Reading Time: 4 minutes Debunking the myths and legends that haunt family law. This article is the first in a series dedicated to debunking the myths and legends that haunt family law. Today’s topic? Lawyers. Many people experiencing a family breakdown have pre-conceived notions about the role of lawyers. These ideas come from TV, the “grapevine,” past experience, etc. […]
FAMILY | Changes to Jurisdictional Provisions under the Divorce Act
Reading Time: 5 minutes Changes to Canada’s Divorce Act that came into effect on March 1, 2021 include major changes to jurisdictional rules. There are several notable changes to Canada’s Divorce Act that came into effect on March 1, 2021. These changes are made through Bill C-78 which received Royal Assent on June 21, 2019. While the Divorce Act […]
FAMILY | Relocations with Children: The law before and the law now
Reading Time: 5 minutes New moving rules apply to families going through a divorce or already divorced, including those with existing orders or agreements. The federal government has made some important changes to the Divorce Act. John-Paul Boyd provided an overview of the changes in his November 2019 article “Important Changes to the Law Are Coming: Mark your calendar!”. […]
HAVE YOU HEARD? | Updated Family Law Resources
Reading Time: 3 minutes Families and the Law series Did you know the Divorce Act changed on March 1st? To make sure you have access to the most up-to-date legal information, we’ve updated and refreshed our Families and the Law series. Plus, we’ve added a few new resources to round out the series. And, they’re available in French too! […]
Symposium on Children’s Participation in Justice Processes Coming to Calgary
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada and its provinces are signatories to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, an international treaty that requires governments to recognize children’s fundamental human rights. In particular, Article 12 of the Convention says that children must be given “the opportunity to be heard in any judicial and administrative proceedings” affecting them. Many […]
Obtaining Evidence in High Conflict Parenting Disputes, Part 4: Parenting Coordination
Reading Time: 4 minutes In Part 2 of this series, Sarah Dargatz wrote briefly about parenting coordination, one of the interventions available in family law cases before the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench. In this article, the final part of this series, I will talk about how parenting coordination is used in British Columbia. It’s a bit misleading to […]
Obtaining Evidence in High Conflict Parenting Disputes, Part 3: Views of the Child Reports and Parenting Assessments
Reading Time: 6 minutes In Part 1 of this series, Sarah Dargatz wrote about the use of children’s lawyers in high conflict family law disputes in Alberta. Sarah said that hiring a lawyer to represent a child can be an effective way to get information about the child’s views and preferences when the parents cannot agree. In Part 2, […]
New Resources at CPLEA
Reading Time: 2 minutes LawNow is pleased to announce the creation of a new Department, called New Resources at CPLEA, which will be a permanent addition to each issue. Each post will highlight new materials at CPLEA. All resources are free and available for download. We hope that this will raise awareness of the many resources that CPLEA produces […]
Obtaining Evidence in High Conflict Parenting Disputes, Part 2: Using Experts in Parenting Disputes
Reading Time: 5 minutes In most disputes over parenting time, parents come to reasonable decisions about what is in their child’s best interests. However, a small percentage of disputes are “high conflict”. In high conflict cases, the parents have great difficulty communicating, make decisions together, and treating each other with respect. Each parent may advocate for very different schedules. […]
Obtaining Evidence in High Conflict Parenting Disputes, Part 1: Lawyers for Children
Reading Time: 5 minutes In most disputes over parenting time, parents come to reasonable decisions about what is in their child’s best interests. However, a small percentage of disputes are “high conflict”. In high conflict cases, the parents have great difficulty communicating, make decisions together, and treating each other with respect. Each parent will advocate for very different schedules. […]
