How to best treat parental alienation cases When it comes to parental alienation cases – arguably the toughest type of high-conflict custody dispute – case law proves attending lawyers must be sensitive, focused, detail-oriented and well informed on mental health literature, Toronto family lawyer Jennifer Samara Shuber writes in a paper for the Law Society …
Read MoreWhat the courts are doing with parental alienation cases A LSUC Paper Parental alienation cases are not going away. Having reared its ugly head for the first time in or around 1985 when the term parental alienation syndrome was coined by Dr. Richard Gardiner, sadly, this pathology is here to stay. That being the case, …
Read MoreA Story of a case with the Family Responsibility Office No matter what side of the fence they are on, clients seem frustrated with the Family Responsibility Office (FRO). Whether one client claims FRO is not collecting support fast enough or another thinks FRO is collecting too much support, it seems everyone has a complaint. …
Read MoreTiming is everything with family law custody Perron v Perron is a family law custody case decided by the Ontario Court of Appeal where the issue of language education featured prominently. It contains interesting commentary not only on the status of French in Canada and education as an aspect of family law custody, but also …
Read MoreThe worst kept legal secret of the decade is family law in Ontario needs to change Restructuring is what family law needs, says the as-of-yet unreleased report from the Cromwell committee to Chief Justice McLachlin of the Supreme Court of Canada. No kidding. Haven’t family lawyers and parties been saying exactly that forever? I know …
Read MoreImportance of Domestic Contracts Carrigan v Carrigan Estate is a recent Ontario Court of Appeal case grabbing headlines. For family lawyers, the case underscores the importance of the domestic contracts, particularly the Separation Agreements, over whose drafting we toil. For the general public, the Courts’ recognition that a person could, in certain circumstances, have more …
Read MoreUnderstanding Custody Jurisdiction Followers of this blog may recall the posts my partner Sarah Boulby and I did, in June and July 2012 respectively, on the controversial Ontario Court of Appeal case Dovigi and Razi. Well, big news to those of us in family law, counsel for the father is seeking leave to appeal the …
Read MoreHow to handle the holidays single It’s fall. Time for the celebration of the High Holidays and Thanksgiving. These holidays are about connections: about family and community. About coming together and giving thanks for our many blessings. When you are newly single, the idea of giving thanks on Thanksgiving (or Rosh Hashanah) can be difficult …
Read MoreHave Baby, Will Travel: a Shared Custody case The May 31, 2012 Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in Dovigi v Razi 2012 ONCA 361 has attracted a lot of attention. The family law bar and the general public are divided on whether the appeal court got it right. The implications of the decision are far …
Read MorePart Two of Spousal Support Issues This is the second of two blog posts on the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines (“SSAGs”), their applications and shortcomings. Today, I comment on the use and abuse of the SSAGs in cases of payors in Ontario who earn more than $350,000 per year. Part II: High Income Earners The …
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