Supreme Court Decision Summarizes Law on Costs

In the recent case of Schuller v. Roback, the court has been called upon the explain the thorny, vexing and generally irksome area of the law known as "costs." Costs has a special legal meaning; it's not the bill of the client's lawyer and it's not the client's out-of-pocket expenses for photocopying, court fees and so forth. Costs are a way of compensating someone for the overall expense and hassle they've been put to as a result of having to go to court, and costs are only available in the Supreme Court. Costs are usually awarded to the person...

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Slight Increase in Funding for Legal Aid

The Attorney General has announced a slight increasing in funding for the Legal Services Society, the organization that provides legal aid in British Columbia. According to the press release, additional funds of $2.1 million, which I calculate to amount to 3% of the society's present budget, are meant to "assist families with emergency family matters related to custody or access, as well as to provide for representation for parents with children in the custody of the Ministry of Children and Family Development." Although I'm happy for any increasing...

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New Child Support Tables in Effect

Brand new child support tables came into effect today, just in time for the new year. As discussed in my post "New Child Support Tables for 2012," the new numbers aren't terribly different than the old and lots of payors will see their child support obligations actually decrease. The new tables are available in the version of the Child Support Guidelines presently published by the Department of Justice. You can also use the Department's nifty child support calculator based on the new tables. You can read the notice from the Department of Justice...

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Supreme Court of Canada Releases Decisions on Spousal Support

The Supreme Court of Canada has just released a brace of decisions on the variation of spousal support orders in L.M.P. v. L.S. and R.P. v. R.C. L.M.P. is the primary decision, and R.P. applies the reasoning in L.M.P. in different circumstances. In L.M.P., the wife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis following the parties' marriage, stopped work and began to receive disability benefits. The parties separated after fourteen years of marriage and a year later, in 2003, signed a separation agreement under which the husband would pay spousal support...

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Cohabitation Agreements and the new Family Law Act:Why you probably want a cohabitation agreement

In a previous post, “Why you DON’T Want a Cohabitation Agreement,” I summarized the law on the division of property between unmarried couples and how s. 120.1 of the Family Relations Act usually made cohabitation agreements a very, very bad idea when the purpose of the agreement was to protect property brought into a relationship.  That’s all changed as a result of the enactment of the Family Law Act on 24 November 2011. Let me explain. Property, unmarried couples and the Family Relations Act Under the Family Relations Act, married...

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Leave Required to Appeal Interim Divorce Act Orders

My friend Agnes Huang, until very recently of the eminent Vancouver firm Schuman Daltrop Basran & Robin, has brought my attention to Elgner v. Elgner, a June 2011 decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal. Agnes and I have had some interesting discussions about the implications of the case in British Columbia which I think should be shared more widely, especially since the Supreme Court of Canada made the decision not to hear Mr. Elgner's appeal in November 2011. The fundamental question raised in Elgner, and left somewhat hanging as a result...

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New Blog on Shari'a Law in America

I've just learned of an interesting new blog, Shari'a Index, which digests significant American court cases addressing Islamic law, features a collection of links to case law, and offers case commentaries on diverse subjects including Muslim finance and the enforceability of Muslim marriage contracts. Although the blog is just getting started, it's already worth a vis...

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Supreme Court Releases Decision on Agents Appearing in Court

The British Columbia Supreme Court has just released a decision, in the case of Ambrosi v. Duckworth, on the right of parties to have people other than lawyers appear in court on their behalf. The problem arises from s. 15(1) of the Legal Profession Act which says that "no person, other than a practising lawyer, is permitted to engage in the practice of law;" s. 85 of the act makes it an offence, punishable under the Offence Act, to contravene s. 15. The Legal Profession Act offers a few exceptions to this general prohibition: a party to an action...

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New Child Support Tables for 2012

The federal Department of Justice has announced new child support tables for the Child Support Guidelines which will take effect on 31 December 2011. The tables were last updated in 2006. According to the Department's notice, the same formulas were used to determine the new amounts as were used in 2006, and any changes in the new tables are the result of changes in federal and provincial tax rules. The changes are relatively minor. Some payors with incomes below $50,000 per year may see their child support obligations decrease: $25,000 income one...

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Family Law Act Receives Royal Assent

Bill 16, the Family Law Act, passed third reading in the provincial legislature on 23 November 2011 seemingly without amendment and received Royal Assent yesterday, according to the legislature's excellent "Progress of Bills" webpage. Although the act is now law, most of it — in fact, almost all of it — is not in force, and will not come into force except by order in council in, according to the Attorney General, 12 to 18 months. Section 482 of the act sets out a table showing which parts of the act are in force now, and which will come into...

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