Sticky situation in Canada - No legal documents regarding custody

[Bellero]

I am a law school student in Canada who is a single father. Me and the childs mother planned to move in together and marry eventually, but it never panned out, and it fell apart. Currently, we are still kind of seeing each, other, and maintain a good enough relationship to co-parent the child. We both signed the Birth Registration Form, and both of our names are on the birth certificate. The address is listed as her house, and she gets bonuses and benefits from the government based just on her income (she didn't agree with the shared eligibility, which is where both parents living apart sharing custody get benefits, so i dropped it). There are no legal documents regarding custody, we just did what we wanted. The pregnancy and when my child was a baby was a very stressful time for me. Her parents threatened me, and said things like "their daughter is a single mother, and your are not a single father" (didn't make sense considering we shared/are sharing 50% responsibility and for the most part, 50% of the childs time is spent with me). They also said that there will never be joint custody, so don't even think about it. They also threatened me with child support. This all being said while my ex agreed. One of the questions I have is: isn't our situation joint custody with out legal documents to back it up (de facto?). Isn't the principal of de facto in effect for family law issues? I make many decisions regarding my child, and she is at my house around half the time. Also, I am afraid that at any moment, my ex will take her away from me, and will be able to do so, leaving me with nothing. Then I'm afraid I will get limited visitation and pay child support, when I currently pay more into the childs expenses now then she does, which is sad. Any help here in my situation? what should I do if she takes her away from me? Is legal action nesecary? Or will it make it worse? I know in Canada custody laws are different than in the States. ie. in most provinces, no custody is assumed and is left completely to de facto( BC I beleive). Others assume joint, others assume mother custody like in most states. PLEASE HELP.
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The woman's parents have little better to do than stick their nose in their adult child's life and adult decisions.

Besides which, they can talk s h i t until they are blue in the face but they are POWERLESS to do anything.

You ARE just as single a father as she is a single mother, and you don't have to put up with their bulls h i t.

When you take this matter to court, tell the judge you feel the grandparents are an undue influence and ask that they receive limited supervised contact with YOUR child.

These grandparents dont' seem to get the concept of the idea of raising children. Once they become adults, the parents get their own lives back and should not be meddling in their adult kid's lives.

hear hear!!

[Bellero]

Thank you for that, Unregistered. Does any one else have any advice on this? We are unmarried and have mutually agreed to share custody, and the child lives with me on a roughly 50/50 basis. There are no legal documents here, just the parents word. I acknowledged paternity by signing the birth registration form when she was born, and both our names are on the birth certificate. I am afraid that she will take my daughter away from me in the future. If this happens, what legally can I do? Do the courts look at all details? I hear a lot that the mother is considered the sole guardian when never married. I don't know if this is true in my province. Does that give her more power, even though we have a mutual joint custody agreement? I don't think it is true, as I was able to apply for government medical care plan, and mcp for my child, and I am able to sign vaccine consent forms and so on. From my experience so far, we are both legal guardians. If she trys to take her away from me, do I have to go to court? What are my chances of keeping her half the time and just splitting expenses? And what can I do if her parents continue to interfere?

Bellero: Your best line of defense in a situation like this, in which you do not trust your ex to be mature regarding child handling issues, is to take your concerns to court and have custody and visitation legally established. This way, there is no room for error.

You cannot allow the parents to interfere. They have no legal right to do so whatsoever. You are just as much an adult as they are and you are this child's father. Not a brother, or a babysitter, or a part-time nanny. You are her father. You MUST visit court and LEGALLY establish your parental rights.

That is really the most effective solution to your problem.