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 presumably would establish what payments or property transfers would be made if the couple ever separated or divorced.  I am no expert on “royalty law” but I am given to understand that there may be some question about the legality or enforceability of a marriage contract entered into by a member of a royal family.  Fortunately for you (and me) this is not the type of question that I am asked every day in my family law practice.  There aren’t very many royals in my ’neck of the woods’.

That said, there is an increasing use of cohabitation agreements and marriage contracts between persons contemplating a long term relationship or marriage.  More frequently, people are waiting longer to get married and they are coming into the new relationship or marriage with a more significant asset base and thus they want to protect what they have in the event of a separation.  Also, people entering into (what they hope will be) long term relationships or marriages have witnessed their own parents separations and want to avoid the hardship and fighting that they observed in their own parents’ separation.

When I discuss the wisdom of a marriage contract or cohabitation agreement with a client, I describe it much like an “insurance policy” – it is something you should have; but hope to never use .  It is only relevant in the event of a separation and it is designed to govern what is to happen with respect to the division of property (or a payment in respect of property) and spousal support (alimony in some jurisdictions).

A Cohabitation Agreement (in the case of common-law spouses) or a Marriage Contract (in the case of married spouses) assist separating spouses in determining such things as:

  • The ownership of various properties upon separation (not just land, but also such items as bank accounts, investments, jewelry, vehicles, time-share vacation properties.  The exception to this is that rights with respect to occupation of the “matrimonial home” cannot be bargained away in a Marriage Contract.
  • Which spouse will be responsible for the various debts that exist at the time of separation
  • How jointly owned property will be handled – if one or both spouses wish to buy the other spouse’s interest in a jointly owned house, cottage, etc.
  • If spousal support will be paid (or not) and if so, for how long and in what amount
  • The rights to determine the educational and religious training of the children

One of the issues that cannot be addressed in a Cohabitation Agreement or Marriage Contract is the custody of children of the relationship in the event of a separation.  Custody of children is always based on the “best interests of the children”. It is difficult to predict a child’s best interests at some time in the future (separation) at the time of negotiation of the Cohabitation Agreement or Marriage Contract.

In Ontario the statutory requirements for a valid Marriage Contract or Cohabitation Agreement are set out in the Family Law Act and are:

  • There must be full (meaningful) disclosure between the parties regarding their financial circumstances at the time of entering into the agreement;
  • Each party must have the opportunity to receive independent legal advice about the agreement
  • The agreement/contract must be in writing and the parties’ signatures must be witnessed

I am confident that Prince William and Kate Middleton will have no shortage of high quality advice (legal and otherwise).  For those of us non-royals, I  would consider investing some time and money on carefully considering what you would like to see in place in the event of a separation.

On a regular basis I have clients come to me with a rough agreement in hand asking me to draft a Separation Agreement for them. These are the client’s who tell me they are “amicably” separating; they “just want out”, and/or they don’t want to spend a lot of money on legal fees.  Quite often they have:

  1. done some research on the internet,
  2. sat down with their spouse, and
  3. they  have worked out between themselves issues like where the children will live, how their family property and debts are to be split, and how much spousal and child support will be paid.

They come to me saying that they have “worked it all out” and they just want me to draft the Separation Agreement for them based on what they present to me and usually they want me to do it as quickly and inexpensively as possible.

When parties come to me in this fashion, they sometime baulk when I tell them I need more information and, when I ask them for back up documentation to support their “agreement”, they are often reluctant to gather the documentation.   I ask questions and look to documentation because I have minimum professional standards that I must meet as a lawyer which require me to ensure that I can properly advise my client regarding their entitlements and risks. To meet professional standards (even if the parties are amicable) a lawyer I must:

  1. Obtain sufficient reliable information to be able to ascertain what the client would likely receive or be required to pay for spousal support, child support and matrimonial property division should the matter be resolved at trial and so advise my client;
  2. Give the client a description of options to any proposed settlement, an opinion on whether any proposed settlement is reasonable, and a discussion of the pros and cons of that settlement in comparison to the other options so that any decision to settle is an informed decision; and
  3. Tell a client who takes the position that he or she wants to settle without having received full information from the other side that they may be accepting less or paying more than what would be required according to law. To provide to that client an assessment of the impact of the risk including estimates of the value of what might be lost or paid above what was necessary to the extent possible on the basis of the information then available.

