The Ontario Superior Court recently addressed the question, “Do nude pictures of parents help judges decide who should get custody?”. Justice Pazaratz answered in the negative and criticized a father for attaching series of nude selfies of his ex-spouse to an affidavit that he filed in support of his motion for a custody change. The …
Read MoreGuilty by Way of Default Judgment Social media continues to provide challenges across many areas of Canada’s judicial system. One particularly troubling reality of our modern digital age is “revenge porn,” in which people release nude images or videos of former sexual partners. On January 21, 2016, Justice Stinson of the Ontario Superior Court …
Read MoreIn Ontario, marriages are deemed to be a form of economic partnership. As such, at the end of the marriage, under Ontario law, the spouses have a right to share in the wealth generated during the marriage. This is accomplished by a process called equalization under the Family Law Act (“FLA”). Equalization is a …
Read MoreA recently introduced private members bill from Toronto MPP Mike Colle seeks to direct insurers to pay out claims for cases involving domestic violence. The Innocent Persons Insurance Recovery Act was introduced by Colle in the wake of a CBC investigation that exposed clauses found in some insurance company policies that nullify fire damage coverage …
Read MoreA judge criticized the “irresponsible” behaviour of a self-represented mother in a divorce case that had spanned roughly ten years. Among the mother’s inappropriate actions was the failure to show up for a motion date she had requested. The Parties Justice Rempel made a point of emphasizing the “relentless pace and complexity of the protracted …
Read MoreA recent decision by the Ontario Superior Court provides divorcing parents with a cautionary tale about allowing outstanding disputes to get out of control and racking up huge costs. What Happened? Following their separation, the parties at issue resolved many of the outstanding financial issues on their own. The remaining issues all related to parenting …
Read MoreThe Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently considered the appropriate amount of damages to award in a divorce matter involving both invasion of privacy and domestic violence allegations. What Happened? The parties in question were married in September 2010, and had one child in October 2011. The wife left the husband in April 2012 and …
Read MoreA Nova Scotia court recently explored a dispute between two divorced parents, in which the father claimed that the mother had forged his signature on a government form and changed the last name of their child without his permission. The Name Change: What Happened? The child in question was born in 2009. At the time, …
Read MoreIn an earlier blog post, I made reference to a November 2016 decision of the Honourable Mr. Justice Pazaratz and his denunciation of the parties’ practice of videoing each other with the child. In re-reading the Reasons in the Whidden and Ellwood case, I discovered commentary by Justice Pazaratz on a wealth of other relevant …
Read MoreIn a decision in which a father sought a court order forcing the mother of his child to return to Toronto after she moved to New Brunswick in violation of a previous court order, an Ontario court permitted the mother to remain in New Brunswick, based on the best interests of the child in question. …
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