New Year’s Day is not the only day of the year to make a resolution – any day will work.   As the calendar turned the page on the first day of Spring 2024, we may have had to admit (to ourselves at least) that many of our New Year’s resolutions may have fallen by the wayside. But, if, “drink more water”, “get more sleep”, and “eat less red meat” were among our worthy pursuits that we pledged starting January 1, even if we have faltered, we can course correct and keep trying. How many people made a resolution to be a better co-parent in 2024? Not that many? Well, maybe spring is the t ..read more

On December 4, 2023 the Court of King’s Bench announced mandatory ‘Pre-Court’ requirements that will be implemented as of December 18, 2023. These requirements must be completed before a party can file any document intended to bring the matter before the Court for relief, including a Notice to Attend Family Docket Court.  The requirements are as follows:  The Parenting After Separation Course (“PAS”) must be completed and the certificate filed by the Applicant prior to bringing any application where there are children under the age of 18 years affected by the proceeding. The Respond ..read more

In March of 2021 the Divorce Act was amended to include a comprehensive definition of family violence and recognize the importance of coercive control in family dynamics.  In response to these amendments, family lawyers at Moe Hannah LLP now screen clients for domestic violence and take these matters into consideration when determining how best to meet the needs of parents and children. The 2023 Justice Canada publication, “Making Appropriate Parenting Arrangements in Family Violence Cases”, is a resource that has been written by top legal educators and psychologists in the coun ..read more

Going to Court can be unpredictable.  Sometimes what your lawyer says will happen comes to fruition. It might be just like your lawyer wrote the script and everyone played their part perfectly.  Sometimes the opposite can be true – nothing happens that was predicted, and things happen that no one would have reasonably predicted.   One might reasonably ask – how can that be? In law, the government drafts and provides statues that set our understanding of how issues may be decided. Courts decide cases and create case law that sets precedent as to how the statutes apply to spe ..read more

Some lawyers, especially those of your spouse in a divorce proceeding, can easily get under your skin. They can become your focus – a very negative focus – and distract you from the task at hand. What is the task at hand? It is usually, and should always be, to resolve the legal issues arising from your divorce or separation. But what about revenge, venting, or settling scores? You know the answer to that question before I answer it. Lawyers are an extremely expensive way to settle scores or vent. Any lawyer worth hiring will eventually tell you, if these are truly your number one goals, to p ..read more

Many family law professionals will tell you that the word “fair” is a problematic one for us. It is so highly personal and subjective. What is fair for me may not be fair for you. I sometimes go as far as to say that “fair” is the four-letter f-word in my office.  The laws handed down by our provincial and federal governments and the decisions made by our judiciary often recognize that maybe applying the black and white letter of the law in all circumstances ends up in a one size fits none situation. Here is where we get tricky – we don’t call this fairness. We call it equity. Statutes p ..read more