The concept of parental alienation can, unfortunately, be common in the practice of family law; one that can affect decisions relating to support or even custody in some cases. However, parental alienation may soon also be considered a medical diagnosis, labelled as a disease with long-term repercussions affecting the children of parents who use manipulation …
Read MoreIssues around custody and access to children can be one of the most stressful aspects of a separation or divorce. These issues can become more contentious when one parent is denied access to a child, or when one parent tries to influence the relationship between the child and the other parent. In a recent decision …
Read MoreAn Ontario court recently considered the interesting question of what constitutes a material change in circumstances when determining a party’s request to vary parenting time. The Parties’ Story The parties had a child in 2014, but they never cohabited or had a relationship (they had several casual encounters only). The father was not present …
Read MoreThe court recently considered when it might be appropriate to grant sole custody to one party over the other. The Parties’ Story The parties were married for three years before they separated in 2010. They had two children, born in 2008 and 2010. In 2012, the parties executed a separation agreement, in which they …
Read MoreAn Ontario court recently considered an interesting case where one party sought a stay of two orders pending appeal. The Parties’ Story The parties were the parents of a five-year-old child. They separated when the child was approximately one year old. The child resided primarily with the mother after the parties’ separation, until June …
Read MoreAn Ontario court recently dismissed a same-sex parent’s application for temporary access. What Happened? The parties, S and H, were both 18 years old. They had an intermittent, same-sex romantic relationship since at least 2014. S became pregnant with a child while she was in a relationship with her then boyfriend. The child was …
Read MoreAn Ontario court recently considered if the father of a young child had a right to privacy or whether he should be compelled to produce the medical records in relation to his alcohol dependency and mental health issues. What Happened? The parties met in September 2014. They cohabited from October 2016 to January 2017, …
Read MoreThe Ontario Court of Appeal recently decided a case where the mother, who had unilaterally taken the parties’ children from Nigeria to Ontario, sought custody of the children. In allowing the mother’s appeal from a decision that dismissed her original application, the court outlined the various factors it had to consider in deciding whether the …
Read MoreAn Ontario court recently outlined the factors that must be considered when determining whether a party who is not a biological parent will be granted access to a child. What happened? The respondent parents had one child, who was nine years old. The parents, who were no longer together, had always co-parented the child without …
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