Ontario parents who do not pay child support could be taking the bus this winter

A new law goes into effect on December 1st allowing for the removal of vehicles from people who commit certain offences. The punishment is expected for the majority of the offences, including driving with a suspended licence, driving with high blood-alcohol levels or not using court-mandated in-car breathalyzers.

However, people who fail to meet their child support obligations will now be treated the same as people driving while intoxicated: their car can be taken away.

While this punishment might make some people think twice about skipping a child support payment, there are sometimes legitimate reasons for falling behind. A divorced dads advocacy group founder commented in the National Post on the new law this week saying that, “There seems to be an idea that these parents don’t care or are hiding and they have all this money. It’s the exact opposite.”

In some cases the courts can be slow at recognizing changes in income or job situations, and parents might not be able to make those payments. As well, taking their car away can result in a chain reaction of not being able to get to work, not being able to make any money and not being able to make support payments.

Currently, a person who doesn’t pay their child support can have their licence suspended. As of December 1st, people who do not pay child support and have their licence suspended and are caught driving will lose their car for a week.

Another very important issue with this new law is that drivers are informed their licence is suspended by mail, meaning they could be driving while being completely unaware their licence is suspended and have their car taken; unable to get to work and make future payments.

Those who do not or cannot pay their child support may be in for a long, cold winter this year. If you have recently lost your job or have a reduced income, you may be facing problems in the future, and it would be wise to talk to a family lawyer.

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By heather - Last updated: Saturday, November 13, 2010
Filed in Child Support, Enforcement, Provincial legislation, Support Orders •


Family law needs to play catch-up with modern life

British Columbia’s proposed family law reforms are centered on the non-nuclear family and related issues of separation and child born with the use of surrogacy and sperm donors.  Many legal issues are on the rise as the use of surrogacy increases in various family situations.

In a recent case highlighted in the Globe and Mail, a couple who had paid a surrogate to carry their child had found out that embryonic genetic testing had revealed the child was likely to have down syndrome, leading to their request for the surrogate to abort the pregnancy. The couple had a thorough legal agreement with the surrogate, and if the surrogate refused to terminate the pregnancy then she would be responsible for raising the child.

However, a University of Calgary professor told the Globe and Mail that Canadian courts would not be likely to honour the agreement, as the court would lean towards the child’s biological parents to raise the child as being better for the child than an unrelated stranger. In this case, the surrogate ended up having an abortion for family reasons.

The case raises the question of whether the child is being treated like a product, and if the parents can effectively “return” that product if they do not want it anymore. In parts of the United States, parents who use a surrogate can sue to get their money back if the surrogate continues with the pregnancy even if they no longer want to. In other cases, couples have gotten divorced before the baby was born and the surrogate ended up as the custodial parent.

Surrogacy is on the rise in Canada and the provincial, or perhaps federal, government will have to enact legislation to govern this issue to protect the rights of those involved in this modern-day family.

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By heather - Last updated: Monday, October 11, 2010
Filed in Artificial insemination, Family Law Changes Ontario, Provincial legislation, Surrogacy, child custody •


Legal marriage vs. religious marriage in Ontario

It’s becoming a well-known fact that in the province of Ontario, division of property rights don’t extend to common law couples. This may change one day, and British Columbia already has plans in motion to change it, but for now it remains the biggest difference between legal and common law marriage in Ontario. For example, if a spouse entered into a common law marriage with a home in their name, the other spouse wouldn’t have any rights toward the home or its sale upon splitting up.

A recent case highlights this key difference as an Ontario couple who only underwent a religious marriage ceremony failed to obtain a civil marriage license.

Many people undergo religious marriage ceremonies under various religious laws. There are ceremonies under Canon (Christian) law and Halakha (Jewish) law, as well as Hindu law, Sikh law and many other faith-based laws. In the case of this couple, Sharia (Islamic) law. In most of these weddings, a civil marriage license is still obtained and the paperwork is often incorporated into the religious ceremony by the couple and the officiant. With this particular couple, no marriage license was obtained in Ontario.

Unfortunately for this couple, upon their separation the wife did not have a claim to the condominium that her husband entered into the marriage with, because the relationship under the law was a common-law marriage and the condominium could not be considered a matrimonial home without the civil license.

Couples who are married outside Canada who then immigrate to Ontario will have their marriage recognized as long as it is recognized in the country of marriage, but couples married in Ontario will not, unless they file the proper paper work.

On a side note: in some cases, couples may choose to have a religious ceremony on one date and then a legal ceremony on another date for whatever reason. Beware of letting months or even years lapse between the two ceremonies, as any assets accrued before the marriage is legal may not be subject to the division of property rights that legally married couples are entitled to.

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By heather - Last updated: Monday, October 11, 2010
Filed in Common Law Marriage, Family Property Division, Provincial legislation, Religious ceremony, separation •