually, neither parent can unilaterally decide the parenting rights of the other parent. These general principles apply whether a couple is married or in a common-law relationship.
Parenting Time
Parenting time determines when your children are in your care and how time is shared between parents. This includes the regular weekly schedule, holidays, vacations, birthdays, and how arrangements may adapt as your children grow and their needs change.
Decision-Making Responsibility
Decision-making responsibility determines who has the authority to make important decisions about your children’s lives, including education, medical care, and extracurricular activities, which can be shared jointly, divided between parents, or assigned to one parent.
The Agreement or Court Order
Parenting arrangements can be formalized through a written agreement or determined by a Court order. Setting out clear terms helps prevent future disputes about what was agreed while still allowing adjustments when your children’s needs or circumstances change.
WHAT IS AT STAKE WITHOUT AN AGREEMENT
Without a clear agreement, parenting conflict escalates. Informal arrangements collapse, one parent begins dictating terms, and your children absorb the tension through hostile text chains and handoffs. If the dispute reaches a courtroom, a judge who has never met your family imposes a schedule on your children’s lives. This is exactly where we help clients act early, settle the arrangement on fair terms, and keep those decisions with the two people who know the children best.
CO-PARENTING WITH COMPLEX FINANCES
Why Parenting Conflicts Escalate in High-Income Families
Even when both parents want what’s best for their children, high-income families face complications that standard parenting arrangements miss. Common complications include:
- A former partner arguing that running a business or a demanding practice makes you unavailable to parent, and using it to claim more parenting time
- Travel, on-call schedules, or irregular hours that require a parenting schedule built around real availability rather than a template
- One parent controlling the family's wealth, creating pressure to accept an unfair parenting arrangement
- Your company's finances being pulled into the parenting dispute as leverage
- Disagreements over private school, competitive sports, and the programs that shape your children's future
- Proposed relocations for work that put the entire schedule in question
- Public Court proceedings that expose family and financial details parents would rather keep private
Parenting disputes in high-income families rarely stay separate from money, and Christopher has spent his career working at the intersection of the two. As a father, a business owner, and a qualified family mediator, he keeps the focus on your children while protecting your position, and he settles disputes outside a public courtroom wherever possible.
KEEPING YOU CONNECTED TO YOUR CHILDREN
Parenting Time and Decision-Making Under Alberta Law
Your Right to Remain a Parent
In most cases, parents have a right to continue to be a mom or dad to their children after a divorce. One parent cannot unilaterally decide what the parenting arrangement will be, withhold the children, or cut the other parent out without legal justification. There is no automatic entitlement to a 50/50 schedule, but Courts recognize that children generally benefit from meaningful time with both parents. Where both parents are capable and available, an equal or near-equal arrangement is a realistic outcome. Running a business or working in a demanding career does not disqualify you from continuing to be a parent to your children. If you have a busy schedule, a parenting arrangement can be designed to allow you to continue to play an important role in your child’s life.
What matters is the best interests of your children: their safety, stability, relationships with each parent, and each parent’s ability to meet their needs. A well-negotiated agreement addresses these factors directly, before positions harden and before the conflict reaches your children.
When Equal Parenting Is Not Appropriate
Where a parent’s conduct puts children at risk, the law responds. Courts can order supervised parenting time, restrict or reallocate decision-making, or limit contact entirely. If you have genuine concerns about your children’s safety with the other parent, the correct response is a legal one. In cases where a child is at risk, parenting arrangements should be based on thoughtfully made legal agreements, not just a handshake deal between parents.
WHEN ONE PARENT WANTS TO MOVE
Relocation and Your Parenting Arrangement
A new job, a new relationship, or a fresh start in another city can put your entire parenting arrangement in question. One parent cannot simply move away with the children. A parent proposing to relocate generally must give the other parent formal notice, and the parent staying behind has a limited window to object. For business owners and professionals whose careers span provinces, relocation disputes are among the most common and most consequential parenting conflicts we see.
What Courts Weigh in a Relocation Dispute
If the parents cannot agree, the decision turns on the best interests of the children, and Courts look closely at:
- The reasons for the move
- The children's ties to school, community, and family
- Each parent's involvement in the children's lives
- The impact on the children's relationship with the parent staying behind
- Whether the parenting arrangement can survive the distance
If your former spouse gives notice that he or she intends to move with the children, time is of the essence. In many cases, it is easier to take action to prevent a move than it is to fix things after a parent has already moved with the children.
Educational Videos & Articles
Divorce and Children
Browse our library of short videos and articles on supporting your kids through divorce, including how to talk to them, ease the transition, and help them adjust, straight from an experienced Calgary divorce lawyer.
Child Access and Co-Parenting in Alberta
Frequently Asked Questions
Do parents automatically get 50/50 parenting time in Alberta?
No. There is no automatic entitlement to equal parenting time. Every arrangement is decided on the best interests of the children. Courts recognize that children generally benefit from meaningful time with both parents, and equal or near-equal schedules are common outcomes, but they follow from the family’s circumstances rather than a legal presumption.
Do I have parenting rights even if we were not legally married?
Yes. Parenting time and decision-making responsibility work the same way for unmarried parents in Alberta as they do for married parents. Your rights and obligations as a parent do not depend on your relationship status.
Can my former spouse stop me from seeing my children?
Not without legal justification. One parent cannot unilaterally withhold the children or dictate the parenting arrangement. If this is happening to you, legal steps can restore your parenting time. The longer a unilateral parenting decision goes unchallenged, the harder it will be to change in the future. If your spouse is making parenting decisions without your consent, acting early matters.
What if I am worried about my children's safety with the other parent?
Raise it with your lawyer immediately. Where a parent’s conduct puts children at risk, Courts can order supervised parenting time, restrict decision-making, or limit contact. These situations call for evidence and fast, careful legal action rather than informal restrictions that can later be used against you.
Can my former partner move away with our children?
A parent who wants to relocate with their children generally must give the other parent formal notice well in advance of a planned move. Moving with a child generally requires the consent of both parents. If there is disagreement, taking early legal action to prevent the move is important.
Your Senior Lawyer
Christopher Bungay
What sets Christopher apart in parenting disputes is that, in addition to being an experienced family lawyer, he also has significant experience in dealing with parents and children. Christopher comes from a very large family and is also a father of twins. He understands the emotions involved when parenting relationships break down. Additionally, he has the financial and legal background to help guide you in making parenting decisions that are in the best interests of your children.