What is meant by shared parental rights and responsibilities?
Shared parental rights and responsibilities means that most or all aspects of a child’s welfare remain the joint responsibility and right of both parents, so that both parents retain equal parenting rights and responsibilities, and both parents must confer and make joint decisions regarding the child’s welfare. Parents who share parental rights and responsibilities are expected to keep one another informed of any major changes effecting the child’s welfare and are required to consult in advance to the extent practicable on decisions related to the child’s welfare. An award of shared parental rights and responsibilities may include either an allocation of the child’s primary residence to one parent and rights of parental contact to the other parent, or the award may order a sharing of the child’s primary residential care by both parents.
