Toronto mediation vs. collaborative law

”How long?” and “how much?” are two questions that are often at the forefront of any divorce-oriented thought process, particularly when separating spouses attempt to resolve such issues as property division, child custody, and support. While the financial cost of finalizing a divorce depends on a great number of variables, the emotional costs during a hotly contested dispute can be great, taking its toll on both the parents and the children.

Mediation and collaborative law are two methods of finalizing a divorce without litigation. Mediation involves using a mediator, usually someone with a background in social work, to act as a negotiator between the opposing spouses in order to resolve the outstanding issues.  The parties’ respective lawyers are involved in the mediation process and can opt to amend a mediator’s recommendations or the parties’ themselves can make changes to a recommendation.

In contrast, collaborative law involves the separating spouses and their respective lawyers, who are all active participants in the negotiation of the matrimonial issues.  Should any of the issues related to the divorce fail to become finalized, the collaborative lawyers are prohibited from representing the spouses in court. Collaborative law is less expensive and time-consuming than litigation.

 

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By heather - Last updated: Sunday, August 29, 2010
Filed in Child Custody in Ontario, Child Support, Collaborative Law, Divorce, Family Property Division, Separation Agreements, Spousal Support, Support Orders, child custody •


Green Party vote down motion to decriminalize polygamy

Recently, members of Canada’s Green Party attended a polygamy workshop and brought a motion to decriminalize polygamy that was voted down.

Polygamy is a marriage between multiple consenting adult spouses. Polygamy is not be confused with the various polygamist sects or religious cults such as the one in Bountiful, B.C., where there were accusations of domestic abuse, forced marriage and children being married to adults. This distinction was made very clear at the workshop, according to the Toronto Sun.

According to poly-advocate and Edmonton East Green Party candidate Trey Capnerhurst, issues like those seen in British Columbia should be met with criminal charges, but, “we should not be charging people with polygamy,” she said. According to Canadian criminal law, polygamy can result in up to five years in jail but polygamy itself has not been prosecuted for six decades. 

Many Green Party members have stated that polygamy is a human-rights issue, similar to same-sex marriage. A history of polygamy or a polygamist relationship is still on occasion used to deny custody of children in divorce cases.

While geared more towards surrogate parents and sperm donors, British Columbia’s new family law changes that would allow children to have more than two legal parents may leave room for polygamist relationships and increase the rights of polygamist parents, some of which are not biologically related to the child but have strong parent-child bonds and raise the children along with the biological parents.

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By heather - Last updated: Sunday, August 29, 2010
Filed in Divorce, Polygamy, Same Sex Marriage, child custody •


Marriage contracts for Ontario couples: insurance for your relationship!

U.S. popstar Hillary Duff and Canadian NHL player Mike Comrie were married last week in a ceremony that took place in California. In 2007, Forbes magazine estimated Duff’s earnings for the year at $12 million, and not only did Comrie make an NHL paycheck (he’s a free agent this year), his father is the co-founder of The Brick and his family’s fortune is an estimated $500 million. It has been reported that prior to their marriage, the couple signed a prenuptial agreement (known as a ‘marriage contract’ in Canada).

Some view a marriage contract as an “easy out” if a couple were to divorce, and that if two people were really in love they would not need a marriage contract. Contrary to this belief, few couples enter marriage thinking divorce is inevitable.  Most couples who say, “’til death do us part,” mean it, never intending to become part of the 38 per cent divorce rate in Canada.

Divorce may be unplanned but it does occur. Therefore, couples should protect themselves, their finances and their assets by entering into a marriage contract. Initiating discussions about a marriage contract may be difficult however it is beneficial to a couple in the event of something unforeseen. A marriage contract is similar to buying life or car insurance, neither means that one intends to die or become injured, but it can protect you should it occur.

Marriage contracts are not just for the wealthy, there are many reasons to enter into such an agreement.  Those who sign marriage contracts include couples marrying for a second time or are older couples marrying for the first time in life, both of which usually have built up assets to protect and may have children from previous relationships for whom they would want to preserve those assets.

Similar to the marriage contract for married couples, common-law couples can also protect themselves and enter into a cohabitation agreement.

 

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By heather - Last updated: Saturday, August 21, 2010
Filed in Cohabitation Agreements, Common Law Marriage, Divorce, Family Property Division, Marriage Contracts, Prenuptial Agreements •


Ontario man running for family law changes

Dave Nash is running across Canada to increase awareness of the current issues within the family law system.  Nash spent four years trying to resolve a custody dispute with his ex-wife in order to get shared custody of his son, and the people along his route that give him food, water or a place to stay have revealed similar experiences.

The Cross Canada Run for the Children will end in Cape Spear, Newfoundland, after beginning in Victoria, British Columbia – a distance of almost 7,300 kilometers to support the reform of Canadian family law and Bill C422.

Bill C422 is a private members bill that supports equal shared parenting in child custody disagreements, and the Bill had its first reading in parliament on June 16th, 2009. If passed, equal shared parenting between both parents would be the normal, or default situation assigned by the court in order to allow the children an equal relationship with both parents unless there is a safety concern. Also, the Bill would make it mandatory for parents to attend mediation prior to proceeding through the court system as a last resort to protect children from lengthy custody battles.

