Isaac's Family Law Blog

Courts that Have Tried Binding Judicial Dispute Resolution On May 14, 2021, a pilot was started to test whether a new type of dispute resolution would help people in a family law court dispute, while at the same time clearing the backlog in the courts. Binding Judicial Dispute Resolution (Binding JDR) was started in Simcoe and Muskoka. In March 2022,  it was extended to Peterborough, Lindsay and Cobourg. It has also since been extended to Kitchener-Waterloo. In the pilot, both sides had to voluntarily agree to take this path toward a settlement or judicial decision in their case - instead of following the regular procedure. Binding JDR is a hybrid animal with certain features of a settlement conference and elements of a trial. Photo credit: Sora Shimazaki What is a Settlement Conference? To recap my previous post , a settlement conference is an informal hearing that allows both sides to get an opinion from a judge as to how he or she would decide the case if it were at trial. ...

Your Dear Pet and Family Law  You've had a long and hard day. As soon as you walk in the door, there's your dog there to great you and so happy to see you. It's like therapy. But when two people separate, they will have to negotiate who gets certain property in the division or equalization of their assets. If they can’t agree, a court will decide.  The question comes up, Who gets the dog? If there’s more than one, Who gets which dog? And so on for whatever beloved pet or animal that we have had during the relationship. We have such a strong emotional connection with our pets. This is one more stressful aspect to layer on to the other aspects of separation and divorce that people have to deal with. The emotional support that one gets from their pet may be a major coping mechanism to see them through the divorce. Legal Status of Animals in Ontario In the eyes of the law, pets are personal property. There are laws that govern how we are to treat pets or how many we are permitt...

Binding Judicial Dispute Resolution Recently, I attended an opening of the courts ceremony in London where judges of the Ontario Court of Justice and the Superior Court of Justice were speaking. The local administrative judge for London updated the audience and said that the London family court branch would soon begin piloting an innovative way to move certain cases toward resolution.  Photo credit: Tyler Lastovich It’s called binding judicial dispute resolution (Binding JDR). It promises to be a helpful option for the right type of case to help move things along and clear up the backlog.  So far, what I know is that Binding JDR combines elements of a settlement conference and elements of a trial. The process is pursued in the courts with a judge that hears the settlement conference, and this same judge would be the one who hears the modified trial.  I wrote about settlement conferences in a previous post. This project has been tried with success in other regions in...

The Difference between “Retroactive” and “Arrears” Decisions about child support or spousal support are usually forward looking. However, a court may also be asked to look backwards to deal with support that should have been paid. There are two scenarios that may apply to your situation: (1) arrears of support, and (2) retroactive support. Arrears and retroactivity apply to child support and spousal support. Photo credit: Nataliya Vaitkevich Arrears Arrears of support are those amounts that a person failed to pay but was required to do so by a contract (e.g., separation agreement) or court order. Determining the precise amount of arrears is not always straightforward. The amount depends on how long the arrears were accumulating, the amount of each payment and the frequency. Arrears: A Real-life Example In one case, a father agreed in a separation agreement signed in 2008 that he would pay child support of $10,000 per year for his two children. Except for a $5,000 lump sum, however, he ...

Choose the Right Lawyer for You A time will probably come when you will need or should consult with a family law / divorce lawyer. It could be as you look ahead at the start of a relationship to ensure that your plans for your property will come to fruition. Or something just happened in your relationship and you need some immediate advice and help to understand what your options are and what to do next. Family law involves different legal areas rolled up into one practice that can serve you and your family for years. Many people are intimidated by lawyers and searching for one because the terminology is different from what they're used to. They may also see it as being too expensive for them. But it doesn't have to be, and the money that you do spend on a consultation is generally well worth it if you've screened your candidates well.  At the end of the day, your ability to pay and the lawyer's rates are an important part of your decision making. Part...

Family Law Court Process: The Motion A motion is a litigation tool that helps you manage the court process by allowing you to potentially get a result before a trial. The type of order you seek from a court on a motion is generally one that temporarily deals with a major issue. It may be the real issue that brought you to court in the first place. If you succeed in your motion, the decision will usually have temporary effect. It is possible, however, that even though the motion may be in advance of a trial, the decision that you want the judge to make could permanently decide the issue. For example, in a vaccination dispute where one parent wants to vaccinate the child(ren) and the other wants to wait, if the pro-vaccination parent is given the decision making power and uses it, this would permanently deal with the matter because they can't un-vaccinate the child afterward. Motions are a major aspect of court action that require much preparation on the part of the client and th...

Family Law Court Process - The Settlement Conference In previous articles, I wrote about what you could expect at early stages of the family law court process. The procedure is that after a case conference and possibly a motion, another pre-trial hearing called a settlement conference is scheduled. At times a settlement conference can be combined with a case conference, but often a settlement conference will be held separately and after all disclosure has been made. A matter cannot proceed to trial without having held a settlement conference. What Can I Expect at My Settlement Conference? A settlement conference is intended to promote resolution of the issues after all financial disclosure and reporting has been made to the parties and the court. With the benefit of the entire picture, a judge at a settlement conference is in a position to provide a judicial opinion that gives each party a solid assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of their claims. If one party has not made...