Deciding to split is hard enough as it is, WITHOUT the stress and worry of what to do come tax season. Fear not, ABB’s got you covered! Check out our list of things that you’ll need to consider this spring. #1: Proof of Separation The taxpayer has the responsibility of proving separation to CRA. This…
Divorces are hard. Plain and simple. Especially when kids are involved. Co-parenting and making sure your children are always the focus can be a challenge for most couples. How do you make sure everyone is on the same page and wants the same things for your children, when you’re no longer together? With help…
Spousal Support, sometimes referred to as alimony or maintenance, is money that’s paid by one spouse to another after they separate or divorce. Its purpose is to limit any unfair effects of a divorce. For example, perhaps one spouse dedicated the majority of their time to the family (stay at home parent, part-time work, etc.)…
Money advanced to a married person by a family member often becomes the subject of controversy in family law litigation. For example, it is not uncommon for parents to advance money to their adult child in order to help fund the down payment of a home for the adult child and his or her spouse. …
The recent decision in the matter of Nichols v. Herdman, 2015 CarswellOnt 9262 (Ont. S.C.J.), sets out what grandparents are required to prove in order to obtain a court order for custody/access of grandchildren. In this case, the grandparents brought a motion seeking several orders with respect to their grandchild, Megan, including joint custody, primary care…
In Virc v. Blair, a recently decided Ontario Court of Appeal case, the Court considered the requirement to make full financial disclosure prior to signing a separation agreement and the parties’ respective obligations to investigate the veracity of said financial disclosure. Virc was initially decided on a summary judgment motion. The parties had executed a…
Common law couples do not have the right to seek an equalization of family property under current Ontario legislation – this fact cannot be overstated. As discussed in a previous post by my colleagues: Division of property is dealt with in Part I of the Family Law Act. When married couples separate, generally speaking they…
Determining Factors for Spousal Support Entitlemen The Supreme Court of Canada in Bracklow v. Bracklow identified three bases for spousal support entitlement: contractual, compensatory, and non-compensatory, Contractual support would be support based on any agreement that existed between the parties. Compensatory support is meant to reimburse the spouse for choice’s they made during the marriage…
The term “divorce” has a very distinct legal meaning, yet many people fail to understand the difference between separation and divorce. Often the meanings of the two concepts are blurred together. To illustrate, a conversation around a water cooler somewhere in Ontario might go as follows: MAURICE: Did you hear the news? Moe from marketing and…
When a person dies, his or her common law spouse is usually entitled to make a claim for support against the estate of the deceased partner, much like the situation between living spouses after a separation. Where the true nature of the relationship is in dispute, whether or not a person qualifies as a common…