Family Lawyer

Our clients seek the support of a family law lawyer to assist them in addressing a full range of family law issues, including custody, access, financial support and property division. Family law decisions will impact upon every aspect of your life: emotional, familial, financial and legal. You must be certain that the family law lawyer you select is knowledgeable, efficient and compassionate.

At Bair Law Firm, we are sensitive to the particular needs of the family law client. We strive to obtain optimum results for our clients by seeking resolutions that are:

• amicable;
• cost-effective, and
• time efficient,

whenever possible.

Our team handles a broad range of family law issues, including:

• divorce
• separation
• property division
• support
• custody
• parenting plans
• access
• domestic contracts, including, marriage contracts, cohabitation agreements and separation agreements.

We provide child-centered advice when dealing with the issues that affect your children. We achieve results that put your children first.

When addressing your financial issues, we apply our expertise to achieve a practical and reasoned allocation of your family’s resources.

You can select the resolution technique that meets your specific needs, be it:

• direct negotiation
• counsel negotiation
• mediation
• collaborative family law
• arbitration
• court

or another option

Ensure that you consult a family law lawyer if you are doubtful as to your rights and obligations in any of the following circumstances:

Before you enter a marriage or common-law relationship, consider:

• How do you achieve the status of a common-law spouse?
• Do you have a legal obligation to provide financial support for a common-law spouse?
• Can your common-law spouse make a claim against your property?
• Are you compelled to share your inheritance with your married spouse on the breakdown of your marriage?
• Do you have a legal obligation to provide support to your spouse’s children of a previous relationship?
• Are you compelled to share the value of a family home which you brought into the marriage with your spouse on the breakdown of your marriage?

Prior to terminating a marriage or common-law relationship, consider:

• How can you protect your rights in the event of a breakdown of your relationship or marriage?
• Are there steps which you can take before separation to achieve the most advantageous result for you and your children in the event of a breakdown of your relationship or marriage?
• What are your personal and financial options in the event of a breakdown of your relationship or marriage?

On a change in your circumstances which might affect an existing family law order or agreement, consider:

• Note that provisions of an order or agreement that relate to children are never final. These and other provisions of your family law order or agreement may be subject to change on the occurrence of a material change in your personal or financial circumstances.
• It is essential that you keep your family law lawyer updated as to any such changes so that you may vary your order or agreement to meet your current needs or those of your children.

Upon learning of changes to the family law, consider:

• You may have heard about changes to the federal and provincial Child Support Guidelines or of changes to the taxation of support through the media.
• You may have heard about the introduction of Spousal Support Guidelines.
• You may have heard about a recent clarification of the law regarding retroactive support.
• Are you aware of recent developments in the law?
• Do you know how they will affect you?
• Are you optimizing your family law arrangements, in light of these developments?

Your family law lawyer can provide you with the answers to these and many other family law questions.