How to Reintroduce an Absent Parent After Separation

Parents going through a separation need to ensure that a consistent relationship is maintained between each other, but also that a relationship is maintained with the children. Parents that leave the child’s life can disrupt the child’s life and make it difficult to reintegrate. In cases where one parent has been absent, the other may have moved on to create a new family dynamic....

Reconciliation Counseling Takes Two

Sometimes couples find themselves on two different sides of what seems like an impossible divide. Their relationship may be fractured from past transgressions, suffer from the resentment held by one or both parties or they may have two completely different viewpoints about their current situation. Reconciliation Counseling In many of these cases, they enter into reconciliation counseling as a...

What Should a Child Call a Stepparent?

Separated parents face a number of challenges when they decide to start another relationship. One of those challenges is deciding what the child should call the stepparent. The name that a child calls his or her stepparent can set the stage for either a loving relationship or endless battle. The relationship between the natural parents is one of the factors that should determine what the child...

How long does support continue? How many degrees?

Just because a child is a full time student does not necessarily mean that he/she is a “child of the marriage” and is entitled to support.  However, the courts are reluctant to terminate support prior to a child obtaining at least one post-secondary education degree. The courts seem to be willing to give children extra time to finish their first post-secondary education degree,...

Child Support under the Family Law Act

Section 31 of the Family Law Act provides that “every parent has an obligation to provide support for his/her unmarried child who is a minor or is enrolled in a full time program of education…the obligation does not extend to a child who is 16 years of age and older and has withdrawn from parental control”. Although the Act states that a child must be enrolled in a...

Social Media and Family Law

It important to recognize that online information can greatly assist your matter (gathering evidence etc.), but it can also be used against you. You must remember the following **:   1. Although there are privacy settings on social media sites, there are no real secrets on these sites.  It is important to limit the information on the site and to increase your privacy settings; 2. Some...

How Is A Business Valued In A Divorce?

A business is an asset that must be valued in order to determine a party’s net family property.  A business will be valued based on the “fair market value” of the business.  The buyer and the seller are assumed to be hypothetical and the transaction is assumed to take place under normal conditions.  The determination of “fair market value” of a business is...

Do I pay child support if my child is in University? How long do I have to pay?

When a child attends university away from their home, the support obligation will still continue.  Although a court may reduce the amount of base support when the child is away at university, the payor will likely pay the full amount of support when the child returns home after the school year.  If the child does not return home very often during the school year, there is a stronger argument...

Can a non-biological parent be responsible for child support?

A person can also be liable for child support for his/her dependent child if he/she has assumed the role of a parent for the child.  This person is deemed to be in loco parentis to the child (or stands in the place of a parent to the child).  In determining whether or a not a person stands in loco parentis to a child, a court will examine various aspects of the child’s relationship with the...