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Types of Child Custody in BC

If you are searching for information about child custody types in BC, you are probably not in a calm, theoretical frame of mind. You are trying to figure out what is actually going to happen with your children, and the terminology is not helping.

This page cuts through the confusion. We explain what the different types of parenting arrangements are called under current BC law, what they actually mean in practice, and what determines which arrangement is most likely to serve your children. We also keep the older "custody" terminology in context, because that is still how most people search, and the terms are still legally meaningful in some situations.

The arrangement that fits your family depends on your specific circumstances, not on a label. Understanding what the labels actually mean is the right place to start.

A note on terminology: the BC Family Law Act no longer uses the word "custody." Instead it uses "parenting time" (the schedule) and "decision-making responsibility" (authority over major decisions). The federal Divorce Act was updated in 2021 to align. We use current terminology throughout this article, with the older terms noted where they still appear, because judges, lawyers, and parents all need to understand both.

The two dimensions of every parenting arrangement

Every parenting arrangement in BC has two components. They are related but separate, and they do not automatically go together.

Parenting Time

The schedule. Where the children sleep, when, and with which parent. Sometimes called physical custody in older documents.

Decision-Making Responsibility

Who has authority to make major decisions about the children's lives: school, healthcare, religious upbringing, and significant choices. Sometimes called legal custody in older documents.

These two dimensions can be configured in many combinations. A parent can have the children living with them most of the time and still share decision-making equally. A parent can have equal parenting time but one parent may have sole decision-making authority in a specific area, say medical decisions, where the parties cannot cooperate. The law does not force a single template. It asks what arrangement serves the best interests of these specific children.

Parenting arrangements are built around the children's needs, not split evenly between the parents' preferences. The starting point is always: what does this child need to thrive?

The four main types of parenting arrangements

Shared Parenting

Also called: joint custody, shared custody

Both parents share decision-making responsibility, and parenting time is roughly equal or significant for both.

Shared parenting is the most common arrangement for families who can cooperate reasonably well. Both parents are involved in making major decisions about the children's lives, and both have meaningful time with the children.

Shared parenting does not require a mathematically equal split. The schedule can be week-on, week-off, a 2-2-5-5 rotation, or any number of other configurations. What matters is that both parents have substantial involvement in the children's lives, both in terms of time and decision-making.

Shared decision-making requires a baseline of communication and cooperation. If parents are genuinely unable to make decisions together, the arrangement breaks down in practice, and courts may need to address whether sole decision-making better serves the children.

Sole Decision-Making / Primary Parenting Time

Also called: sole custody, primary physical custody

One parent has primary decision-making authority, and the children spend most of their time in that parent's care.

Sole decision-making means one parent has the legal authority to make major decisions about the children's upbringing without needing the other parent's agreement. The other parent still has parenting time, but does not share the authority over big decisions.

This arrangement is most common when the parents cannot cooperate on decisions to a degree that serves the children, when one parent is consistently failing to act in the children's best interests, or when the circumstances of one parent make shared decision-making unworkable or unsafe.

Sole decision-making does not necessarily mean the children live primarily with one parent. As the Audrey and Oliver story below shows, it is entirely possible for a court to award sole decision-making to one parent while maintaining a roughly equal parenting time schedule.

From our files: When decision-making and parenting time went different directions

Audrey and Brock were divorcing in BC. Their son Oliver was born with special needs affecting his speech, fine motor skills, social development, and physical development. Both parents loved Oliver, but Brock refused to accept that Oliver needed extra support. He believed Audrey was exaggerating the situation.

When Oliver's pediatrician recommended speech therapy, Brock refused to support it and attempted to cancel appointments Audrey had booked. When equine-assisted therapy was recommended, a professionally guided therapeutic program with documented benefits for children with Oliver's profile, Brock refused to consent, and Oliver lost the opportunity.

The matter could not be resolved through alternative dispute resolution. A court heard from a parenting expert and Oliver's medical team. The judge found that while Brock clearly loved Oliver and deserved meaningful parenting time, it was in Oliver's best interest that Audrey have sole decision-making responsibility for his medical and therapeutic care. The parenting time schedule remained close to equal.

The lesson: decision-making and parenting time are separate. A court can, and sometimes does, award one parent sole decision-making authority while maintaining a roughly shared parenting schedule, when that is what the child's needs require.

