I think my partner/spouse is a bad parent. Can I just move out with our child?

Moving out and taking a child, without the other’s permission, is never a good idea – unless there are immediate safety concerns. Family Court Judges do not like it when one parent takes a child away from the other. It looks either like kidnapping or like the parent who took the child is trying to get an unfair advantage. In addition, taking unilateral action, without concern for the child’s relationship with the other parent is viewed by many judges as bad parenting. That does not help.

If you are worried about your child’s safety, then you should go to court and get an emergency order for custody. Then you will have a judge’s “permission” to leave with the child. Doing that makes you seem like a more reasonable, less impulsive person, and allows you to explain your concerns and have a judge agree that you have a legitimate reason to take the child before you do that. This page explains the steps on how to get an emergency custody order. 

There are some critical things you need to know before even putting together your court documents for an emergency custody order. First, you need to understand what factors a judge considers when making any custody order. Those are explained in this podcast and on this webpage. You need to know those child custody factors so you tell the judge the right things when presenting your case.

You also need to know what custody means and the different types of custody. Knowing that will help you consider what parenting regime will work best for your child. 

There is also a lot more information on child custody, access, the steps in court and the alternatives to court in this easy-to-understand book on Ontario Family Law. It will also help you avoid making a lot of serious mistakes that could really jeopardize your child custody case.

However, because so much is at stake in child custody cases, and you really want to protect your child and make sure that a court does not make the wrong order, you really should speak with a good family law lawyer. A good family law lawyer will tell you how the law applies to your specific situation and work with you to come up with the best plan to make sure that your child gets the best result possible. Good lawyers are also very persuasive to judges and can get you results you could not get on your own – which is very important when the welfare of your child is a stake. John Schuman is a Certified Specialist in Family Law, who is renowned for his concern for children and children’s rights and has protected children in many difficult and high-profile custody cases. To contact him, and get a prompt response to your concerns, please call the number above, or use the form below.

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