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When co-parenting is not possible, parallel parenting provides structure. Our trial lawyers draft enforceable plans that reduce conflict and protect your children.
Book My 15-Minute Assessment →Parallel Parenting Plans | High-Conflict Families | Structured Communication | Children's Best Interests
Co-parenting involves frequent communication and joint decision-making between both parents. Parallel parenting minimises direct contact and allows each parent to make day-to-day decisions independently during their own parenting time. Ontario courts order parallel parenting in high-conflict cases where ongoing communication exposes the child to harmful conflict, as recognized under section 24(3) of the Children's Law Reform Act.
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Parallel parenting is a structured arrangement for separated parents who are unable to co-parent cooperatively. Unlike cooperative co-parenting, which requires frequent communication and joint decision-making, parallel parenting minimises direct contact between parents while allowing each parent to make day-to-day decisions during their own parenting time. The concept has been recognized by Ontario courts as an appropriate arrangement in high-conflict cases where ongoing communication between parents exposes the child to harmful conflict.
Under section 24(3) of the Children's Law Reform Act and section 16(3) of the Divorce Act as amended in 2021, the court must consider the ability and willingness of each parent to communicate and cooperate on issues affecting the child. Where a court finds that the level of conflict between parents is detrimental to the child, it may impose a parallel parenting arrangement with detailed protocols for exchanging information, making major decisions, and transitioning the child between homes. Lexaltico LLP drafts parallel parenting plans that are specific, enforceable, and designed to eliminate ambiguity that fuels conflict.
A key component of parallel parenting is the division of major decision-making responsibilities. Under the 2021 amendments to the Divorce Act, the court may allocate decision-making responsibility for health, education, religion, extracurricular activities, and other significant areas to one parent or divide these responsibilities between parents by category. For example, one parent may have final decision-making authority on educational matters while the other has authority on health-related decisions. This structured approach avoids the deadlocks that characterize high-conflict joint custody arrangements.
Lexaltico LLP designs decision-making frameworks that account for each parent's strengths, the child's specific needs, and the history of the dispute. Our plans include clear protocols for information sharing (such as communication through a parenting app like OurFamilyWizard), provisions for emergency decisions, and escalation mechanisms such as arbitration under the Arbitration Act, 1991, S.O. 1991, c. 17, or a parenting coordinator. Every provision is drafted with enforcement in mind, so that breaches can be addressed quickly through the court under Rule 1(8) of the Family Law Rules, O. Reg. 114/99.
Obtaining a parallel parenting order requires demonstrating to the court that the level of conflict between the parents is harmful to the child and that a cooperative co-parenting arrangement is not workable. Our trial lawyers present evidence of communication breakdowns, documented incidents of conflict, lawyer testimony from psychologists and family therapists, and the impact of parental conflict on the child. We draw on the best interests factors set out in section 24(3) of the Children's Law Reform Act, including the child's emotional health and the history of care.
In cases such as Kaplanis v. Kaplanis, 2005 ONCA 248, the Ontario Court of Appeal confirmed that joint custody is not appropriate where there is a demonstrated inability of the parents to communicate effectively. Our trial team uses this jurisprudence to advocate for structured parallel parenting arrangements that prioritise the child's stability and wellbeing. We are equally prepared to oppose a parallel parenting request where the evidence shows that the other parent is manufacturing conflict to reduce your involvement in the child's life.
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55 University Ave, Suite 1100
Toronto, ON M5J 2H7
2 Sheppard Ave East, Suite 303, Toronto, ON M2N 5Y7
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Lexaltico LLP
How Lexaltico LLP handles personal information, under PIPEDA and Ontario law.
When you use a form on this site, email us or telephone us, we collect what you choose to send: your name, email address, telephone number and a description of the situation. Nothing on this site requires you to give more than that.
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This site publishes several hundred pages about Ontario law. They are written carefully, they cite statutes and cases by name, and they are reviewed. None of that makes them advice about your matter. Law is applied to facts, and we do not know yours.
The difference is practical rather than technical. A page explaining that spousal support is usually indefinite after a twenty year marriage is accurate as a general statement and may be wrong about you, because of a domestic contract you signed, a period of separation you have forgotten, or an income that is not what a tax return says it is.
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It can also create a problem for you. If you send us detailed information about a dispute and we are later approached by the other side, what you sent may affect whether we can act for either of you.
So tell us the shape of the problem and leave out the detail: the area of law, roughly when it arose, and whether anything is urgent. That is enough for us to say whether we can help. The documents come after the retainer.
Case results described anywhere on this site are real and are described accurately, and they are specific to their own facts. A settlement at three times the original offer happened because of that employer, that contract and that person’s history. It says nothing about what your matter is worth.
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Lexaltico LLP is regulated by the Law Society of Ontario under the Law Society Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.8. All lawyers practising in Ontario through the firm are members in good standing.
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Immigration consulting is provided by Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants in good standing with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants under the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act, S.C. 2019, c. 29, s. 292.
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