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A Divisional Court case from earlier this year considered whether a common law spouse can be considered a dependent entitled to support under the Succession Law Reform Act. A common law spouse doesn’t have the same property rights as a married spouse. In Ontario, when a married individual dies, their spouse has the right to…

The Child Support Guidelines require a payor parent to pay his or her proportionate share of extraordinary expenses. One of these expenses is postsecondary education. The guidelines also require that the court consider the means of the child to contribute towards the costs of his or her education, as well as the reasonable expectations of…

Many family law clients and lawyers bemoan the lack of assistance provided by FRO in enforcing support orders. As a recipient of support, what can you do to help yourself and assist the process? Delays There are significant delays between the time an order is issued and when FRO actually receives the order to start…

The need for surrogacy services in Canada is high and demand outstrips supply. If you happen to find a surrogate (otherwise known as a “gestational carrier”) to carry a child for you, and she agrees not to be compensated except for her reasonable expenses, then you fall within a lucky minority. In Canada, unlike in…

I hear this question a lot: If I already have an agreement in principle with my ex, why should I go to the expense and bother of hiring a lawyer to prepare a formal separation agreement? The simple answer is that hiring a lawyer is the best way to make sure that your ex cannot…

The Supreme Court has concluded that the administrative fees charged to litigants in order to access the B.C. supreme court are unconstitutional. In the B.C., if your case goes to trial, whether it’s a family matter or a civil matter, you are charged for every day of court time that is required. In the case…

One of the important first steps in any family law proceeding is the initial case conference. The purpose of a case conference is to allow the parties and their lawyers to appear before a judge in order to discuss where the case is at, and see if there are any opportunities for settlement. Although the…

One of the first issues that becomes contentious when people split up is: “What are we going to do with the matrimonial home?” Sometimes, one spouse will want to stay at the property and assume the balance of the mortgage. Other times, both parties recognize that the house needs to be sold because neither spouse…

I came across this article today from Forbes. It’s an American article, but much of the advice given by the author is equally relevant if you live in Ontario. If a woman is leaning towards giving up her career in order to stay home with the kids (at least temporarily), what financial provisions should be…

A free e-book on father’s rights has come out this past week, published by the Canadian Constitution Foundation, ‘Review of Ideology and Dysfunction in Family Law- How Courts Disenfranchise Fathers‘, by author, Grant Brown. Two of the chapters are entitled “Disenfranchised Fathers” and “Deadbeat Judges”, which should give you a good idea as to the…