October 01, 2018
In happier times, you made a will leaving everything to your spouse and naming him/her as your estate trustee (executor). Now you are separating. Presumably, anyone reading your will today would realize that it is probably no longer your intention to leave your estate to your (now former) spouse, so your will would be interpreted differently, right? Unfortunately, that is not the case. Even if someone might be able to guess that your wishes have changed, that is not enough to change your will. In fact, section 17(1) of the…
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August 27, 2018
In most cases, for spouses to be entitled to a divorce in Ontario, they have to have lived “separate and apart” for one year. Determining when separation began can also be significant when it comes to the division of family property, as each spouse’s assets and liabilities are usually valued as of the date of separation. However, couples often do not separate all at once, and some aspects of a relationship may continue after others have come to an end. As a result, it can be difficult to determine precisely…
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June 27, 2018
Unfortunately, you and your married spouse, or common-law spouse, have decided to separate and/or divorce. Regardless if you initiated the separation or not, you are more than likely going to experience a process of grief and an emotional roller coaster. This can result in some bad initial decision-making. Below are our top 4 Dos and Don’ts for a Separation and Divorce that we have learned in our combined 20 years of practicing family law. Dos Do get counselling. A counsellor can help you through the grieving process and help you…
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June 21, 2018
We have compiled a list of 3 commonly held myths about Family Law and Divorce. Myth 1: “If my spouse and I have 50/50 physical custody of our children then there is no child support paid.” If parents have 50/50 shared physical custody of the children child support may still be payable by the higher income earning parent. Typically, this is based on a “set-off approach” whereby the higher earning parent pays the difference between the full child support amounts for each parent based on their incomes. For example, if the…
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