Friday, December 18, 2009

Ontario Divorvce Proceedure changes

Following up on yesterday's post and the news from the attorney general's office, it looks like there may be some procedural changes to Ontario's family law system starting at the Brampton and Milton Family Law Court locations but the specifics of what these will look like and when they will be implemented is a while off yet.

For now, I wouldn't expect any changes to the logistics of a divorce application and the complex process that is involved with bringing a family law matter to our courts.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

CBC News - Toronto - Ont. to try making divorce faster, cheaper

CBC News - Toronto - Ont. to try making divorce faster, cheaper

Big changes? The complexities of the divorce and family law process in Ontario is a mess, so any way to streamline the system and limit bureaucracy would be a benefit to tax payers. At the same time there is a need to innovate family law and design new ways to provide legal advice, both in the public and private sphere. A lot of insiders are calling for changes to the way assets are divided, specifically the matrimonial home, but any serious changes will bring about a revolt from a backlog of previous cases, which could bring about a flood of old cases back to the overextended courts.

The fact that someone could be married for 1 month and automatically get half a house they did not pay for is outdated. Society and marriage has changed and the law has stayed the same. Perhaps there should be a divorce tax to anyone getting married which would be returned to them after 30 years of marriage and used to fund the system if they don't stick together. Maybe that financial incentive would keep couples committed since the church, extended families and community don't play the same role they did in the past. Either way there are no easy solutions and a shuffling of resources in the province will unlikely provide the changes necessary.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Marital Disruption

Here is a good lecture on some interesting facets of marital disruption from Yale University...Click Here for http://www.academicearth.org/lectures/marital-disruption.

JL

Friday, December 4, 2009

Prenups

Here's an article from the globe and mail on prenups (marriage contracts)brought to attention lately by Tiger Woods.

Tiger's new prenup? Try renup

Lately, many people have been asking me about marriage contracts. One of the main things to remember is that you can not contract out of spousal support.