When primary parenting time with one parent is most likely to serve the children

Courts do not award primary parenting time to one parent arbitrarily. The standard is always the best interests of the child. Here are the circumstances where courts are most likely to find that a child's needs are best served by spending most of their time with one parent:

Situations where primary parenting time with one parent is most likely to serve the children

  • A parent has substance abuse problems that affect their ability to parent safely.
  • A parent has engaged in a sustained pattern of parental alienation, actively working to damage the child's relationship with the other parent.
  • A parent has physically or emotionally abused the child.
  • A parent consistently fails to meet the child's medical, therapeutic, or developmental needs, as in Audrey and Oliver's situation.
  • A parent neglects the child's basic physical or emotional needs.
  • A parent has mental health challenges that, in their current state, impair their ability to parent safely.
  • A parent is involved in criminal activity that places the child at risk.
  • A parent repeatedly puts the child in the middle of adult conflict, using them as a messenger or confidant in ways that are harmful.

This list describes circumstances, not labels. A parent dealing with a mental health challenge who is receiving treatment and parenting effectively is in a very different position from one whose untreated condition is directly affecting the children. Courts look at the actual situation, not categories.

Split Parenting Arrangements

Also called: split custody

When there are two or more children and each parent is the primary caregiver for at least one of them.

Split arrangements are less common than shared or primary parenting, but they occur more often than people expect, particularly as children grow older.

A split arrangement does not mean the children never see each other. It means the parenting arrangement for each child reflects that child's individual needs and preferences, which may differ. One child may thrive with primarily one parent. Another child in the same family may have a stronger connection with the other parent or be at a stage where their needs are better served by a different arrangement.

Child support in a split arrangement is calculated differently from other arrangements. Each parent is considered both a payor and a recipient, and a set-off calculation determines what, if anything, flows between them.

Split arrangements are almost always reached by agreement rather than imposed by a court. Courts are reluctant to deliberately separate siblings without strong evidence that doing so serves each child's interests better than keeping them together.

What courts actually look at: the best interests of the child

Every parenting decision in BC, whether reached by agreement or imposed by a court, is governed by one standard: the best interests of the child. Not the preferences of the parents. Not what is fair to the adults. What genuinely serves the children.

The Family Law Act sets out a list of factors courts must consider when assessing best interests. Understanding them helps you understand what matters when you are building a parenting arrangement.

  • The child's physical, psychological, and emotional safety and wellbeing
  • The child's relationships with each parent and with other significant people in their life
  • Each parent's willingness to support the child's relationship with the other parent
  • The history of each parent's involvement in the child's life
  • The child's own views and preferences, given appropriate weight for their age and maturity
  • The child's cultural, linguistic, religious, and spiritual heritage
  • Any family violence and its impact on the child and on each parent's ability to parent safely
  • The ability of each parent to exercise their responsibilities under the arrangement
A branded Pathway Legal "Did You Know" graphic featuring Journey the Jack Russell terrier wearing clear glasses, with a lightbulb icon and text explaining that the BC Family Law Act no longer uses the word "custody," replacing it with guardianship, parenting time, and parenting responsibilities.

A parent who genuinely supports their child's relationship with the other parent, even when things are difficult between the adults, is demonstrating something courts value. A parent who undermines that relationship is raising a flag that affects every other aspect of the assessment.

Not sure which arrangement fits your family?

A consultation with one of our lawyers will give you a clear picture of what the law allows, what courts look at, and what arrangement is most likely to serve your children. Backed by our money-back guarantee on the initial consultation fee.

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How parenting arrangements are actually reached

The vast majority of parenting arrangements in BC are reached by agreement between parents, not imposed by a judge. That is a good thing. A negotiated arrangement built around the specific needs of a specific family will almost always serve the children better than an order made by someone who has spent a few hours reviewing materials about them.

Negotiation

When parents can communicate reasonably and agree on what their children need, direct negotiation with legal advice on both sides is the most efficient path. A lawyer helps make sure the agreement covers everything it should, reflects the law accurately, and is properly documented.

Mediation

When direct negotiation is difficult but the parents are willing to try, mediation brings a trained neutral third party into the process to help both parents work toward an agreement. Pathway Legal always recommends that clients bring their lawyers to mediation so that any agreement reached has proper legal grounding from day one.

