Sunday, April 9, 2000 Oakville Beaver Weekend 7 COMMUNITY UPDATE Please forward announcements fo r Community Update to Wilma Blokhuis, Oakville Beaver , 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4; Fax 337-5567; Email blokhuis@haltonsearch.com or call 845-3824 Ext. 250; BEFORE NOON FRID AY. First A nnual Oakville Super Cities Walk fo r M S needs volunteers on April 15th and 16th, three to four hours, mornings or afternoons, to help with registration, breakfast, checkpoints, route patrol, finish line, barbecue lunch. If you can help, call Theresa, 847-7744, or Betty, 842-1996. Oakville Parent-Child Centre pre sents Musical, Magical Tea Party with Lenny Graf at Appleby College on April 16th. Special appearance by the Easter Bunny. First sitting, 1 to 3 p.m. and second sitting, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tickets $15 per person, children under 2 free. Tickets must be purchased in advance, call 849-6366. An afternoon of entertainment to delight parents and children. Tea w ill be served after each concert and includes a selection of ; sandwiches, squares and beverages. Climb the CN Tower fo r the World Wildlife Fund, April 29th, 6 to 11:30 a.m. Free T-shirts and prizes. Fee, or total pledges, is $20 before April 14th, or $25 on day of event. Call 416-4894567 Ext. 303. Tulips, Tulips, Tulips: O akville Royal Canadian Legion is selling tulip bulbs, 10 for $6, or a box of 100 for $55. Call B ill Allan at the Legion, 8456271, or at home, 847-2626. your children and youth culture around you? Youth culture specialist Paul Robertson facilitates seminar, Maximizing Millennial Kids, at Knox Presbyterian Church, Dunn and Lakeshore, 7 to 8:30 p.m. B B Q at 5:30 p.m., $5 each. Single Adults A live presents consultant w ill give slide/talk on Garden Design for the Home Gardener, including site analysis, adding struc ture, bed corporation, year round inter est. New members are welcome ($12 single, $15 family). ADD/ADHD - The Troubled Child - The Whole Picture, free semi nar with Jean-Yves Dionne, pharmacist owner in Rowdon, Quebec, and pub lished author of articles on nutrition and health, at Glen Abbey Recreation Centre, Third Line and Upper Middle, 7 p.m., sponsored by Yves Ponroy Canada and Body of Health, 847-3125. April 10th is last day to register for Deaf & Signing Workshop at Oakville Seniors Centre, 263 Kerr, 815-5966. A sign language interpreter w ill demon strate basic signs and alphabet. Free. Finding Your Perfect Love Connection a workshop, 2 to 4 p.m. Chartwell Fellowship Hall, . 228 Chartwell. Cost $25. Call 842-5976. Lupus Society o f Hamilton (group includes Oakville), A ll Saints Anglican Church Parish Hall, 15 Queen N., Hamilton, 1:30 p.m. Speaker: Lesya Dyck, occupational therapist. Call 905527-2252, or 905-527-0172. Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 114, Oakville, is asking members in good standing to run for Officer and/or Executive, and arrange Jo have another member act as a sponsor and submit your name at the next general meting, April 19th, 8 p.m., at the Legion Hall, Church and Navy. Call 845-6271. 9:30 p.m., Brant Bible Church, 2501 Eaglesfield Dr., Burlington, for parents of children who are sad, truant, abusing drugs, threatening, running away, in trouble with law, or making poor choices. Call 319-9026. Bruce Trail Association has Lakeside Hikes for fun and fitness with the Bronte Bunch every Monday. Meet at Coach & Four, back door, 7:15 p.m. Bring flashlights. Walk at own pace. Call 827-8768. Trafalgar Toastmasters meets Mondays to improve public speaking skills, at the Oakville Central Library Auditorium, 120 Navy St., 7:15 to 9:15 p.m. Call Deana Tsiapalis, 469-3335. MONDAY APRIL 10 Breast Cancer Support Services Oakville Chapter, at Alternatives, 579 Kerr St., 7 to 9 p.m. Call V i Mclsaac, 827-7926. TUESDAY APRIL 11 Equilibrium -- a mental health support group for people dealing with unipolar and bipolar depression meets at 7:30 p.m. at St. Dominic's Rectory basement, 2415 Rebecca. Patti Wilson w ill discuss Highly Sensitive People. For more information call C M H A 6934270. (See Community Update page 9) SUNDAY APRIL 9 Friends o f the Library' s Spring Book Sale at O akville Central Library auditorium, 120 Navy, concludes today, 1 to 4 p.m. Books 50% off. Proceeds to Oakville Public Library. Are