What is the test for a change in residence in the best interests of a child?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from N.K.P. v. D.W.S., 2006 BCPC 6 (CanLII):
Gordon v. Goertz sets out the following considerations as to whether a change in residence is in the best interests of a child (once the threshold has been met): 1. … the judge on the application must embark on a fresh inquiry into what is in the best interests of the child, having regard to all the relevant circumstances relating to the child's needs and the ability of the respective parents to satisfy them. 2. This inquiry is based on the findings of the judge who made the previous order and evidence of the new circumstances. 3. The inquiry does not begin with a legal presumption in favour of the custodial parent, although the custodial parent's views are entitled to great respect. 4. Each case turns on its own unique circumstances. The only issue is the best interest of the child in the particular circumstances of the case. 5. The focus is on the best interests of the child, not the interests and rights of the parents. 6. More particularly the judge should consider among other things: a. the existing custody arrangement and relationship between the child and the custodial parent; b. the existing access arrangement and the relationship between the child and the access parent; c. the desirability of maximizing contact between the child and both parents; d. the views of the child; e. the custodial parent's reason for moving, only in the exceptional case where it is relevant to that parent's ability to meet the needs of the child; f. disruption to the child of a change in custody; g. disruption to the child consequent on removal from family, schools, and the community he or she has come to know. In the end, the importance of the child remaining with the parent to whose custody it has become accustomed in the new location must be weighed against the continuance of full contact with the child's access parent, its extended family and its community. The ultimate question in every case is this: what is in the best interests of the child in all the circumstances, old as well as new?
"The most advanced legal research software ever built."
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.
Other Questions
When a child is attending school away from home, is the child's child entitled to child support? (British Columbia, Canada)
What is the test for determining whether a parent intended to change a child’s habitual residence? (British Columbia, Canada)
What is the test for obtaining an order to remove a child from the custody of the child and place the child on a permanent basis? (British Columbia, Canada)
What are the relevant cases in which a court has found that a child has changed to become a child of the marriage and is entitled to parental support under section 2 of the Divorce Act? (British Columbia, Canada)
If a child of the marriage unilaterally terminated their relationship with the payor parent without good cause and there is evidence that the child is no longer a child, is this a factor in the finding that they no longer exist? (British Columbia, Canada)
How is child support calculated when the child only remains a child because of his post-secondary education? (British Columbia, Canada)
What is the test for determining whether a child who has reached the age of majority but attends post-secondary school remains a child of the marriage and is entitled to child support? (British Columbia, Canada)
What is the test for determining whether a child is still a "child" when it comes to child support? (British Columbia, Canada)
Does the fact that an expense relates to an extracurricular activity bring the amount of child support under s. 7 of the Child Support Guidelines (e.g. expenses) into s.7 of the child support table? (British Columbia, Canada)
Where the shared intention of the parties ended at the moment of a break-up and the child was habitually resident at the time of separation, what is the test for retaining the child under the Convention of Human Rights? (British Columbia, Canada)