Collaborative law

A more structured alternative to mediation in which both parents and both lawyers commit at the outset to reaching a resolution without court. The process involves a series of structured meetings and can include specialists such as financial advisors or child specialists depending on the needs of the family.

Court

When the above processes have been exhausted or are not appropriate given the circumstances, a court can make parenting orders. Court is the most expensive, slowest, and least predictable path. We treat it as a last resort, not a first step. But when it is necessary, we are there.

Important Related Pages

Collaborative Family Law Professionals in British ColumbiaCollaborative Family Law
Divorcing Without Court in Victoria and British ColumbiaChoosing A Lawyer
Divorcing With Children in Victoria and British ColumbiaDivorce & Children
Divorcing With Children in Victoria and British ColumbiaYour Legal Team

Starting with the right question

he most useful frame for any parenting arrangement is not "what type of custody do I want" but "what does my child need, and how do we build an arrangement that delivers it?" The type follows from that question, not the other way around.

Most families find an arrangement that works. It takes legal guidance, honest communication, and a willingness to keep the children's needs at the center even when the adult relationship is difficult. We help families do that every day.

Ask Journey – Different types of child custody FAQ
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Different types of child custor

Real questions. Straight answers. No legal jargon required.

They are different eras of language describing the same reality. "Custody" was the older term and it collapsed two separate things into one word: who the child lived with and who made decisions about them. Current BC law separates those two things deliberately. "Parenting time" is the schedule, specifically which parent the children are with and when. "Decision-making responsibility" is who has authority over major choices about the children's lives: education, medical care, religious upbringing, extracurricular activities. You can have shared decision-making with unequal parenting time, or sole decision-making with an almost-equal schedule. Understanding that these are two separate dimensions is the key to understanding how parenting arrangements actually work.

No. Shared parenting means both parents have meaningful involvement in the children's lives, in terms of both time and decision-making. The schedule does not need to be mathematically equal, and courts do not require it to be. A 60/40 split can still be shared parenting if both parents are actively involved and cooperating on decisions. What matters is whether the arrangement genuinely serves the children, not whether the percentages balance out on paper.

Not necessarily. If you can agree on parenting time but are stuck on decision-making, that is exactly the kind of targeted dispute that mediation or collaborative law handles well. A mediator or parenting coordinator can help you build a framework for how specific decisions get made, including a process for resolving disagreements without one of you having to override the other every time. If you genuinely cannot cooperate on critical decisions affecting your children's health or education and the standoff is ongoing, a variation application or an initial application for a parenting order may be necessary. But many parents find that having a clear, specific process in their separation agreement reduces the conflict significantly.

Yes, that is a split arrangement, and it is a recognized parenting structure in BC. Whether it is the right fit depends on a careful assessment of each child's specific needs, their relationship with each parent, how the siblings relate to each other, and the practical implications of the arrangement including schooling and logistics. Courts generally prefer arrangements that keep siblings together, all else being equal. But when the individual needs of each child genuinely point in different directions, and both parents are suitable primary caregivers for their respective children, a split arrangement can work well. This is worth discussing with a family lawyer who can help you think through the specific dynamics of your family.

A child's preference is a factor, not a decision. Courts consider it, and the weight given increases significantly with the child's age and maturity. A consistent, clearly expressed preference from a 14-year-old carries real weight. A shifting preference from a seven-year-old who says different things to different adults carries less. Courts are also attentive to whether a child's expressed preference reflects their genuine views or has been shaped by one parent's influence. The child is always the subject of the decision, not the decision-maker. Their voice matters. It does not override the best interests analysis.

Yes. Mediation can be done without the parties in the same room, through a process called shuttle mediation where the mediator moves between the parties separately. Collaborative law structures meetings carefully and involves professionals trained to manage high-conflict dynamics. Parenting coordinators, who are appointed to manage ongoing parenting disputes, can be a valuable resource when the arrangement is in place but day-to-day cooperation remains difficult. In situations where direct communication is unsafe, apps like Our Family Wizard keep all communication in writing and documented, which both reduces conflict and creates a record if legal proceedings become necessary. Court is available as a last resort. But even in high-conflict situations, there are usually structured processes that can get you to an outcome without the cost and damage of contested litigation.

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Family law is fact-specific and the law changes. Reading this does not create a lawyer-client relationship with Pathway Legal. For advice about your situation, consult a qualified BC family law lawyer.