You are entitled to give up legal entitlements in order to achieve a settlement, but that will never excuse your counsel from the requirement that he or she ask the questions and get the information needed to properly advise you and to help you make informed choices.  So if you are going to a lawyer with agreement in hand, be prepared for questions and bring along your paperwork.

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 details of breakup or what assets or financial assistance (if any) that she kept or is receiving, it was clear from the article that as a full-time working woman with an 18 year old son (who is supportive of her career) that there are incredible stresses to keep the family going and to stay ahead of the monthly bills.

As the leader of a provincial political party you might think that being able to pay the bills and juggle her various responsibilities would not be a huge problem for Ms. Horwath.  You might assume that she has someone to assist her with buying the groceries, cleaning the house, doing the laundry and making the meals.

However, from the reading the article it is apparent that Ms. Horwath faces many of the same stresses as any other single working parent (mother) in Ontario.  According to Ms Horwath: “The stress is there; it is there from the minute you wake up until the minute you go to bed… The best way to deal with it is to acknowledge it, realize it’s normal and that other folks are having similar stresses.”.

Common-law spouses in Ontario who have lived together for more than 3 years may be entitled to financial support from the other spouse much the same way as married spouses who separated are entitled to alimony.  In addition, if there are children of the relationship then the parent who has the primary care of the children is entitled to receive child support from the other parent. The amount of support is determined by 2 main factors – the income of the paying parent and the number of children for whom there is a child support obligation.

Also, separating common-law spouses may be entitled to some form of payment for their contributions to the purchase of property acquired during the relationship even though that property may be ‘owned’ by the other spouse.  This determination, however, is a very complicated one.

If you feel that you may have rights regarding child support, spousal support or division of property, you should obtain some legal advice. While this will not reduce all of the stress you experience in ending a long-time relationship, it may help ease the financial stress and adverse consequences of ending a common-law union.

The Family Responsibility Office (FRO) is responsible for enforcing support payments in Ontario.  Once an Order is made in Court for child support or spousal support, it is filed with FRO for enforcement unless both parties sign a Notice of Withdrawal indicating that they do not wish to have the Order enforced by FRO.

If you and your spouse get along well and you have determined that providing post-dated cheques or monthly deposits to an account is acceptable, then perhaps you will agree not to involve FRO.  Your partner for whatever reason may not wish to have their wages garnisheed at their work.  If however there is any doubt at all about receiving payment in a timely fashion, then FRO is the best route for you. 

Initially there may be a delay in receiving the support payments.  There is a process which must be followed.  FRO must receive your Court Order.  They will then forward a package to you whether you are the support recipient or the support payor for completion. The package will include information regarding your case number and pin number.  Ensure that you keep this information in a safe place.  You will need it whenever you contact FRO to determine information concerning your case.

As the support payor, it is your responsibility to pay funds to FRO either through garnishment of your wages or cheques, automatic debits to FRO in advance of your payment so that the payments can then be sent to the recipient.

As the support recipient, it is your responsibility to advise FRO where you want the funds deposited and any information you have on the support payor which will assist them in obtaining payments.  If you do not receive a payment, it is necessary to complete a Statement of Arrears. 

The best source of information with respect to the Family Responsibility Office and how it works can be found on the website for the Family Responsibility Office.  Review:

It is important for you to be informed about FRO and how it works for you. Your lawyer is always able to assist you with questions you have regarding the process but you are your best advocate when it comes to dealing with FRO and the enforcement of your support payments.

In the majority of Family Court proceedings, the case conference is the first time the parties will appear before a judge.  As a result, some people feel pretty nervous going in to it – they may not really know what to expect.  Hopefully this overview will provide some general and practical information …. and help calm some nerves at the same time.

The first step is to prepare a case conference brief.  This is a signed document that must be served and filed in advance of the court date so that everyone knows what issues are on the table  and so that the judge can read it ahead of time.   A confirmation must also be filed a couple of days prior to the court date  so that the court knows which matters are actually going to go ahead that day.

