What is decision-making responsibility?
This is the right to make important decisions about how to care for and raise a child. For example, to make decisions about:
- education
- religion
- health care
- important extra-curricular activities
Decision-making responsibility is not about which parent the child lives with or how much time a child spends with each parent.
For example, even if only one parent has decision-making responsibility, the child might spend equal time living with each parent. Or the child might live mainly with one parent, but both parents share the right to make decisions.
Dividing responsibility
Decision-making responsibility can be divided in a few ways:
- one parent has all the decision-making responsibility,
- 2 or more parents share decision-making responsibility, or
- different parents are responsible for different areas. For example, one parent makes decisions about health and another parent makes decisions about religion.
Sometimes, when one parent has the right to make all the decisions, they still have to talk to the other parent before deciding. But the other parent does not have to agree with the decision.
If both parents share the right to make decisions, one parent cannot make decisions without the other parent agreeing to them.
When one parent has all the decision-making responsibility, the other parent usually still has parenting time.
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