If Nash, from Guelph, completes his run before September 1st, he will have broken the World Record for the Fastest Crossing of Canada on Foot. He chose to break the Guinness World Record of 72 days to cross Canada on foot, because a non-custodial parent will typically spend on average 72 days per year with their child or children.

 

 

 

 

 

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By heather - Last updated: Sunday, August 15, 2010
Filed in Child Custody in Ontario, Child Visitation, Divorce, Family Law Changes Ontario, Mediation •


BC continues to improve its family law rules, will Ontario be next?

British Columbia recently announced that the province is set to propose additional rights for common-law couples, and is also continuing to announce different amendments it plans to enact pursuant to its Family Relations Act.

Property and asset division rules for common-law couples were part of the major changes in B.C. These changes are necessary as there have been a growing number of couples that are choosing not to marry but to remain common-law relationships and, upon separation, if not on title, may not have any rights to the family property.

Other changes to the Act include the introduction of “parenting co-ordinators” during heated child custody cases. In addition, it will now be possible for a child to have more than two legal parents, which will be the first change of its kind in the whole country. This would be the case, for example, when a same-sex male couple has used a surrogate female to have a child and all three would be legal parents if they’re in agreement. The same could be said for a same-sex female couple and a male sperm donor, if all three are active parents of a child.

Spousal support will be able to continue after a paying ex-spouse’s death, if applicable.

Restraining orders available through the court would now be protection orders that are enforceable under the Criminal Code.

As well, parties intending to go to court over property and child custody disputes will need to first show an attempt to negotiate a settlement through the use of out-of-court methods such as mediation.

It’s been 30 years since British Columbia has made any changes to its Family Relations Act.  The recent changes will update the Act to deal with the evolving family structure to include common-law couples, same-sex couples as well as surrogacy and sperm donors.

 

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By heather - Last updated: Sunday, August 15, 2010
Filed in Child Support, Child Visitation, Common Law Marriage, Divorce, Family Property Division, Mediation, Same Sex Marriage, Separation Agreements, Support Orders •


How much do you know about your spouse’s financials?

In Ontario, upon the breakdown of a marriage, spouses are required to provide financial disclosure, including income, assets, and liabilities, to one another to determine their support and property entitlements.  According to a recent article published in the Edmonton Sun, spouses’ hiding debt, credit cards and other hefty financial information is not uncommon. 

“In my experience, it’s probably more common than not that a spouse doesn’t know every financial detail,” Edmonton family mediator and collaborative family lawyer Marla Miller told the QMI Agency this week.  The head of the family law section of the Canadian Bar Association, Grant Gold, also told QMI Agency that, “It happens more often than you would think – that people run separate financial lives,” he said, “It’s relatively common. It speaks to problems in the marriage, and it speaks to the need for couples to communicate in advance and things like that.”

While a person interviewed in the article suggested it might be a good idea that a spouse be required to seek permission from the other spouse in order to obtain a loan or credit card, this suggestion might return society back to the era when a wife had to ask her husband’s permission to obtain a credit card.

Instead, spouses should learn to protect themselves.

In the event of a split, spouses should make a list of the family sources of income, assets, debts, and liabilities, including car loans, the mortgage, lines of credit and credit cards as well as which spouse incurred the debt.  Also, maintain copy of bank and credit card statements, income tax information, employment contracts, and loan agreements.  Take the necessary steps to protect yourself and your future.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/comment/columnists/mindelle_jacobs/2010/07/28/14853026.html

 

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By heather - Last updated: Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Filed in Child Support, Divorce, Family Property Division, Spousal Support •


More Ontario residents choosing out-of-court methods to resolve family law issues

According to a number of Ontario lawyers and professional mediators, an increasing number Ontario residents are taking their family law cases to alternative dispute resolution, including mediation and collaborative law. Alternative dispute resolution is a cost-effective alternative to the cost of litigating a family law matter in court, which is no longer within means for most people.

Alternative dispute resolution also provides a quicker resolution to a family law matter than litigation and provides parties with an opportunity to be heard and the ability to control negotiations. Parties are able to come to agreements, as opposed to having a resolution forced upon at least one party by a judge.

In mediation, a third party with special training, such as a background in social work, will assist both parties in making decisions. Lawyers are usually retained by the parties for advice in these cases, while in arbitration an arbitrator will meet with the parties’ respective lawyers. In collaborative law, parties’ lawyers will work to finalize an agreement that is acceptable for both parties, although if issues cannot be resolved the lawyers cannot be retained for any future court proceedings.

In 1999, the Ontario Mandatory Mediation Program was introduced in Toronto, Ottawa and Windsor. Mediation is an option that must now be considered in civil disputes at those locations. Mandatory mediation was not extended to family law cases because in some instances, such as domestic violence cases, mediation may not be a possibility.

In addition to its cost-effectiveness, alternative dispute resolution also removes children of separated parents from any exposure to the court process, and it enables adults, who were once children of their parents’ long, drawn out divorces, to go through their own family law dispute without lengthy litigation.

 

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By heather - Last updated: Sunday, August 1, 2010
Filed in Child Custody in Ontario, Child Support, Child Visitation, Collaborative Law, Common Law Marriage, Divorce, Divorce Lawyer, Family Property Division, Mediation, Separation Agreements, Spousal Support, Support Orders, Toronto Divorce Lawyers, Toronto Family Lawyers •