you trying to make sense of Enterprise Centre, Hopedale Mall, holds Orientation Session, 1 to 4 p.m., and April 24th, 9 a.m. to noon, for Self Employment Assistance (S E A ) Program funded by Human Resources Development Canada. Call 825-2345. Burlington Parent Watch, 7:30 to Oakville Horticultural Society, 7:30 p.m. at Knox Presbyterian Church, Dunn and Lakeshore. Speaker: Yvonne Cunnington, garden writer and * J s' : A M onthly Look At Our Area's Legal Minds Fam ily Law - ,;f pH || K a th r y n S. N a u m e tz 1 Barrister < L r Solicitor FAMILY LAW REAL ESTATE WILLS & ESTATES CUSTODY AND ACCESS OF CHILDREN By Kathryn Naumetz Custody and access of children should be determined on the basis of the best interests of the children. However, often the situation is so emotionally charged to fear of los ing a child, fear that the child may not be properly cared for by the other parent, or other issues, that custody and access are often the most difficult to resolve. In general, the courts in Ontario will not award joint cus tody. This is not to say that joint custody can not be negoti ated in a Separation Agreement. In feet, very often the par ties aigree on joint custody. Joint custody does not mean equal time sharing, but the right to make decisions with the other parent regarding major educational, medical, religious and other matters. For example, in a joint custody situa tion, one parent may have primary residence of the chil dren, with the other parent having the children perhaps one evening during the week and every alternate weekend, or the time with the children can be split equally Between the parties. There are many number ofvariations possible. Although I have stated that the courts will generally not order joint Custody, this is also dependent upon custody access assessment, and a majority of the cases the courts in Ontario have, indeed awarded joint custody. In some cases, the judge may feel that one parent will not encourage the relationship of the children with the other parent, or will not make appropriate legal decisions. Most often, we have a situation where one parent has cus tody, and therefore, control over legal decisions regarding the child. Again, these include major educational, medial, and religious decisions. The other parent would then have access, the most common being alternative weekends, one or two evenings during the week, and a portion of the holi day time. If both parents feel that they would be the best custodial parent, the courts often appoint an assessor to assist them in making a decision. The assessor will interview the parents, the children depending on their age, and other important persons in the childrens life. The assessor will then either attempt to negotiate the matter between the parents or pro vide an assessment report to the court. In the end, the judge determines the weight the custody access assessment should be given. Another option would be to mediate the issue of custody access. This is dependant on the parents and should be dis cussed with their lawyers prior to entering mediation. Since custody and access are often the most difficult issue to resolve because of the emotional component, and the feet that the custodial parent or the parent with primary resi dence will receive child support, it is often wise for the par ents to sit down and truly consider what would best serve their children in the long run. SEPARATION AGREEMENTS · DIVORCE · CUSTODY · SUPPORT · MARRIAGE CONTRACTS/COM M ON LAW AGREEMENTS 845-2241 zoi tjn u rc n btreer, o a K v w e (1 Block fro m Lakeshore & Trafalgar) Fam ily / Real Estate .R O W & S T E V E N R. S K R O W D IA N E B. S K R O W B A R R IS T E R SS S O L IC IT O R S ,N O T A R YP U B L IC P ro v id in gos e rv ic eo rie n te dp ra c tic eo f lo w fo r fa m ilie so fO a k v illes in c e1 9 9 3 . ·F A M IL YL A W· R E A LE S T A T E· W IL L S&E S T A T E S INITIAL CONSULTATION FREE 243 N O R T H S E R V IC E RD., S U IT E 208 O pposite O akville Town C entre 842-6625 skrow@ pathcom.com For information on advertising in this feature please call K is*. I I Fam ily Law K a re n T h o m p s o n Barrister Solicitor N otary Public 845-3824 and ask for W ills · Estate Litigation · Family Law 136 A lla n Street, O a kville Rob Marini *; A--«'*v (905) 338-7941 Fax: (905) 8 4 4 -9 7 6 5 v