An Act to Amend the Children's Law Act

Summary#

This bill updates the Northwest Territories Children’s Law Act. It replaces older terms like custody and access with newer, plain terms focused on children’s needs. It rewrites rules on who is a parent, how courts decide parenting time and decisions, how moves (relocations) are handled, and how orders are enforced. It also creates an administrative service to recalculate child support.

Key changes:

• Replaces “custody” and “access” with “decision‑making responsibility” (who makes major choices), “parenting time” (time with a parent), and “contact” (time with a non‑parent).
• Updates parentage rules, including replacing “birth mother” with “birth parent,” setting clear presumptions of who is a biological parent, and special rules for assisted reproduction.
• Overhauls parenting orders: courts must decide based on the child’s best interests, with detailed factors (including family violence). Parents start with equal entitlement to decision‑making responsibility.
• Sets detailed relocation rules: 60‑day written notice, a way to object, factors courts consider, and who must prove what.
• Strengthens enforcement: restraining orders, orders to locate and return a child, fines up to $5,000 or up to 90 days in jail for contempt, and privacy limits on access to court files and publication.
• Creates a Recalculation Service to adjust child support amounts outside court using updated income, with privacy and information‑sharing rules.
• Recognizes and can enforce parenting and contact orders from outside the NWT, with limits.
• Lets a parent or guardian name (by will) who will have decision‑making responsibility or be property guardian after their death, with safeguards.

What it means for you#

• Parents

  • Equal starting point: Both parents are equally entitled to decision‑making responsibility, unless an order or agreement says otherwise.
  • Day‑to‑day calls: The parent with parenting time at that moment decides routine daily matters.
  • Best interests test: Courts must base decisions on the child’s best interests, with clear factors (safety and well‑being first, relationships, stability, culture and language, the child’s views, ability to co‑operate, and any family violence).
  • Information rights: A parent with decision‑making responsibility or parenting time can ask for health and education info about the child.
  • Moving: If you plan to relocate (a move likely to significantly affect the child’s relationships), you must give at least 60 days’ written notice with a proposal for new arrangements; others can object within 30 days. The court decides based on best interests plus relocation factors. Travel costs may be shared.
  • Orders and compliance: Courts can set limits (for example, on moves, passports, or contact conditions). Disobeying orders can lead to fines or jail for contempt.

• Non‑parent caregivers and relatives (including grandparents)

  • You can apply for decision‑making responsibility or a contact order. You must file an affidavit (a sworn statement) with your plan for the child.
  • If you seek decision‑making responsibility and you are not a parent, you must provide a recent police records check.

• People using assisted reproduction

  • Usual parentage presumptions do not apply to a child born through assisted reproduction. A spouse/partner is not presumed a parent if the birth parent intended to place the child with others at conception. Courts can declare who is the birth or biological parent.

• People involved in family violence

  • Family violence is a central factor in best‑interests decisions. Courts can make restraining orders that limit contact, proximity, or certain behaviour. Court files can be sealed in part and publication that identifies people can be banned.

• Parties in parenting cases

  • You must protect the child from conflict, try appropriate out‑of‑court options (like mediation), and give complete, accurate, up‑to‑date information when required.
  • Courts can order professional assessments or mediation; parties generally pay these costs, with relief possible for serious financial hardship.
  • In urgent cases (such as a threat to a child’s life or health), applications can be made without notice.

• Parents paying or receiving child support

  • Support for a child can be recalculated each year by the new Recalculation Service outside of court. You may be asked for recent income information (if the latest year is not available, the second‑most recent year can be used).
  • Some income and contact information can be shared between the Recalculation Service and enforcement/designated authorities; there are privacy limits (for example, access‑to‑information rights do not extend to another person’s personal information in those files).
  • You can object to a recalculation decision through the set process.

• Recognition of outside orders

  • Parenting and contact orders from other provinces/territories or countries can be recognized and enforced in the NWT unless certain fairness or best‑interests concerns apply. NWT courts can replace an outside order if there’s a material change or serious harm risk.

• Wills and guardians

  • A person with decision‑making responsibility can, by will, name someone to have that responsibility after their death (and a property guardian can name a successor for a child’s property). The appointee must consent and apply to court within 90 days for the appointment to continue.

Expenses#

The bill may increase administrative and enforcement costs, but no estimate is available.

• No publicly available information on the government cost to create and run the Recalculation Service, implement new notice/forms, or manage added privacy and enforcement duties.
• Parties may face private costs:
  • Fees for court‑ordered assessments or mediation (with possible relief for serious financial hardship).
  • Costs to obtain a police records check for non‑parent applicants.
  • Possible bond postings, travel cost sharing after relocation, and legal fees.
  • Fines up to $5,000 or jail up to 90 days for contempt of court orders.
• Police and courts may face workload impacts from new enforcement tools (for example, orders to locate and return a child).

Proponents' View#

• The bill appears intended to put children’s best interests and safety first, especially by listing detailed factors and giving priority to physical, emotional, and psychological well‑being.
• It modernizes language (decision‑making responsibility, parenting time, contact) and aligns with recent federal Divorce Act concepts, which could reduce confusion and conflict.
• The relocation rules give clear notice steps, timelines, and what the court must weigh, which could make moves more predictable and fair.
• The Recalculation Service could make child support amounts more accurate and timely without going back to court, easing backlog and costs.
• Stronger enforcement (restraining orders, orders to locate a child) and privacy limits could improve safety and reduce harm to children and families.
• Recognition and enforcement of orders from outside the NWT, with safeguards, could help families who move across borders.

Opponents' View#

• One concern is added complexity: new terms, detailed notice rules, and burdens of proof for relocation may be hard for self‑represented people to navigate.
• Non‑parent applicants must provide police records checks, which adds steps and cost; courts can also pull in information on other family or criminal proceedings, which may raise privacy concerns for some.
• The Recalculation Service involves data sharing between agencies and disclosure of some income or contact information without consent; while privacy limits exist, this may still worry some parties.
• Enforcement powers are stronger: orders to locate and apprehend a child, entry and search by police (between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.), and fines or jail for contempt. This may raise concerns about overreach or unintended impacts if misused.
• Court‑ordered assessments and mediation shift costs to parties, which could be hard for low‑income families despite possible hardship relief.
• It is unclear how quickly the new systems (especially the Recalculation Service) will be set up or funded, and how consistently they will be applied across the territory.