On the day of the case conference, you should be punctual as you may have to proceed at the time when your conference is scheduled.  That being said, you should also be prepared for a wait.  It is possible to arrive at court for a 9:30 a.m. case conference and, as a result of many different factors, not leave court until after 5:00 p.m. (It is a good idea to bring a book or some other kind of distraction … maybe a snack … for periods when there may be a lull in the activity). 

In terms of the actual case conference, it is essentially a meeting.  The parties and their lawyers need to be present at the meeting and a judge will control and direct a discussion about the issues in the case.  The goal is to explore the chances of settling some or all of the issues by agreement and to resolve the issues that can be settled by way of a court order made on consent.  The judge will give his or her recommendations about the issues and that gives the parties the valuable opportunity of hearing a judge’s preliminary opinion early on in the proceeding.

For any issues that remain in dispute, the judge will give direction so that a plan is established for the next steps in the case.  An important aspect of that plan is to ensure that there is a proper exchange of documents between the parties so that both sides of the dispute have the information that will be required to ultimately resolve the matter.

The case conference is held in a courtroom (in our jurisdiction anyway) but, unless the parties agree or a judge gives permission for others to be present, only the parties and their lawyers will attend the meeting.  Bringing a friend or a family member for support is perfectly fine but the supporters will generally have to stay outside of the courtroom during the conference.

A judge at a case conference is able to make orders in certain circumstances.  Most commonly a case conference judge makes an order with the parties’ agreement.  The judge is also able to make procedural orders (setting deadlines for the exchange of documents, etc.) and even some substantive orders in appropriate circumstances provided the party asking for the order has served notice of the request on the other party.

After the case conference (unless the matter is resolved) the parties are expected to follow through with the plan that was developed.  That means that you provide the disclosure you are required to provide in accordance with the deadlines that you have been given and you get as organized as possible for the next event  – that could be another case conference, a settlement conference, or a motion.

A case conference is one step, of what could be many in a Family Court Proceeding.  Take a deep breath, realize that it is an attendance that is required by the Rules, make the most of it in terms of listening to the information and direction that is being provided, and  …  try to keep the nerves at bay.

Women's day.jpgCan you envision a world in which women had no rights – they were ruled by their husbands or their fathers.  They owned nothing – everything belonged to their man – first the father then the husband.  WHOA —- mind blowing to most of us in this present day and age.

Women have throughout the ages sought equal rights with men.  The Women’s Suffrage movement campaigned successfully for women’s right to vote . In the late 1930s and early 1940s women entered the work force in large numbers as a result of men being away fighting World War II.  Although some women remained in the work force at the end of World War II, many returned to the home in the fifties leading to the great “baby boom” generation.  Some returned to work part-time to support the family while their husband’s furthered their education. In the sixties we saw the birth control pill, hippies, free love and communes. Feminists such as Betty Friedman (author of “The Feminine Mystique”) and Gloria Steinem were active in women’s rights during this period.

Women’s rights were changing in Canada .  Significant events included:

  • Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson commissioned the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in 1968.  The report in 1970 led to recommendations to provide for equal opportunities for men and women.
  • In 1972 the National Action Committee on the Status of Women was formed.
  • The Canadian Human Rights Act, 1977 gave basic rights to all humans.  Among other rights, it stated that there is “equal pay for work of equal value”.
  • The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which was part of the Canadian Constitution established in 1982, included equality of sexes.
  • Bertha Wilson was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court in 1982.

These were significant events to women of the day.  I in fact have a framed copy of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms hanging in my office. As we celebrate “International Day of Women” with various events throughout this week, we should take a moment to thank those women who came before us.  They took a stand to make the politicians and lawmakers see that the rights of women needed to be changed and made those changes happen.  We are reaping the benefits of their actions.  Take a moment to talk to those women you know who are now in their 60s , 70s, or 80s.  You will be amazed at the stories they have to tell of difficulties they encountered in the work place back in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s.  Watch “The Working Girl” a movie showing the difficulties in the workplace in the 1980s.  Hopefully we too are continuing to make a difference so that the women of the next generation will continue to reap the benefits.

Keep an eye out for an upcoming series on the progression of Family Law from the 1960s to today.

It seems there are as many types of insurance as there are insurance companies or agents.  The industry has created a variety of products designed to fill a variety of purposes, including coverage for debts, illness, injury or disability as well as life insurance.

