Navigating a separation from a spouse or a partner is often stressful, painful and confusing. There is often no end to the worries, including financial stress, concerns for children, and the desire to end the conflict without a war. An important conclusion reached by many family law professionals, including lawyers, …
What is the ‘Rule of 65’?
Spousal support in Alberta can be a very complicated issue as there are multiple steps and considerations to determining appropriate support, one of which is the “Rule of 65”. The Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines provide guidance for how Courts in Alberta will determine whether a party is entitled to spousal …
Divorce Disaster Recovery: Getting Relief to the Victims
The Fault Line. The Earthquake. The Fall Out Using a natural disaster analogy to describe divorce may seem needlessly theatrical. The most fortunate couples who end their relationship will do so amicably, collaboratively and with minimal trauma. However, many spouses indeed experience the ending of a relationship as an unmitigated …
Gender Inequity in Family Law: The Men, The Myth, the Urban Legend
Family Lawyers regularly encounter male clients who feel preemptively aggrieved by the judicial system. Some men’s advocacy groups would have you believe that court decisions in Family Law are unjustly and favourably skewed toward women. That perception is not reality. Parenting Issues When couples with children separate, the two key …
What is a Cohabitation Agreement?
A Cohabitation Agreement (also known as a Prenuptial Agreement) is a contract executed by unmarried couples, setting out each party’s respective rights and obligations in the event of a relationship (or marriage) breakdown. Most often, Cohabitation / Prenuptial Agreements will address the issues of property and spousal support. Parties are …
What is an Early Intervention Case Conference (EICC)?
As Courts continue to be over overburdened with very high demand and limited available court time, the Court has introduced forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution to provide parties with avenues to reach resolution outside of the standard court procedures, thereby freeing up court resources for those matters that cannot be …
Family Law Triage: Emergency Room or Operating Room?
In the medical community, “triage” is the assignment of degrees of urgency to injuries to decide the order of treatment. Lawyers and Judges conduct their own version of Family Law triage to prioritize and resolve separating couple’s issues. Within the scope of the usual Family Law issues of Parenting Time/Decision-making, …
What is Parenting Coordination?
Parenting coordination is a process which assists divorced or separated parents to co-parent on an ongoing basis, regardless of whether they have primary or shared parenting. Parenting coordination typically commences after parents have received a Parenting Order or have completed a Separation Agreement. Parents must mutually agree to the parenting …
Calculating Guideline Income for Support Purposes
If you are the payor or recipient of child or spousal support in Alberta, it is important you are aware of how calculating guideline income comes into play. While your guideline income may be the same as your Line 150 (or as of 2019, Line 15000), that is not always …
Parenting in a time of Pandemic
Along with the COVID-19 Pandemic have come court applications by parents seeking to change their parenting plans because of disagreements as to the other parent’s perceived lack of compliance with social distancing guidelines. A small but growing body of case law has generated common-sense principles that should be observed by …