Category Archives: Family Law
Relying on Your Family of Origin After Divorce Isn’t Just About Money
It is hard to look on the bright side about divorce, but a decade or so after your divorce becomes final, you might be able to look back and see how your divorce brought you closer to your parents and siblings. Once you were no longer a family unit with your ex-spouse, you might… Read More »
Imputed Income and Ontario Family Law Cases
Marital conflicts often arise when there is an apparent disconnect between one spouse’s words and his or her actions, especially when it comes to health or money. Your spouse may go to exercise classes at the gym multiple days per week when your children are at school and travel internationally on vacation every year,… Read More »
Looking on the Bright Side About Divorce and Finances
Many divorced people now think of their divorce as something to celebrate, even if they were originally devastated when their spouses announced their intention to divorce. Some people even celebrate the anniversary of their divorce, and newly divorced people sometimes have divorce parties to celebrate being single again. It is hard to see the… Read More »
You Might Have to Continue Paying Alimony, Even After Your Ex-Spouse Remarries
Alimony, which is a series of payments made after divorce from the higher income ex-spouse to the lower income ex-spouse, used to be nearly universal in divorce cases two generations ago. Divorce was rare, but most divorced women had no means of financial support except their former husbands. Today, nearly half of marriages end… Read More »
Ontario Marriage Annulment Laws
Compared to some other countries, Canada lets couples’ actions speak for themselves about whether they are a family unit. You and your partner can form a common law marriage without the court’s intervention, and you can end your marriage without the court’s intervention. If you get legally married, and the government issues a marriage… Read More »
Cohabitation Agreements
Common law spouses have more rights in Canada than they do south of the border in the United States. Since couples who have not legally formalized their marriage do not need the court’s permission to separate, the court also does not intervene in decisions about dividing their property; there is no marital property without… Read More »
Family Mediation – Is It Right For Me?
Going to trial in your divorce case is as ugly as it sounds, but working out all of the details of your divorce with your spouse and then walking into the courthouse together to finalize your divorce as the best of friends is an unattainable ideal. There must be some middle ground, and for… Read More »
Your Divorce Anniversary Can Be a Time for Celebration or Self-Care
Divorce lawyers and divorced friends may try to encourage you and cheer you up by telling you that the hardest part of divorce is while your case is pending, that it all gets easier once the court formally dissolves your marriage. They are correct to some extent, and for the months following your divorce… Read More »
How to Avoid Letting Your Co-Parent Get Under Your Skin
Some couples divorce after years of a high-conflict relationship. Ever since their oldest child was born, they could not stand to keep it to themselves when the other spouse didn’t dress the baby warmly enough for the weather or waited too long before taking a trash bag full of stinky diapers to the trash… Read More »
When Does Spousal Support End in Ontario?
Whether you’re paying or receiving alimony in Ontario, you might be wondering when it will end. Those paying spousal support may be eagerly counting down the days till they can stop sending their exes money, while receiving spouses may be concerned about the financial impact of losing this support. The end date of spousal… Read More »