When is shared custody not a default option?

So, if shared custody is sought but found not to be appropriate in any given case only by reason that shared primary care-giving could not be pragmatically implemented by two otherwise capable and co-operating parents, then ‘joint custody’ most probably would be the preferred option from the child’s perspective. However, if ‘shared custody’ is found not to be appropriate because civil parental communication and reasonable cooperation for the sake of the child is not to be realistically expected, then obviously ‘joint custody’ is not a default option either. I cite the following often: What has not diminished over time is the court’s attention to the importance of not casting a child adrift in a sea of parental discord throughout childhood and adolescence, in the name of ‘shared’ parenting. (Moreia v. Dominguez 2012 ONCJ 128 at para. 177 (Zuker J.))