Often, one issue parents need to tackle when they separate is what to do with the children’s RESPs. One or both parents may have contributed to such RESPs before the separation and now, decisions will need to be made about them.
Read MoreIt is not uncommon for a person to be served with “court papers”, whether they already have a lawyer or not. This can happen in person, meaning that someone comes to your home or your place of work, and hands you an envelope or a document, but it can also happen by email in the case of some court documents.
In this blog post, I am going to make some suggestions about what you should and should not do if this happens to you.
Read MoreIn the context of parenting disputes, parents often ask whether their child’s views and preferences will be considered before a decision about them is made – by agreement between the parents, by court order or arbitration award. In other words, will the child have a voice on issues that affect them, like how much time they will spend in the care of each parent, for example. The answer is “yes, they will” but there are two caveats here:
1. Depending on their age, the child may have a voice only but not a choice; and
2. Steps will need to be taken to elicit that voice, put it out there so to speak, particularly (but not exclusively) in the context of a court case.
Read MoreIn response to your question, it is unlikely that you need a Parenting Coordinator (“PC”) if you have just separated but you might benefit from help from another professional – a Family Mediator (“FM”). In this blog post, I will explain why, and I make reference to two modalities of family dispute resolution (“FDR”), and specifically Family Mediation, on the one hand, and Parenting Coordination on the other.
Read MoreYES! It is never too late to settle! In fact, Family Court judges encourage litigants to attempt mediation.
I have been involved in many cases, both as a lawyer and as a family mediator, that commenced with the involvement of the court but ended up settling in family mediation. But why would they start with a court case in the first place? Why did these parties not try mediation first?
Read MoreI am going to preface my general comments about pensions in family law by saying that the topic is quite complex, and I strongly encourage anyone interested in pensions to consult with a family lawyer to get proper legal advice. What I provide here is not legal advice, including because I do not know you, you are not my client and I have no information about your specific circumstances. To get case-specific advice, please speak to a family law lawyer.
Read MoreIt may feel completely counter-intuitive to have your second wedding dress fitting right after a consultation with a family law lawyer but it does make sense; - ignorance of the law is no defence to a legal problem you may be facing in the event your marriage does not work out. Now let me unpack this mouthful.
Read More.Effective communication can be quite challenging when we are stressed. It is often difficult to get across what we are trying to say, and even processing information coming in our direction can be a daunting.
Read MoreMany, many married and common-law couples have joint accounts during their relationship. These accounts are commonly used to pay household expenses and in many instances, pre-authorized payments are made from the joint account on a regular basis, on behalf of the household, and for the personal expenses of each of the parties.
Read MoreMany people want to date after a separation but how soon is “too soon”? The answer to this question is a very personal one ~ what might appear reasonable to person A may be downright scandalous to person B. Longing for companionship and support in what is often a very difficult time on many levels is very common. Again, each person seeks that human connection at a pace that is right for them. In case you are wondering, the law does not provide us with any rules as to when separated spouses can date. Religion often plays a role in the decision - many people choose not to date until they are divorced. Others date only once the exes have moved into separate residences.
Read MoreOver the years, I have observed an interesting phenomenon in society: on the one hand, people are understandably concerned about their privacy but on the other, they are more than happy to expose themselves, and what they would otherwise describe as their “private lives” by leaving their social media accounts open for the public to view, and by allowing their cell phones to track and record their every move…but that might be a topic for another blog post.
Read MoreThe subject of travel with children (under the age of 18 in Ontario) comes up frequently in my work as both a family law lawyer and family mediator. That is because quite naturally, most separated parents want to enjoy traveling with the children and build new memories.
As a family law lawyer, I am often approached by my clients on this issue., either because they want to take a trip themselves or because the other parent does. At that point, we need to determine whether this will be a smooth exercise of simply filling out the required travel consent forms (more about this below) or whether there is some issue with one parent disagreeing with the idea that the other would travel with the kids.
Read MoreI read and write a lot about communication. We could not co-exist on this planet today, as humans, if we did not communicate with one another in some way, for better or worse. Effective communication can bring about incredible results – growth, learning, love, compassion, community and cooperation, to name just a few. I also truly believe that much of the strife we currently face as communities, faith groups and even races is rooted in problems with communication.
Read MoreI read and write a lot about communication. We could not co-exist on this planet today, as humans, if we did not communicate with one another in some way, for better or worse. Effective communication can bring about incredible results – growth, learning, love, compassion, community and cooperation, to name just a few. I also truly believe that much of the strife we currently face as communities, faith groups and even races is rooted in problems with communication.
Read MoreFor many people, separation is a process - sometimes longer, sometimes shorter - a period of genuine grief and many, many feelings and emotions.
I have been asked from time to time how long this process takes, from beginning to end - the psychological and emotional part of it. There truly is no one answer to this question because human being are unique and their reaction to a set of circumstances, including a separation, will likely be very individual. It can be months or even years.
Read MoreMarch 1, 2021, marked a very important day in family law across Canada. It saw the implementation of extensive amendments to the Divorce Act and, importantly for Ontario, to the Children’s Law Reform Act. The changes include, for example, new terminology for parenting - with the old, value-laden terms of “custody” and “access” being replaced with more modern and value-neutral terms of “decision-making responsibility” and “parenting time”.
Read MoreAaaaaaa, new beginnings………
You are moving in together, and your head is filled with images togetherness, happiness, partnership and harmony. That is how things should be.
But it is wise to think ahead and no, it does not have to spoil the romance.
Read MoreChild support for young people over the age of majority (in Ontario, that is 18) is an area of family law about which I receive many questions. In the past, I hosted a Blog on Blogspot, back in the days when blogs were still a novelty, and I can tell you the post on this subject received literally hundreds and hundreds of hits.
Since this remains a topic of much interest, I decided to address it in this Blog as well. Since my goal has always been to speak to the public about legal issues using as little legal lingo as possible, I will try and stick to commonly-understood terms.
Read MoreA kid’s job is to be a kid.
It’s not to pass on messages between his or her parents.
A parent’s job is to communicate with the other parent, no matter how difficult that might be. If direct communication is impossible, there are other options. A parent’s job is to know better than to involve a child in the dispute between his or her parents, and that includes using that child as a messenger.
Read MoreMany people have an instinctively negative reaction when they hear that someone either has or is considering entering into a marriage contract.
“What about love?” “Don’t you trust the other person?” “It kills romance!”
Read More