“In Kaplanis v. Kaplanis (2005), 2005 CanLII 1625 (ON CA), 249 D.L.R. (4th) 620 (Ont. C.A.), the court found that:
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- There must be evidence of historical communication between the parents and appropriate communication between them.
- Joint custody cannot be ordered in the hope that it will improve their communication.
- Just because both parents are fit does not mean that joint custody should be ordered.
- The fact that one parent professes an inability to communicate does not preclude an order for joint custody.
- No matter how detailed the custody order, there will always be gaps in unexpected situations, and when they arise they must be able to be addressed on an ongoing basis.
- The younger the child the more important communication is.
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See also LaPalme v. Hedden, 2012 ONSC 6758, at para. 58.
In Giri v. Wentges, 2009 ONCA 606, the court said the following at para. 10:
Second, as this court has repeatedly held, joint custody requires a mutual commitment between parents to cooperate on matters pertaining to the raising of their child, and an ability for the parents to put their own interests behind those of the child: see Kaplanis v. Kaplanis (2005), 2005 CanLII 1625 (ON CA), 249 D.L.R. (4th) 620 (Ont. C.A.).
When the parents disagreed on too many important issues that affected the child’s best interests the court found joint custody and parallel parenting was not in the child’s best interests: see Graham v. Bruto, 2008 ONCA 260, at para. 2.
Although the court does not expect that the communication between separated parents is to be free of conflict, the issue is whether it may be achievable in the future: see Warcop v. Warcop, 2009 CanLII 6423 (ON SC), 2009 ONSC 6423, 66 R.F.L. (6th) 438, at para. 94.
The court should look at how the parents parented prior to the separation to determine if coparenting and cooperation is possible: see Growen v. MacKenzie, 2008 ONCJ 170, at para. 20.
I find the father to be evasive, insincere, and not credible at times and there does not appear to be much positive communication between the parties. To have joint decision-making responsibilities there must be some degree of cooperation and communication between the parties.”