The obligation to pay child support does not necessarily terminate when a child turns 18, the age of majority in Alberta. According to the federal Divorce Act and Alberta’s Family Law Act, child support may continue to be payable for a child over the age of majority where that child is unable to withdraw from parental charge or obtain the necessaries of life for some reason, which may include disability, illness or enrollment in full-time education. Enrollment in post-secondary education does not guarantee that child support entitlement will continue past the age of 18. When determining entitl ..read more

Will Corporate Retained Earnings be Considered Income for Support? When determining a parent’s child support obligation, courts will consider the parent’s income. A parent’s income is generally determined by reviewing Line 150 of the parent’s most recent income tax return. Where a parent earns income through a corporation, determination of the parent’s income for the purposes of support can be more complicated. One reason for this is that business owners may retain some of their income in the corporation. Section 18(1) of the Federal Child Support Guidelines authorizes courts to impute an inco ..read more

Our Family Wizard: A communication tool for separated and divorced parents Communication can be difficult during separation and divorce. Luckily, there are lots of different solutions to help improve or maintain positive communication with a co-parent or ex-partner. OurFamilyWizard (“OFW”) is an app that families and third parties can use to remain connected while co-parenting, sharing information about their children and tracking expenses. OFW helps reduce the negative impact of divorce and separation on children by ensuring that they do not play the role of go between and that communication ..read more

Alberta Courts have been clear that RESPs are not matrimonial/family property. Rather, the Courts view RESPs as savings vehicles used to hold funds in trust for a child’s educational pursuits. What happens with your RESPs when you are going through a divorce? The unfortunate answer is – it depends! Is your child currently attending post-secondary education? Will your RESP funds cover your child’s post-secondary education expenses, or will there be additional expenses? Has your child completed post-secondary education and are there RESP funds left over? These are all important factors in determ ..read more

To be vaccinated or not? What if parents disagree? On September 16, 2021 and November 19, 2021 Health Canada approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children ages 12-17 and ages 5-11 respectively.  Many divorced and separated parents disagreed and continue to disagree on whether or not their children should receive this vaccine. This raises the question: can a joint-decision making custody arrangement be varied if parents disagree on whether their children should be vaccinated against COVID-19? This issue was addressed by the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench (as it then was), by the Honour ..read more

Tips for Parents in a Shared Parenting Arrangement During the Holiday Season Try to minimize conflict! The Holidays can be a stressful.  Remember to not take your stress out on your loved ones. Finalize the parenting schedule well in advance of the Christmas Holidays!  Our recommendation is to split this special season with the Children equally.  For example, if one parent gets Christmas Eve, the other gets Christmas Day. Consider what the Children’s views – if they want to see both parents together on Christmas, consider if this is a possibility as co-parents. Discuss gifts fo ..read more

The purpose of the Hague Convention is to enforce custody rights and to secure the return of wrongfully removed or retained children to the country they are habitually resident. The Supreme Court of Canada case, Office of the Children’s Lawyer v Balev, 2018 SCC 16, is the leading case on habitual residence. Balev states the aim of the Hague Convention is threefold: to address international child abductions;  to deter abductions by parents who hope to establish links in a new country that might ultimately award them custody; and  to promote prompt return to the child’s country of hab ..read more

  Justifying Reasonable Business Expenses When a payor spouse operates an incorporated business or sole proprietorship, his or her disclosure obligations under s 21(1)(d)(ii) of the Federal Child Support Guidelines are quite broad.  Schutz JA stated the following at paragraph 23 of Cunningham v Seveny, 2017 ABCA 4 [Cunningham]:  … where a parent’s corporation or business undertaking is the primary vehicle through which he or she earns income. It includes not only a requirement to provide a statement of all payments or benefits, but also a sufficient explanation t ..read more

Enforcing of Arbitration Awards Arbitration has become a popular process to reach am ultimate resolution of their affairs. It allows for the hiring of a private Arbitrator to help the parties decide issues relating to matrimonial property, support, and parenting. Often times an Arbitration can be more cost effective and expedite a final resolution of the matters between parties. Additionally, once a resolution has been reached, either through consent or through the Arbitration process, the Arbitrator will draft an “Arbitration Award” to reflect the terms of any resolution reached. This Arbitra ..read more

We are separating…Who Gets Our Pet? We are separating…who gets our pet? As a pet owner/lover myself, this area of the law is near and dear to my heart. In January 2020 the Family Property Act RSA 2000 (the “Family Property Act”) was enacted providing “common law” couples (provided they qualify as Adult Interdependent Partners under the legislation) the same legal remedies regarding property division upon separation as given to married couples. As per my previous blogs on this subject, pets continue to be classified as “property” when their owners separate and thus, the Family Property Act appl ..read more