Child custody battles often erupt around holidays

By Dale Woodard on February 22, 2022.

For many Alberta families and children embroiled in long-drawn-out legal disputes, Family Day is no holiday. 
With Family Day right around the corner on Monday, Elizabeth Turner, a Legal Aid Alberta family lawyer based in Edmonton, said it’s around those family holidays that they see more child custody disputes. 
“As you can imagine, co-parenting is difficult at the best of times, but there is a lot of tension around holidays,” said Turner.  “So if things are going to come to a head, typically they come to head around holidays.”
The courts deal with dividing up holidays or how to mediate holidays because they are important family times, said Turner.
“So if you’re not getting along with your co-parent, you head to court to sort that out if you can’t mediate or negotiate a compromise,”
Turner works specifically with the family law department with the LAA.
“There is a separate department that deals with criminal matters and bail specifically. But in my office we deal with family law matters, so that’s divorce, parenting, child support and those sorts of things. We also deal with child welfare matters, so we typically represent the parents on the child welfare matters who are engaged in litigation with the children services in the department.”
LAA also has lawyers who do child representation. 
“So we’re appointed on those high-conflict family files to represent the children in the conflict. So that’s bringing their voice to the court in various capacities,” said Turner “We also have a lawyer who does immigration matters as well. So we have a lot going on.”
Not surprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic of nearly the last two years have made those family disputes that much more stressful.
Because of the pandemic, almost everyone is having to wait longer for their case to be heard in court or resolved.
All Albertans with outstanding legal matters have experienced ongoing delays in family courts. Many matters have been adjourned, sometimes multiple times. 
“In this climate we’re certainly seeing people are stressed and there is an increase in conflict between the parties due to numerous stresses, whether that’s financial, personal or parenting conflicts,” said Turner. “So we’re dealing with that and trying to help people navigate their way through those conflicts and certainly it ends up in court applications as well because people are concerned with the changing rules and restrictions and concerned with how they’re managing with their family dynamic.”
With those court delays, Turner said they’ve had to pivot as things change.
“The court comes with the restrictions that require that all non-urgent matters aren’t going to proceed to trial or you can’t be in person on certain things,” she said. “So we’ve certainly had a backup of cases in the court system at various times and just as you’re working through a backlog there is another restriction, so we’ve had to reschedule a lot of trials, especially, if they’re not deemed urgent by the court.”
Turner said she is also seeing family court cases involving vaccine conflict, where one parent is advocating for their child to be vaccinated, while the other disagrees. 
“There are emerging case laws across the country which are dealing with those sorts of issues. It is pretty particular and fact-specific, so each judge is going to look at the facts of the particular case and one of the tests they’re using is what is in the child’s best interest. That’s where the judges are having to make that determination one way or the other.”
In a release from the LAA, Turner said that right now, many of their files involve family violence in some capacity. 
“With that we might see an individual having to flee domestic abuse or a situation where a child has been taken into protective custody.” 
With public health measures requiring people to stay home, many individuals end up trapped inside with an abusive partner or family member.  
As mandates and restrictions start to lift, individuals may find it easier to get in contact with LAA to help because there’s not someone constantly watching their every move. 
“Someone who has an abusive spouse working from home who is now going back into the office might be able to more easily access resources to help them escape domestic violence,” said Turner.  
Turner said people in need of an emergency protection order are given top priority at Legal Aid Alberta.  
Assistance with emergency protection orders (EPO) can be provided by calling 780-422-9222 in Edmonton and 403-297-5260 in Calgary. 
Those living outside of those areas are instructed to call the police at any time or visit their nearest courthouse during business hours. 
Individuals looking to apply for legal aid to help with a family law issue can call the LAA Contact Centre at 1-866-845-3425. 
“They have to financially qualify and answer those sorts of questions. But if they are in the sense of emergency protection orders, they can call us to help them through the process.”
Turner said it’s a three-step process and legal aid helps with the first two steps for free. 
“They can call those numbers to apply and they can talk to our lawyer who can help them with applying for an EPO during regular business hours or they can call the Justice of the Peace directly through the courts on off-hours. But our lawyer will help them apply in provincial court for Step 1, then the judge will make a decision whether the EPO stays in place.”
Step two is a review of the EPO in the Court of Queen’s bench.
“Legal aid helps all the applicants for the EPO and even the respondents are given legal counsel with that and if there are conflicting stories in Step 2 then it goes to hearing which is Step 3,” said Turner. “That is where a final decision is made if it should stay in place for a year or not.”
“If people need help, there are those resources and if they are in an emergency situation, they should call 911.”
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