By Douglas J. Manning, Partner, Certified Specialist in Family Law
In 1985 the adoption laws in Ontario were changed so as to allow for the adoption of an adult by another adult. This was done primarily to allow long-standing pseudo parent-child relationships to be recognized by the law as just as legitimate as “real” biological…
By Douglas J. Manning, Partner, Certified Specialist in Family Law
I have provided services as a mediator and arbitrator for several years. In addition, I have conferred with other mediators in the field. Given our experiences here are some suggestions to make the best use of family mediation.
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By Douglas J. Manning, Partner, Certified Specialist in Family Law
For years family law lawyers in Ontario (and their clients) having been waiting for (and lobbying for) changes to the legislation governing pensions upon separation. The reason for the desire for change was to be able to treat a spouse’s (or both spouses’) pension(s) more…
A recent, short article in a national newspaper caught my attention. Apparently, lawmakers in Mexico City are considering enacting legislation that would allow for “trial” marriages as short as 2 years in duration. (I know some of you may be thinking “all marriages are like going through a trial”). This proposed law would allow couples…
By Douglas J. Manning, Partner, Certified Specialist in Family Law
A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision has re-affirmed the principle that if a support payor’s income increases and they fail to reveal this information to the support recipient then they are in jeopardy of having their support obligation increased retroactively so as to result…
The Family Law Lawyers at Burgar Rowe are pleased to introduce their new mediation and arbitration services. Increasingly over the past 10-15 years the courts have been inundated with family law cases. This has caused a considerable backlog of court cases that have caused countless separating couples needless delays and legal expenses in resolving their…
In an earlier blog post, Samantha Cain commented on the law that is often applied to grandparents who might wish to preserve their relationship with their grandchildren after the grandchildren’s parents have separated. As Samantha indicated, there is no automatic right for grandparents to maintain their relationships with their grandchildren – whether it is…
The pending nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton have attracted an inordinate amount of public attention. We all seem to be captivated by royalty (whether it be political, sports, entertainment, or the real thing!).
There are some ‘gossipy’ rumors circulating that Prince William and Kate have agreed to enter into a marriage contract that…
A recent article in the Toronto Star, ‘The Political Becomes Personal’ – Tanya Talaga, Saturday March 12th, brought home to me the additional stress that single parent/working women face in our ‘liberated’ society.
NDP leader Andrea Horwath had recently ended her 25 year common-law relationship. While the article did not deal with any of the…
Married spouses in Ontario, and the other provinces, have enshrined legislated rights on how their rights and interests in property are determined in the event of a separation. There is a specific formula that sets out each spouse’s monetary entitlement upon separation, with a few specific exceptions.
Unlike married spouses, unmarried partners have no such…
