What is the test for determining a parent’s best interests in a custody and access matter?

Ontario, Canada


The following excerpt is from R.C. v. L.C., 2021 ONSC 1963 (CanLII):

In Wilson v. Wilson, 2015 ONSC 479, at para. 62, Price J. stated (citations omitted): No one factor in the statutory definition of a child’s “best interests” is given statutory pre-eminence in the court’s determination of custody and access. But the court pays particular attention to: (i) the level of hostility between the parties, the extent to which that hostility could undermine the child’s stability, and what measures, if employed, would likely strip the hostility from the environment; (ii) the extent to which a person seeking access has used contact with the child for a purpose collateral to the child’s best interests; for example, to try to control or denigrate the other parent; (iii) the extent to which the person displaying objectionable conduct is capable of altering the behavior and motivated to do so; and (iv) whether the parent is acting responsibly, reasonably, and in a child-focused fashion in determining what is in the child’s best interests.

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