There are two basic types of life insurance – term and permanent.  Term life insurance is generally the most common type of insurance as it is often the least expensive.  Permanent insurance, also known as whole or universal life, is more expensive than term but may offer a savings investment or dividend payout option which also increases the value of the policy.

In the event you have a whole or universal policy, the cash surrender value of your policy at both the dates of marriage and separation are included in a net family property calculation.  A cash surrender value is the amount the insurance company would pay if the insurance policy is cancelled.

For the purpose of completing your Financial Statement, it is important to include all of your insurance, whether it is coverage provided by your employer, financial institution or an individual policy you purchased yourself.

In order to save time and expense and as soon as you can, ask your insurance company or agent to provide you with a statement for each policy which includes the following information:

  1. the company who has issued to policy, the type of insurance and policy number;
  2. the owner of the policy and the name of the person whose life the policy covers, also called the “insured”,
  3. the dollar amount that will be paid on the death of the insured, also called the “face amount”;
  4. the amount of the premium, which is also helpful when completing Part 2: Expenses;
  5. the named beneficiary and confirmation if this designation is “irrevocable” (cannot be changed without the beneficiary’s knowledge and/or consent), and
  6. the cash surrender value and accumulated dividends at the dates of marriage, separation and when the statement has been prepared.

You may also want to provide a copy of your policy in the event you are asked to produce it in the future.   If you have coverage through your work, it would be wise to obtain a similar statement from your provider and supply a copy of your benefits booklet.

In addition to forming part of your full financial disclosure, this information is also important when a spouse is claiming security for future child and/or spousal support.  This issue will be dealt with in more detail in a future posting.

Please be sure you speak with your lawyer before you make any decisions about insurance, including changing your beneficiary, borrowing against any cash value or cancelling your coverage.

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 legislatively protected rights and they must therefore depend on judge-made decisions to provide them with a monetary or proprietary award in the event of a separation, unless the unmarried spouses were “lucky” enough to have a Cohabitation Agreement created during happier times in their relationship.

Because judge-made law can be highly idiosyncratic, advising a client who is exiting a common-law relationship as to their options is very problematic for family law lawyers.  Some broadly-based (judge-made) legal principles have developed  to guide common-law spouses as to their “rights” and “entitlements” or, more correctly, to establish what property or financial awards they may be (or may not be) entitled to. Courts and judges have interpreted these broad principles differently, however and have applied the principles differently to different fact situations and this has led to no small degree of confusion.

The Supreme Court of Canada has just released a decision in 2 cases heard together (Kerr v Baranow and Vanasse v Seguin found at 2011 S.C.C. 10) that attempts to clarify and simply the process for determining common-law spouses’ entitlements when separating.

The Court reasoned that “unjust enrichment” principles are to be the most appropriate mechanisms to re-dress possible inequities arising when common-law spouses separate.   If a spouse seeking such a remedy can satisfy 3 factors, then a Court will likely re-dress any inequity.  Those 3 factors are:

One spouse has received a benefit as a result of the other spouse’s actions (usually in the form of a transfer of a property or an increase in the value of the property);

The other spouse has suffered a deprivation as a result of their efforts in bestowing a benefit on the other spouse (usually in the form a lost opportunity to accumulate assets in their own name);

There is no reason in law requiring one spouse to have bestowed the benefit upon the other spouse.

In the past, courts have often required the claiming spouse to show a direct connection between their efforts (financial or otherwise) and the acquisition of the property that is now in the other spouse’s name.

The Supreme Court has now set out a more “common sense” analysis that may make it more straightforward for separating common-law spouses to determine if one spouse will have an obligation to compensate the other for their efforts or contributions during the relationship.

The Court states: “The legal consequences of the breakdown of a domestic relationship should reflect realistically the way people live their lives.  It should not impost on them the need to engage in an artificial balance sheet approach which does not reflect the true nature of the relationship”.  The decision places considerable importance in establishing whether there is a “joint family venture” and if so, to divide the net wealth that has survived during the “joint family venture” period of the relationship equitably (not necessarily equally) in a manner that fairly reflects the efforts of the partners.  Not every relationship will be found to be a “joint family venture”, but in examining the relationship at hand, the court will review the evidence under four broad headings:

Mutual Effort,

Economic Integration,

Actual Intent; and,

Priority of the Family

This Supreme Court of Canada decision will assist family law lawyers in advising common law spouses who are separating regarding their respective rights and obligations.

