You're separating in Quebec. Two legal systems. One child. No margin for error.
If you're married, the Divorce Act governs your custody arrangement. If you're not, it's the Civil Code. Each system uses different terms, follows different rules, and files in a different court. One wrong assumption about which framework applies to your family, and you could draft an agreement the court rejects — or worse, agree to a parenting schedule that locks in a child support calculation you didn't anticipate.
And since June 30, 2025, unmarried parents face an entirely new layer: the parental union regime under Bill 56, which automatically divides your family residence, furniture, and vehicles upon separation — even if you never signed anything.
Free government sites like Éducaloi explain what the law says. Court portals like JuridiQC generate forms for couples who already agree on everything. But neither one helps you get to that agreement — the worksheets, the schedule math, the clause-by-clause planning that separating parents actually need before they can sit down at the mediation table or walk into a courtroom.
The Parenting Navigation System: From Two Households to One Plan
The Quebec Child Custody & Parenting Plan Guide is a structured planning system built specifically for Quebec's civil-law framework. It doesn't just explain custody law — it gives you the tools to work through it, step by step, until you have a parenting arrangement both sides can live with and a court will accept.
Think of it as the working layer between free legal information and a $2,000+ lawyer retainer: the worksheets, calculators, and decision frameworks that turn scattered research into a concrete plan.
What's Inside
- Dual-Framework Decoder — a clear breakdown of which legal system governs your family (Divorce Act vs. Civil Code vs. the new parental union regime), which court you file in, and which terminology your documents need to use. No more guessing whether you have "parenting time" or "custody."
- Best-Interests Factor Map — every criterion Quebec judges evaluate when deciding custody, presented as a self-assessment so you can build your proposal around the factors that actually matter, not the ones you think matter.
- Parenting Schedule Builder — fillable worksheets for mapping your regular weekly rotation, calculating annual night percentages, and checking whether your arrangement crosses the 146-night shared-custody threshold that changes your child support obligation.
- Holiday & School Break Planner — an alternating-year rotation template covering Christmas, spring break, summer vacation, statutory holidays, and birthdays, with exchange logistics built in.
- Child Support Walkthrough — a plain-language guide to Quebec's model (Form 104 / Schedule I), from calculating disposable income through looking up the Basic Parental Contribution to handling special expenses. No law degree required.
- Mediation Strategy Planner — a pre-session workbook that helps you organize your priorities and draft proposals before your first meeting, so you spend your 5 free hours of subsidized mediation resolving real disagreements — not explaining basic scheduling preferences.
- Bill 56 Planning Section — dedicated guidance for unmarried parents navigating the 2025 parental union regime, including what's in the parental union patrimony, what's excluded (retirement plans, RRSPs), how custody affects temporary housing rights, and how to opt out through a notarized deed.
- Filing Roadmaps — step-by-step instructions for both tracks: the amicable route (JuridiQC or notary, with a filing fee of CA$251) and the contested route (Superior Court or TUF, with court and bailiff fees), including how to apply for a safeguard order if interim measures are urgent.
- Modification Guides — how to recalculate child support through SARPA, register a mutual agreement through the Homologation Assistance Service (SAH) for CA$651, or file a contested modification — all without hiring a lawyer.
- Safety Planning Chapter — legal exemptions, supervised access options, and safety protocols for domestic violence situations, including how to request an emergency safeguard order.
Who It's For
- Married couples divorcing in Quebec who need to navigate the Divorce Act's parenting time framework and the mandatory family patrimony division
- Unmarried parents separating under Bill 56 who face the new parental union patrimony rules and need to understand how custody arrangements intersect with property division
- Parents heading into mediation who want to arrive prepared — with a schedule draft, a support calculation, and clear priorities — so they use their free hours productively
- Self-represented filers who need to follow the same procedural steps a family lawyer would without the $150–$500/hour fee
- Parents modifying an existing order after a relocation, income change, or as their children grow older and their preferences carry more legal weight
Why Not Free Resources?
Éducaloi is excellent at explaining Quebec family law — what parental authority means, how the best-interests test works, what the child support model calculates. But it doesn't give you worksheets to apply those rules to your family's actual schedule. JuridiQC generates court forms, but only for couples who have already resolved every disagreement. OurFamilyWizard manages day-to-day co-parenting communication at $110–$300 per parent per year, but it doesn't help you draft the plan in the first place.
The gap is always the same: free tools explain the law or process your paperwork, but none of them help you do the work of building an agreement. That's what this guide covers — the negotiation, the scheduling math, the clause drafting, the financial calculations that happen between "we need to separate" and "here's our signed plan."
What You Get
Your purchase includes the complete 15-chapter guide (PDF), the free Parenting Plan Starter Checklist, and 9 standalone printable worksheets: Parenting Schedule Builder, Night Count Calculator, Holiday Rotation Planner, Decision-Making Matrix, Communication Protocol Builder, Child Support Worksheet, Mediation Strategy Planner, Best-Interests Self-Assessment, and Filing Roadmap. Every worksheet is fillable. Every chapter is specific to Quebec. The guide covers married and unmarried parents, the pre-2025 and post-2025 legal frameworks, and both the amicable and contested filing tracks.
One purchase, no subscriptions, no recurring fees. If the guide doesn't help you build a clearer path through your separation, reach out and we'll make it right.
Download the free checklist to see the process overview. When you're ready for the full worksheets, schedule builder, and support calculator, the complete guide is here.