Category Archives: Family

Legal Innovation, Access to Justice, and the University of Calgary’s Family Law Incubator

By: Kyle Gardiner

PDF Version: Legal Innovation, Access to Justice, and the University of Calgary’s Family Law Incubator

Matter Commented on: The University of Calgary’s Family Law Incubator

Family law litigants are increasingly experiencing difficulty with access to justice that compounds the nature of their legal problems. This post reviews the potential of the University of Calgary’s Family Law Incubator to meet the growing demand for legal services from Canadian families, and considers some regulatory issues surrounding its operation. Before discussing the specific contours of family law practice that would benefit most from this kind of legal innovation, I must first describe the problem that the Incubator is properly aimed at addressing. That problem is the lack of access to justice for family law litigants, as illustrated by the increasing frequency of self-represented litigants in family law matters at all levels of court in Alberta. Continue reading →

International Child Abduction: Safeguarding against Grave Risks of Harm in ‘Prompt Return’ Applications

By: Rudiger Tscherning

PDF Version: International Child Abduction: Safeguarding against Grave Risks of Harm in ‘Prompt Return’ Applications

Case Comment On: JP v TNP, 2016 ABQB 613 (CanLII)

Introduction

In an earlier post, I discuss in detail the objective and mechanism of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, 25 October 1980, 19 ILM 1501, to discourage the wrongful removal of a child from his or her habitual residence and the mechanism of ‘prompt return’ of the child to his or her habitual residence. In this post, I revisit the topic of international child abduction to discuss the decision of JP v TNP, 2016 ABQB 613 (CanLII) and the “grave risk” exception in Article 13(b) of the Convention. This exception can be invoked in ‘prompt return’ applications where a parent alleges that the child would be exposed to an “unreasonable and grave risk of physical and psychological harm” if the court ordered the child’s return to his or her habitual residence. In JP v TNP, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta struck a fair balance between the competing interest of the child and the overall objective of discouraging international child abductions. Continue reading →

No Priority for a Matrimonial Property Certificate of Lis Pendens Sandwiched Between Writs of Enforcement

By: Jonnette Watson Hamilton

PDF Version: No Priority for a Matrimonial Property Certificate of Lis Pendens Sandwiched Between Writs of Enforcement

Case Commented On: Singh v Mangat, 2016 ABQB 349 (CanLII)

The issue in Singh v Mangat was one of priority: in what order were different groups entitled to sale proceeds. There were three types of claimants to the proceeds of the sale of a husband’s interest in the matrimonial home: the wife, who had brought a matrimonial property action and registered a certificate of lis pendens on the title to those lands; those of the husband’s judgment creditors who registered their writs of enforcement on the title to the home before the wife’s certificate of lis pendens; and those of the husband’s judgment creditors who registered their writs of enforcement on the title to the home after the wife’s certificate of lis pendens. The relative timing of the registrations created what Master A. R. Robertson, QC, called a “CLP sandwich” (at para 2). This case appears to be the first time an issue of priority in circumstances involving a “CLP sandwich” has come before the Alberta courts. Master Robertson analyzed a complex statutory interpretation issue in order to resolve the priorities issue in this decision (handed down in June 2016 but only added to the CanLII database in October). In a result that might surprise those accustomed to priorities under a Torrens land title system, he resolved the issue in favour of all of the judgment creditors, those registered before the certificate of lis pendens and those registered after. Continue reading →

Flipping DBS: Finding Limits on Retroactive Child Support Variation

By: Kyle Gardiner

PDF Version: Flipping DBS: Finding Limits on Retroactive Child Support Variation

Case Commented On: CLW v SVW, 2016 ABQB 546, appeal filed.

In 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in the case of DBS v SRG, 2 SCR 231, 2006 SCC 37 (CanLII), which addressed the nuances of retroactive child support. A retroactive order for child support is one that has a start date prior to the date the order was made – for example, an order made in October for child support payments deemed to be payable as of August. In DBS v SRG, the Court reiterated that child support is the right of the child, and that this right survives the child’s parents’ marriage breakdown (at para 38). I have previously blogged on the pre-existing nature of this right to support (see here). The Court also stressed that courts are not precluded from considering retroactive awards just because the current child support regime is application based. The Court in DBS v SRG also held that the presumptive start date for a retroactive child support order should be the date the recipient gave notice to the payor that child support was needed, or “broaches the subject” as Justice Bastarache J (for the majority) puts it (at para 125). The majority held that child support may be sought retroactively to a maximum of three years from the date of the recipient’s application to court. However, if the payor has been found to have engaged in blameworthy conduct or misconduct of some sort, this three-year time limit would not apply (at para 5). The Court was silent with respect to time limits on retroactive variation orders like that sought in CLW v SVW, the case that is the subject of this post. Continue reading →

Polyamorous Families in Canada: Early Results of New Research from CRILF

By: John-Paul Boyd

PDF Version: Polyamorous Families in Canada: Early Results of New Research from CRILF

Report Commented On: Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, Perceptions of Polyamorous Relationships: Preliminary Data

On 20 June 2016, the Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family began a study on Canadian perceptions of polyamory, advertised with the assistance of the Canadian Polyamory Advocacy Association, gathering preliminary data with a public survey. The information gathered thus far, from the 547 people who answered our survey, paints a nuanced picture of polyamorous individuals and their family arrangements.

The polyamorous families we are looking at are those created by three or more freely consenting adults, in distinction to faith-based, and often patriarchal, forms of polygamy that exist in much of Africa, the Middle East and North America, the latter of which have been popularized in shows like Big Love and Sister Wives. The polyamorous population we are studying places a high value on equality and honesty, and the rights of individuals to leave a relationship when and how they wish. Continue reading →