What is access?
Access to the child is typically granted to the parent who does not have care and control over the child after the divorce.
The starting point that the court will take regarding access is that the parent without care and control should have access. The typical issue in contest between the divorcing spouses is the amount of access to the child.
The public policy behind allowing the parent without care and control to have access to the child is that access is beneficial to the child. Simply put, a child should be able to have regular face time with both parents even after a divorce.
The Women’s Charter, which regulates the marriage and family life of non-Muslim persons, does not state how much access should be granted. The Women’s Charter simply states that the parent without care and control should be granted fair and reasonable access to the child after the divorce. It is therefore left to the court to decide what is fair and reasonable access to the child.
The divorcing spouses are typically encouraged to negotiate the suitable amount of access. If this can be agreed upon, it will greatly speed up the process of finalising the divorce.
If the divorcing spouses cannot decide upon the amount of access, the court will typically ask for Access Evaluation Reports to guide it in deciding how much access to grant.
