In Canada, the Divorce Act permits a spouse to seek a divorce if the other spouse has committed cruelty. But this does not entitle the victim to collect compensation for emotional distress. In fact, Canadian law minimizes the relevance of spousal misconduct when determining the issues of custody, access, support and division of property.

This depends on a number of factors, including the children’s best interests, the current parenting arrangements between the parents, the wishes of the children, the nature of the relationship that each parent has with the children, the reasons for the move, the distance of the move, and the financial ability of the remaining parent to see the children.