As always, if you find yourself in this type of situation you should seek out competent legal advice

Hair wash

Well not quite, but Part 2 Expenses of the Financial Statement relates to your monthly expenses, which essentially deal with all the money going out each month. Something none of us likes to think about and until you write it down, you often do not realize just what it is you are spending monthly. This process can be agonizing for some. You are already emotionally a wreck and dealing with these figures can send you over the edge – it seems so unnecessary to deal with this given the other things going on in your life. It is, however, part of the financial statement which is one of the first things to bedone by both parties as part of the requirement for full and fair financial disclosure.

Income is dealt with in Part 1 of the financial statement. This part indicates what monies are coming in each month. Now we need to determine how much is going out and whether you have a deficit or surplus at the end of the month (income minus expenses). We are often asked if it is better to have a deficit. It is neither better to have a surplus or a deficit. What is best is to be truthful as to what your expenses are. Do you think you are making ends meet each month with a little over or is there a shortfall?

Deductions – Your T4 or latest paystub will assist in determining what your deductions are for CPP, EI, Income Tax, and other deductions taken directly from your pay.

Housing and Utility Expenses – Review your monthly bills to see what you actually paid over the course of the last year and divide by 12. This will take into account the colder months when your heating may have been higher or perhaps you use more electricity during the summer months when everyone is home.

The balance of the monthly expenses are pretty straight forward. Look at your bank statements or online banking transactions and see just what you are spending. Divide the yearly expense by 12 for a monthly figure or if a weekly figure multiply by 4.33 (because some months have more than 4 weeks). Keep in mind that there is one less person in the household (if yours is a recent separation) and adjust your figures accordingly.

The extraordinary expenses for the children will be set out on Schedule B to the Financial Statement. The monthly figure should be shown in your monthly expenses for the portion to be paid by you.

Often we hear that “he put down $500.00 a month for entertainment so I should have the same”. It is not about what the ex spouse put down. He or she will have to justify their values. It is about what you truly spend. There are opportunities down the road for either side to be questioned on the values in their financial statement. A financial statement is a sworn document. By signing the statement you are stating that to the best of your knowledge and belief, the facts contained therein are correct. It is not something to be taken lightly. If you are asked why you put $500.00 a month for entertainment, you need an answer – it can’t be “well the law clerk told me to put that in”, or “my husband spends that so I should be able to”. It must be what you truly believe you spend – well I go to the movies 2x a month, plus I belong to a chorus which costs me “x” dollars and I golf which costs me “x” dollars. Better to have an explanation.

Over the course of your legal proceeding, you may want to start a folder and keep certain major receipts. I am not speaking of keeping every receipt for groceries (after all I really don’t want that receipt for your shampoo and conditioner) but you may want to start organizing your household bills in a fashion that you can easily access bills if required to explain any of your expenses. If you do repairs to the home, you will want to keep your receipts to prove that you paid that expense.

If you note a current monthly expense for savings, there should be a corresponding asset under the Bank Accounts, Savings. If you note a debt payment, there should be a corresponding debt under the Debts section. Your monthly expenses need to accurately reflect your current lifestyle. If for example the total of your monthly expenses are high, and you have a deficit, we will look to the debt section to see if in fact you are incurring greater debt to fund your monthly expenses. If there is no corresponding debt, it would seem that your monthly expenses are somewhat inflated. Similarly, if you have a significant surplus there should be a corresponding savings and if not, perhaps you have not taken every expense into account.

The Proposed Budget at the end of the Financial Statement will be completed in the same manner, however, it will include those expenses which you cannot currently afford but hope to once you resolved your outstanding issues and have either purchased your spouse’s interest in the matrimonial home or purchased or rented a new home i.e. mortgage, taxes, insurance not previously paid by you, vacation expenses you didn’t want to spend during the ongoing litigation, etc.

