It is no secret that the real estate market in Ontario, and the rest of Canada, has changed significantly in the past 5-6 years. Unfortunately, this topsy-turvy market is also placing additional financial pressure on individuals experiencing separation and divorce. “Will I get to keep the jointly owned home?” is a top-of-mind question for many family law clients I speak to.
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When conflict arises in our lives, we turn to the dispute resolution techniques that we know. For legal conflict, our minds turn first to the Courts. In Canada, our Courts operate on an adversarial system. It is a system in which litigants are pitted against each other in battle; there is a judge; there is a winner and there is a loser. Most of us have never turned our minds to whether this system is a productive, kind, dignified or even rational method of resolving conflict.
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I once heard a senior family law judge describe special and extraordinary expenses as a Gordian knot. Like Alexander the Great, who simply cut the impossible knot in half with his sword, the best approach to the seemingly unsolvable extraordinary expenses problem can be a direct and simple approach.
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11-12 minutes read.
Dealing with the breakdown of marriage can be emotionally and financially challenging, but it is not the point where things simply end. With the breakdown of the marriage, numerous issues arise, and one such issue is the division of property. For most couples, the matrimonial home is the asset with the highest monetary and sentimental value, but how do you divide a physical asset that is embedded deep in the ground? An experienced family lawyer can certainly help. So here are some key pieces of information that you should know when dealing with your matrimonial home(s).
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The promise of mediation is that it will be faster, less expensive and more collaborative than the court-based alternative to addressing family law disputes. If the right compliment of factors is present, then mediation can absolutely deliver on this intent and, in many cases, can reduce the emotional strain on all parties.
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When you step into the offices of a Family Law lawyer, you are facing decisions that will touch every aspect of your life in a profound way. You want the very best support and representation but, as with all other expenditures in life, you have a budget. What can you do to manage your cost and maximize your favourable outcome? To avoid the stumbling blocks that people regularly face in settling their Family Law concerns, employ these tips from an experienced Family Law lawyer.
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If you are separating or divorcing and you have begun your search for a family law lawyer, you may have experienced some sticker shock. Hourly rates for family law lawyers can be daunting, so you will benefit from some advice to make your family law dollar go further for you.
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Divorce lawyers have stepped into the hallowed halls of a Courthouse so many times that it is second nature to us. We are in our element in a place that can be alien, and very daunting, to others. So, each time we enter a Courthouse with our client, we need to remind ourselves that this is, almost certainly, a first for them. Our clients are generally highly stressed and uncertain as to the process. They are nervous as to what will be asked and expected of them. I’ve had clients report that they have experienced sleeplessness, weight loss, lack of productivity in their work and home lives and other physical and emotional challenges due to the stress of an upcoming Court attendance. It shouldn’t have to be this way.
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Over the course of decades of practice, I have had many clients step into my office who are ripe and ready for a battle. They have been secretly recording their spouse’s actions and conversations. They have gained access to their spouse’s computer files and accessed private information. They have coached the children to report that they wish to reside with them. They have disclosed to the children the wrongdoings of the other spouse. They have made a journal of all of their spouse’s misdeeds, for weeks or months. They have come to the table with bared fangs. With every one of these interactions, my spirit wilts, for this is the most tortured and unproductive way to approach the end of a relationship; the reorganization of a family or couple’s life and the creation of a healthy future.
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You may know of children who have experienced emotional harm as a result of the breakdown of their parents’ relationship. Your children do not have to live this experience.
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