Parenting Coordinators in BC

What Is a Parenting Coordinator in BC?

A parenting coordinator is a neutral professional who helps separated parents live with the parenting order or agreement they already have. The role is not about deciding the parenting arrangements. Those decisions have already been made. It is about the friction that comes afterward: the schedule swap that turns into a standoff, the holiday clause both parents read differently, the string of hostile messages over a soccer registration.

British Columbia built the role directly into its family law statute. Division 3 of Part 2 of the Family Law Act, sections 14 to 19, governs who can act as a parenting coordinator and what they can do. Under section 14, only a person meeting the requirements set out in the regulations may take the role.

SiLaw Group Family Lawyers is a boutique family law and mediation firm in South Surrey. Our founder, Sandy Sihota, is an accredited Family Law Mediator, Arbitrator and Parenting Coordinator, and parenting coordination is one of the out-of-court processes we provide in-house. You can read more on Sandy Sihota's profile.

When a Parenting Coordinator Can Be Appointed

Timing is the part most people miss: parenting coordination comes after a parenting order or agreement exists, not instead of one. Under section 15 of the Act, a parenting coordinator may assist only if there is a written parenting coordination agreement or a court order appointing one, and only for the purpose of implementing an existing agreement or order respecting parenting arrangements, contact with a child, or other prescribed matters.

The appointment also has a built-in clock. A parenting coordinator's authority ends two years after the agreement or order is made, unless it sets an earlier end point. It can be extended, but each extension can run no more than two years. Either parent can apply to end it early, and the parenting coordinator can also resign on notice.

What a Parenting Coordinator Actually Does

The Act gives the role two gears, and section 17 describes both.

The first gear is consensus building. The parenting coordinator works with both parents to create guidelines for how the order or agreement will be carried out, sets communication ground rules, helps identify recurring conflicts and build strategies for resolving them, and points parents to resources for improving communication or parenting skills. On many files this gear does most of the work.

The second gear is decision-making. Where the parents cannot agree, the parenting coordinator may make a determination, a binding mini-decision, under section 18. The limits matter as much as the power:

• Determinations can only deal with matters prescribed by regulation, subject to any limits in the regulations, and never with anything the parents' agreement or the court's order has excluded.
• A parenting coordinator must not make a determination that would affect the division or possession of property or the division of family debt.
• In any determination about parenting arrangements or contact, the parenting coordinator must consider the best interests of the child only, as set out in section 37 of the Act.
• A determination is binding on the parents and, if filed in court, is enforceable as if it were a court order.

There is a safety valve. Under section 19, a court may change or set aside a determination if the parenting coordinator acted outside their authority or made an error of law or of mixed law and fact. The BC Supreme Court has looked closely at where those boundaries sit, and our post on parenting coordinators and the limits of their authority walks through a decision on exactly that question.

Built for High-Conflict Parenting Files

Most separated parents do not need a parenting coordinator. The role earns its keep on files where conflict has become the pattern: every exchange sparks an argument, every ambiguity in the order becomes a battle, and the parents are back in court, or on the edge of it, several times a year.

For those families, a parenting coordinator changes the economics of conflict. Instead of a court application over a single weekend swap, there is a phone call and, if needed, a prompt determination. Disputes get answered in days, at a fraction of the emotional cost, and the children stop living inside a rolling court case. The court file goes quiet because the day-to-day decisions have somewhere else to go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do We Need a Court Order to Use a Parenting Coordinator?

No. The Family Law Act allows a parenting coordinator to be put in place either by a written agreement between the parents or by a court order. What you do need first is an existing order or agreement about parenting arrangements, because the parenting coordinator's job is to help implement it.

Can a Parenting Coordinator Change Our Parenting Order?

A parenting coordinator implements the order rather than rewriting it. Determinations are limited to the matters the regulations prescribe, cannot touch property or debt division, and cannot cover anything your agreement or order excludes. Big structural changes to parenting arrangements remain the court's job, or the subject of a new agreement between the parents.

How Long Does a Parenting Coordinator's Appointment Last?

Up to two years at a time under the Act, unless the agreement or order sets an earlier end date. Extensions are allowed, each for no more than two years. Many families use the appointment for the stormy period after separation and let it lapse once communication stabilizes.

Is a Parenting Coordinator's Decision Really Binding?

Yes. A determination binds both parents from the date it is made, and once filed in court it is enforceable as if it were an order. Court review exists only on defined grounds, such as the parenting coordinator exceeding their authority or making an error of law.

Talk to Us About Parenting Coordination in Surrey

If your parenting order has become a source of constant conflict rather than a source of stability, parenting coordination may be the pressure valve your family needs. The first 30 minutes with us are free, in English or Punjabi, by phone, video, or in person at Suite 201, 3108 Croydon Drive in South Surrey. Call (778) 381-9977 or Book Now for a Free Consultation.

This page is legal information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, speak with a lawyer.