For women
Family court operations: Guide for the pandemic
Luke’s Place has just launched a new resource that guides women and workers on Ontario’s family court operations. In March 2020, family courts moved quickly and efficiently to ensure their operations were consistent with provincial public health protocols put in place to limit spread of the COVID-19 virus. During this process, many of those involved…
Read morePeace bonds: You can now apply remotely
Anyone wishing to apply for a peace bond can now do so online.
Read moreSix common mistakes to avoid when completing financial statements
This is a brief summary of a paper prepared by Robert Shawyer and Andrew Sudano for the Law Society of Ontario‘s The Six-Minute Family Law Lawyer. Their paper was titled, “An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: The Six Most Common Mistakes When Drafting Financial Statements And How to Avoid Them.” Don’t…
Read moreImportant update on LAO eligibility for abuse survivors
Legal Aid Ontario has announced that, effective May 2nd, it is no longer waiving financial and legal eligibility criteria for survivors of family violence. Please see the link below for detailed information about current LAO eligibility:https://www.legalaid.on.ca/services/domestic-abuse/
Read moreCourt notice finder: Up-to-date information about family court
A new website, Court Notice Finder, put together by a number of Ontario family law legal professionals, organizes the: “voluminous – and often changing – information found in the various Court Notices issued on behalf of Family Law courthouses across Ontario since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.” This is a very useful tool for…
Read moreVideo conferencing safety and other tech considerations during family law processes
There are different tech safety issues for women to consider depending on whether they are going to court, using mediation or attempting to resolve their issues through negotiation, either by themselves or with the assistance of a lawyer. Family courts are increasingly moving to remote hearings and online document filing. This means that a woman…
Read moreWebinar: Making the new Divorce Act work for women
The new Divorce Act is effective, March 1, 2021. This webinar looks at how to make the new act work for women who are leaving an abusive relationship.
Read moreStaying in the family home after separating from an abusive partner
If you are married to your ex-partner, the home the two of you shared is called the matrimonial home. The law says you each have an equal right to occupy that home, regardless of whose name is on the deed or the lease unless you have a court order or a legal agreement saying otherwise.…
Read moreJust how much financial information does a woman have to share when she leaves an abusive partner?
Financial abuse Many abusive relationships involve an element of financial control or abuse. For example, the abuser may: Monitor the woman’s spending Control all the money and give her an allowance Require her to justify her spending Insist that only his name be on bank accounts, investments, credit cards, etc. Not allow the woman to…
Read moreWhat should a woman think about when entering a second relationship so she protects her privacy, money and property?
Few people, even when they are entering a second (or third, or fourth) relationship consider that this one, like the previous one(s), might end. Love is in the air, and it is hard for most people to imagine that it would ever leave or that one person might treat the other badly. This seems to…
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