Parenting time and decision-making: what replaced custody

Changes to the Divorce Act removed the words custody and access from federal family law. The new language is parenting time and decision-making responsibility. This was not merely cosmetic.

Why the words changed

Custody carried a sense of ownership, and winning it felt like winning the child. The revised language separates two genuinely different things: where a child spends their time, and who makes the significant decisions about their life.

Decision-making responsibility

This covers major decisions — education, significant medical care, religious upbringing, meaningful extracurricular commitments. It can be allocated jointly, solely, or divided by subject so that each parent leads on different areas.

Parenting time

This is the time a child spends in each parent's care, including who is responsible for day-to-day decisions during that time. It can be equal, primarily with one parent, or any arrangement that genuinely fits the family.

The only legal test is the best interests of the child. Not fairness between parents — the child's interests.

In practice this means a schedule that reflects the child's school, friendships and activities, and each parent's actual availability, rather than an abstract division of hours.