A THOUGHT FOR A TUESDAY: when you have a disagreement with someone, your goal should be to resolve the disagreement at hand but also to maintain the relationship in the long-run. Dialogue with a skilled mediator gives you the best chance of achieving those goals. That is because mediation, as a method of resolving a dispute, is not reactive - it is thoughtful, deliberate and methodical - that is the most fertile soil for a long-term solution.

For more information about our MEDIATION services, visit here: MettaMEDIATION

Disclosure in Family Law - BlogBite

BlogBite (5)

Question: "do I really have to give the other side my tax returns, records for my business and copies of my bank account statements?"

Answer: Most likely - yes.  Disclosure in family law is virtually a foregone conclusion. I say "virtually" because there are some requests (for example, whether or not a party to a family law case needs to produce their new spouse's financial information) which are arguable before a family Court. Overall, however, a party to a family law case should be prepared to make broad, thorough and ongoing disclosure. Legislation and case law provide for it and family Courts expect it. It is fundamental to assessing and addressing family law claims. 

Introducing - BlogBites

We are all pressed for time - professional and personal responsibilities compete for our attention at various points in the day. How many times have YOU wished you had more than 24-hours to play with?

We face time pressures too but we do want to continue to provide you with pointers as you search for answers to your Family Law questions. Full-length blog posts are time-consuming and we are not always able to keep up at a pace we like.

With this in mind, we came up with the idea of BlogBites - much shorter and more frequent posts on family law topics.

Please follow along and participate.

Dividing contents....

There are, believe it or not, couples who manage to divide the contents of their residence together, whether a home, a cottage or apartment, in a civilized, calm and organized way. It's not as uncommon as you think and it IS entirely possible.

For situations where that has not happened, contents can become a true battleground, with each party "staking" what they want and sometimes even saying they want "that" simply because the other spouse wants it as well. In those situations, you need a game plan, a method for addressing the problem.

Simply removing the items you want, without the other spouse knowing you will do so in advance, is never a good idea. It will cast a shadow over your actions and motivations, and if the matter ends up before a Judge, your spouse will surely advise him or her of what you have done, asking that unfavorable inferences be drawn from your actions.

Firs of all, what are contents? - they are "stuff" you and your spouse used together as part of your relationship. Stuff in your home, your cottage, your apartment. It is not the same as personal possessions. Your stamp collection is not part of contents and neither is her clothing or his shoes. The contents of your spouse's home-office desk are not part of contents - they belong to your spouse.

Also, contents are not necessarily things which only both spouses paid for. There are many situations in which only one spouse paid for all of the stuff in the house and this stuff is still "contents". If you are unsure, speak to a lawyer about this issue.

We believe that if you and your spouse cannot agree on how to divide contents, as a first step, each of you needs to make a list of ALL the contents of your residence. Then, on each list will be identified personal possessions and other items, such as gifts and inheritances, which do not form part of contents either (this is a very important point and if you have such items, it is vital that you speak to a lawyer for advice on how these items are dealt with and why). On your list, you can then identify which of the contents you are interested in having. You then exchange your lists. The items on which you and the other spouse agree are no longer contentious. Only those items which you both appear to want are.

For the items on which you cannot agree, there are a variety of approaches. Get legal advice on this point as one may be particularly suited to your case. There are also alternatives to creating lists, including marking contents with multi-colored stickies, valuing them all professionally and then dividing by value, or one spouse keeping all and the other spouse getting credit for one-half of the value.

We can say one thing with confidence - Courts do not like to get involved on the issue of contents and prefer that spouses deal with them themselves. If you are before a Judge dealing with contents, be prepared for a long and detailed consideration of the issue, which can be drawn-out and expensive. Try to avoid it if you can.

What you tell your lawyer is confidential.....

A friend of mine recently told me that on an episode of Breaking Bad, someone mentioned that what you tell your lawyer is confidential - is this true? - she asked..

YES

All communications between a solicitor and their client are privileged (confidential) - there are only rare circumstances in which the information can be revealed - likely as a result of a Court Order.

Here is another thing you may be interested to hear: this privilege applies to that lawyer forever. This means that even if a particular lawyer is no longer your lawyer (ie: you parted ways for some reason), that lawyer can never reveal the information you told him or her in confidence.

BUT here is a scenario you might consider: you bring your best friend into a meeting with your lawyer and she/he hears what you and your lawyer talk about. Two months later, that "best friend" is no longer a friend of yours.....the lawyer is still bound by privilege but he/she will have no control at all over what your former best friend may tell the world about your case - you "diluted" the privilege when you brought your friend into the meeting in the first place.....

Child Support over 18

Many support payors and recipients in Canada think that child support is payable only until a child turns 18. In fact, that is not correct.

In Canada, child support is payable to young persons, even over the age of 18, who for good reason are not able to withdraw from their parents' financial assistance. What are such "good reasons"? There can be two (or a combination of them):

1. a child attends school (for example, university or college, but there may be other schools which would qualify) - depending on the financial resources of the parents, support may continue even after one degree is completed; or

2. for medical reasons, a young person over 18 cannot become financially independent (for example, the child has a long term disability or was involved in an accident and is recovering).

One very common scenario we get questions about is the following:

Fictional Chloe attends Fictional University and is in her 3rd year. Early in the second term, she is in a car accident and is unable to finish the year. By the beginning of the 4th year, she is not able to return to school full-time and can only take a half-course load, for medical reasons. We get asked: is she still entitled to child support? - the answer is "yes" - that is because she is still "a child of the marriage", which is a phrase used to describe a young person who either for medical reasons or because she remains at school cannot become financially independent. In this scenario, it's a bit of both - she is not in school for medical reasons but would otherwise be - child support remains payable even when she is taking less than a full course load.

UPDATE - January, 2018

We are pleased to let you know that our Etsy shop is now OPEN!

Visit it here: SELFREP SUPPORT

In the shop, we make available to you Manuals (E-books) on various topics, to assist you in representing yourself before Ontario's family law Courts.

So far, we have Manuals on preparing an effective:

• Financial Statement (both long-form and short-form); and
• Affidavit.

MORE MANUALS TO COME!