A good family court order or agreement about the arrangements for the children can facilitate a workable relationship between a woman and her ex-partner and lessen opportunities for post-separation abuse. The more details that are set out with precision in…
Unfortunately, many abusers are not yet ready to give up their power and control after the couple separates so the abuse continues. This is often referred to as post-separation abuse. Women may have to deal with ongoing issues for months…
Luke’s Place partners with CLEO to deliver webinars on family law topics that deal with issues faced by women who have been subjected to violence in their relationship. The webinars are pre-recorded and will be posted to this website and…
In the late 1980s, a new phrase started to pop up in American and then Canadian family courts: parental alienation syndrome (PAS). Originally coined by American psychiatrist Richard Gardner, the term was used to describe situations where one parent intentionally…
“But if you try sometime you find/You get what you need.” Many women leaving abusive relationships would take exception to even the modest optimism expressed by the Rolling Stones in this 1969 hit. Nonetheless, this is very much the tone…
This is the second installment of a two-part series There are many ways a family can organize access even when one parent lives some distance away from the kids. Factors that need to be considered include: Distance The children’s ages…
This is the first installment of a two-part series We are living in an increasingly globalized world, so it is not surprising that families move – often long distances – more than they used to. While this can pose challenges…
Canada’s landscape has been strewn with domestic violence homicides this past year. And, it must be remembered, the number of women killed is only the tip of the iceberg of the number of women subjected to abuse in their relationships.…
More than 80,000 people are unrepresented in family court proceedings in Ontario every year. You see many women who don’t have lawyers and, often, their former partner is also unrepresented. As we have discussed in the past, while the lack…
It is not uncommon for a woman to experience difficulties with her family law lawyer. The lawyer may not understand the unique dynamics in a case involving family violence. They may be good at the legal aspects of their work…
