Petit Monde Family Law

The Problem#

• When a parent with sole or primary custody dies, the surviving parent doesn’t automatically get the children — especially if there’s a custody order or history of dispute
• If both parents die (or the surviving parent is unfit), the testamentary guardian appointment in the will takes effect — but guardianship appointments are the most frequently contested provision in Canadian family law
• Ontario and British Columbia have different guardianship legislation (Ontario’s CLRA vs BC’s Family Law Act), creating complexity for families who’ve moved between provinces
• Separated parents who agree on nothing else must somehow agree — or at least document — their preferences for their children’s guardians
• Current will-writing treats guardianship as a single line: “I appoint my sister as guardian.” The reality is far more complex — rotating care, multiple guardians for different children, cultural and religious upbringing preferences

How They’d Use INHERIT#

• Guardianship is modelled in guardian.json with personId (the appointed guardian), childPersonId (the child), role ("primary", "secondary", "substitute"), and appointmentType ("testamentary", "parental_responsibility", "court_appointed")
• guardianshipStructure captures complex arrangements: "individual", "collective", "rotating", or "family_council_determined"
• conditions records any conditions on the appointment — “only if the child is under 16,” “only if the guardian remains in Ontario,” “jointly with my sister”
• Multiple guardian.json entries per child allow for primary/secondary/substitute chains
• wish.json with wishType: "care" captures the parent’s wishes for upbringing: education preferences, religious observance, cultural exposure, language preservation
• person.json and kinship.json map the family relationships that determine standing to contest the appointment
• The canada extension handles provincial variation — Ontario’s equalization rules and BC’s WESA provisions affect the guardian’s financial responsibilities

The Integration#

• Export-focused: Petit Monde creates INHERIT documents during guardian planning consultations, capturing the full structure of the appointment
• The structured format forces parents to think through scenarios they’d otherwise avoid: “What if the primary guardian can’t serve? What if the children are split between provinces?”
• On death, the executor receives a complete guardianship plan, not a single line in a will

The Business Case#

• Guardian appointment finalisation time reduced from 6 months to 6 weeks — the structured plan anticipates and resolves the questions courts ask
• 70% of contested guardian appointments are resolved without a court hearing when a structured plan exists
• Petit Monde charges CAD 3,500 per guardianship plan — approximately 80 families per year
• The most common client: recently separated parents who want to ensure their children’s care is documented before a custody order is finalised

Before / After#

Without INHERIT:

1. A single mother in Toronto dies; her will names her sister in Vancouver as guardian
2. The father (who has supervised access) contests the appointment
3. The court asks: “Did the mother consider any alternatives? What were her reasons? What are her wishes for the children’s upbringing?”
4. The will says nothing — it’s a single line appointing the sister
5. The contest takes 6 months; the children are in temporary foster care while the court decides

With INHERIT:

1. The mother’s INHERIT document names three guardians in order: sister (primary), best friend (secondary), maternal grandmother (substitute) — each with a guardianshipStructure and conditions
2. wish.json entries record her wishes: the children should stay in the same school, maintain their French immersion, and see their father on the existing access schedule
3. The father contests — but the structured plan answers every question the court asks
4. The court confirms the sister as guardian within 6 weeks; the children never leave their home