We recently highlighted a CBCNews article that discussed the plight of grandparents who have been denied access to their grandchildren after the separation or divorce of their child. An estimated 75,000 Ontario grandparents have been denied access to about 112,000 children. A private member’s bill that aims to ensure courts give grandparents a chance to make their case …
Read MoreJustice Grace of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice set a somber tone in his opening comments in Spero v. Dean: “Sadly, once married parties are no longer joined in heart, body or soul but as antagonistic parties in an ocean of family and civil litigation. This will form a small part of one chapter of the …
Read MoreSo I got really busy and couldn’t blog on the last two days of trial. Lots of stuff happening. I didn’t think anyone would notice. Figured I would just do it later. But, surprise, surprise. I got notes from people asking about the trial, who want to know what happened. I am so pleased to …
Read MoreIt is 7:30 am on the morning of the third day of trial. Yes, I slept in today. Worked late and couldn’t move when the alarm went off at 6:00. But still had trial dreams. Yuck. Yesterday was a good day. The other side didn’t seem to score any points in cross of our client. …
Read MoreIt is 6 am on the morning of the second day of trial. I have been up for hours. When I slept I dreamed of the trial. I am reminded of what it means to live and breathe a case. We opened our case yesterday. The judge is hard to read, nodding and listening and …
Read MoreWhether it sneaks up on you every single time or you have it diarized years in advance, passport renewal time is never really something we look forward to. And when you are separated or divorced, the process can be even more burdensome. Passport Canada has very precise rules about children’s passport applications. The parent making …
Read MoreHow do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. How do you get to trial? Prepare, prepare, prepare. I am a week away from a family law trial. I am busy preparing: compiling briefs of all of the material that has to be served and filed, culling all of the documents I want to …
Read MoreWhat is a Separation Agreement? A separation agreement is a legally binding contract created between two partners, subsequent to their separation. It sets out each party’s rights on issues such as: child custody and access; division of property; debts; child support; and spousal support It’s possible for parties to draw up a separation agreement on …
Read MoreLast week, I attended the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (Ontario Chapter) conference. It was inspiring and enjoyable to spend time with professionals all of whom work with families going through separation and divorce. There were lawyers and social workers and psychologists and judges. There were individual speakers on topics ranging from challenging clients …
Read MoreOne of the most important property-related issues that must be dealt with during a separation and/or divorce is the equalization of net family property. In a nutshell, Ontario’s property equalization scheme provides that when two people enter into a marriage, each spouse becomes automatically entitled to an equal share of the profits of the marriage. …
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