In very complicated files, it can sometime pay to seek help from the court by bringing in a civil claim, formally titled the tort of conspiracy. A Tort is a civil wrong such as negligence or breach of contract. One would ask the court in their application that various additional persons are jointly and severally […]
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Weird Will Wonders # 1
You must be very careful in choosing the witnesses to your will. A normal will,(in other words, not a handwritten holographic will which is an entirely different topic,) requires a will to be signed by the person making the will and in front of two witnesses who must also sign their name. However, no beneficiary […]
Read MoreWeird Will Wonders # 2
What happens to your will if after you sign it, you marry? Unless some magic words are used in the will upon a subsequent marriage it goes poof, it disappears, it becomes void, it becomes invalid. The magic words are along the lines “I make this will in contemplation of my marriage to Kim Kardashian…” […]
Read MoreWeird Will Wonders # 3
What happens to your will if after you make your will you get divorced? In those circumstances the will is interpreted as if the person that you divorced had died immediately before you. So, if you name your wife as the executor and the beneficiary of you will and then you divorce her, unless you […]
Read MoreGift Gone Wrong
Elsewhere on our website we have described the 3 essential ingredients for a legal gift. 1. An intention to make the gift 2. An actual acceptance of the gift 3. An actual delivery of the gift In the tragic case of Teixeira, a decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, we have a gift that […]
Read MoreSeeking a Reduction in Support. Be Very Careful.
We are frequently consulted by clients seeking a reduction in either child or spousal support. They may come armed with the fact that a child is no longer attending school or the other spouse is now living with a new partner and seek a reduction in support. It is not that simple and, one needs […]
Read MoreReducing your Support Retirement as a Material Change Double Dipping Again
It is not unusual for one, upon retiring and finding their income correspondingly reduced, coming to the logical conclusion that their spousal support payments be reduced. However as usual in family law, nothing is that straight forward. The Divorce Act pursuant to section 17(1)(a) gives the court the ability to change an existing order either […]
Read MoreWhose Lump Sum Tax Rate Do You Use Lump Sum Support
Both the Family Law Act and the Divorce Act give the court the ability to make a onetime lump sum spousal support payment. Sometimes especially in high conflict cases, the court or the parties will agree that a lump sum payment rather than periodic monthly payments are the best alternative. Examples of when this is […]
Read MoreReal Estate
Ontario in the 1990s modernized its system of registering almost all of the land and its ownership within the province. It moved from a very ancient system commonly referred to as the Registry Act System to an electronic/digital system that is part of the Torrens Regime. The Torrens Regime is named after its inventor, Sir […]
Read MoreHow do I set aside a Court Order when I knew nothing about the Case?
When parties separate, they at times lose track of each other. One party may start a court case and in certain circumstances, the other will know nothing about it. At other times, one can make a simple mistake and not attend court when they are required to. There are methods of setting aside a Court […]
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