Posts Tagged ‘family law’
Will Canada’s new Divorce Act keep women and children fleeing abuse safe? The gaps – Part 3/3
The revised Divorce Act, coming into effect on July 1, 2020, offers both pros and cons for survivors of family violence. The pros outweigh the cons, and create the potential for parents who have left an abusive relationship and who use the federal statute to establish parenting arrangements to be better served by the law…
Read moreWill Canada’s new Divorce Act keep women and children fleeing abuse safe? The cons – Part 2/3
While the amended Divorce Act will, without question, materially improve the situation of those fleeing abuse (if they use the Divorce Act to resolve parenting issues), it is not perfect. This article explores two criteria in the best interests test, the decision-making provisions and the emphasis on out of court dispute resolution, all of which…
Read moreCOVID-19 case: Urgent or case conference?
In Edwards v Robinson 2020 ONSC 2956, the mother brought an urgent motion on May 1st for the return of the parties’ two youngest children (the oldest is 20 years old) to her by the father, who had had them since March 25th. The mother made allegations of domestic violence, which the father disputed, alleging in response…
Read moreWill Canada’s new Divorce Act keep women and children fleeing abuse safe? The pros – Part 1/3
As we continue to find our way through the strange new world of life in a pandemic, it is easy to lose sight of things that seemed important to us just a few months ago. The significantly revised Divorce Act, passed by the federal government in June 2019 and coming into effect on July 1,…
Read moreRecent Court Decision: “In the long run, self-help will turn out to be a big mistake”
McNeil v McGuinness 2020 ONSC 1918 In this case, which was identified by the court as having “a long history of conflict and litigation since the parties separated in 2012,” Justice Pazaratz declined to find the father’s motion to be urgent as set out in the March 15, 2020 Notice to the Profession. In his…
Read moreTwo recent COVID-19 family law decisions
Court says no to “self-help” remedy In Burton v Woods 2020 ONCJ 158, Justice Pugsley was quick and clear in his response to a father who decided not to return the 10-year-old child to the mother at the end of his access time. The existing order, issued after a trial, was for the mother to…
Read moreRecent Case Summaries: April 17, 2020
Child protection issues There have been a few child protection cases that the courts have deemed urgent. A number of them deal with arranging some kind of contact between children in care and their parent(s) because agencies are not offering in-person supervised access at this time. Others address issues of appropriate face to face contact…
Read moreCOVID-19 crisis complicates intimate partner violence issues, lawyers say
Ian Burns interviewed Luke’s Place on the impact of COVID-19 on women living with violence. The article appears on TheLawyersDaily.ca. “Let’s say hypothetically I was in an abusive relationship, but I had a job, or my partner worked outside the home and our kids were at school. There would at least be some time during…
Read moreCanada’s domestic violence problem was already critical. COVID-19 is making it worse
Journalist Sarah Boesveld interviewed Luke’s Place on the impact of COVID-19 on women living with violence. The article appears on Chatelaine.com. In late March, a few weeks after COVID-19 shuttered all schools and non-essential businesses, Pamela Cross and her team heard from a woman in dire need of help. Cross is the legal director of…
Read moreRecent COVID-19 related decisions: Restraining orders, access to children
Rankin v Rankin (March 19, 2020): In this case, the wife brought an urgent motion for a restraining order against the husband. He was served late the day before the motion was heard but did not file responding materials or contact the wife’s lawyer. Justice Fitzpatrick found that the matter was urgent and that an…
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