This can be a good opportunity to actually review your spending habits and see if there are any ways to trim the Budget. We are all guilty of spending more on the “want” vs. “need” side. With the recent recession many people have cut-back and trimmed their budgets. Actually looking at your bank records to see what you spend can be a wake-up call to your spending habits.

Remember your lawyer’s law clerk or assistant is there to help you and make the process easier. Don’t be afraid to ask for assistance.

In this third and final blog article dealing with the procedure of a criminal charge within the contexts of family separation issues, I will pick up where I left off in my second blog, at the crown resolution meeting.

As indicated in my last article, one of the focuses of the crown resolution meeting is to explore a resolution of the criminal charge.

The range of resolution options available to the crown attorney are:

  1. a withdrawal of the charge
  2. that the client to enter into a peace bond
  3. an absolute or conditional discharge
  4. a suspended or conditional sentence and/or
  5. jail

In a domestic assault scenario, an adjunct to the above noted dispositions is a condition, usually enforceable through a period of probation, that the client receives anger management counseling, either individual counseling or group domestic counseling session of four months duration called PARS.

In both anger management counseling scenarios, the client would provide a positive report from the counselor.

The client, fundamentally, has two choices in relation to the criminal charge:

1.   Enter a Guilty Plea:   . In the event that the crown attorney and client can agree upon a sentence, the charge will proceed to a guilty plea with a Judge receiving a joint sentence proposal whereby both the crown and defence counsel join in on a sentencing proposal. In entering a guilty plea, the client must first accept responsibility for all of the essential elements of the offence (ie: in the case of assault that he intentionally applied physical force to the complainant without her consent). The client must also be entering his guilty plea freely and voluntarily and under the understanding that, even with a joint submission, there is no guarantee that the Judge will accept the joint sentence proposal.

2.   Elect to Proceed to Trial:  At trial, the onus is on the crown attorney to prove all of the elements of the assault charge beyond a reasonable doubt. In the event that the client is acquitted at trial, the criminal charge and any release conditions that the client has been subject to come to an end. In the event that the client is convicted at trial, the crown may request a harsher sentence than the sentence the crown was prepared to agree to in the event that the client entered a guilty plea. The harsher sentence after a trial is to reflect the fact that the client had not demonstrated any remorse and had required the complainant to attend at trial and be subject to cross examination.  From a family law context, the conviction at trial could be used in evidence by the complainant in family court.

From a timing standpoint, electing to proceed to trial will mean that the criminal charge will remain unresolved for several months until the trial date. Release undertakings will remain in effect unless defence counsel is able to arrange a variation, with or without consent of the crown, until trial.

A resolution of the charges( a guilty plea or a peace bond disposition )can take place fairly quickly. A guilty plea by the client can, however, be used as evidence in the family court context.

Assuming the client does not have a criminal record, the most frequent charge dispositions range from peace bonds to conditional discharges.

1.   Peace Bond:  A peace bond is, in essence, a private undertaking that the accused enters into to keep the peace and be of good behavior for a period of 12 months. There is usually a condition imposed as part of the peace bond that the client have no contact or communication or association, directly or indirectly, with the complainant during the period of probation, unless such communication is pursuant to a written revocable consent that the complainant executes and files with the crown attorney’s office. The non communication condition can also be excepted by a family court order.

The condition in relation to communication with the complainant is frequently inserted as a period of probation in the conditional discharge/suspended sentence dispositions as well.

The attractiveness of a peace bond disposition is that the criminal assault charge is withdrawn. Because the peace bond is a private undertaking given by the client to the court, it is not a conviction for criminal record purposes.

2.   Conditional Discharge: The conditional discharge disposition is the most frequent of sentences in domestic assault situations. The procedure involves the client entering a guilty plea to the assault charge. The client is then placed on probation for 12 months with conditions similar to the conditions described in relation to the peace bond. In the event that the client successfully completes the period of probation he receives a discharge from the offence. The discharge is not, for criminal record purposes, a criminal conviction and the client therefore remains conviction free.

The fact of the client entering a guilty plea to the charge is, however, evidence which can be used in the family court proceeding.

3.   Suspended Sentence: A suspended sentence is similar to the conditional discharge disposition in that the client is placed on probation and, if the client successfully completes the period of probation, his sentence is completed. The suspended sentence disposition is, however, a criminal conviction and client will end up with a criminal record.