Archive for 2015
Recent cases: Incarceration for non-payment of support
Two recent cases – one dealing with child support and the other with spousal support – explore the appropriateness of incarcerating a payor who is in considerable arrears. In Ontario (Family Responsibility Office v Arruda, 2014 ONCJ 455, Mr Arruda is almost $200,000 in arrears on his child support payments. FRO sought an order requiring…
Read moreSteps in a Family Law Case: Tool from CLEO
CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario) has just released an excellent new tool, Steps in a Family Law Case, which guides you through family court processes. This is a very helpful resource for service providers and women with family law issues. It lays out the family law case as a flowchart. Each step along the way…
Read moreResponse to a murderer’s letter: Challenging journalism on violence against women
Letter by Luke’s Place Legal Director, Pamela Cross, to the Ottawa Citizen: There are a number of important questions that arise from the recent article in the Ottawa Citizen entitled “Triple-murder accused Borutski likens himself to Samson in letter from jail.” Perhaps the most obvious and troubling question is why the Ottawa Citizen would solicit…
Read moreThe country we want doesn’t use fake feminism to hate
From the Toronto Star: The election rhetoric based on fear-mongering against women who wear niqab only has traction if we all collude with its false conclusions. It turns women’s safety and rights into a political game that distracts from the realities. More lastingly, it has stigmatized a specific population of Canadians. Far from advancing equality…
Read moreRecent case law: Payment of child support when recipient alienates the child
Johnston v Mayer 2014 MBQB 197 addresses whether the mother (Ms Mayer) has to pay retroactive child support to the father (Mr. Johnston), whether the father should be found in contempt of court for his breaches of the interim custody order and whether costs should be awarded. The father in this case, in the words…
Read moreRecent case law: Determining a child’s habitual residence
Before a court can hear a custody case, it must determine that it has jurisdiction over the family. Usually, this is straightforward: both parents and the children live in the community where the court case is initiated. Sometimes, one parent will flee the jurisdiction with the children and attempt to start a custody case in…
Read moreRecent case: Judge interviews children
Judicial interviews of children are still a rarity in Ontario, so it is always interesting to read a case in which a judge decides to talk to the kids. In the case of A (G) v B (K), 2014 CarswellOnt 8838 (Ont. S.C.J.), the mother wished to relocate with the children from Toronto to Washington…
Read moreRecent case law: Production of therapy records in custody case
In Raso v Di Egidio, 2014 ONSC 3262, the wife brought a motion to have the notes and records of the couple’s marriage counsellor (who they saw for a few months before they separated) produced for use in the custody and access trial. During the case, the Office of the Children’s Lawyer had been appointed,…
Read moreHow can I support a woman who does not want to leave her abuser?
When the violence against women movement became increasingly organized in Canada and shelters for abused women and rape crisis centres began to open, most of the work was focused on helping women get away from their abusers. There was an inherent belief that this was what was best for women. While shelter work has always…
Read moreHow can a woman get current tax information from her former spouse?
A common legal bullying tactic of abusive men is to slow down family court proceedings by failing to file documents in a timely manner or by filing incomplete documents. Nowhere is this more common than with the filing of Financial Statements, which are required whenever there is a claim for support (child or spousal) or…
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