family law

Mediating Separation While Living Together: How to Keep the Peace and Move Forward

Negotiating a separation while still living together isn’t easy, but it’s possible to keep the peace. Get practical tips on mediating divorce issues under one roof—respect boundaries, protect your kids from the fallout, and turn tension into cooperation.

How to Calculate Child Support in Ontario

Child support ensures that children continue to be financially supported by both parents, even after separation or divorce. In Ontario, child support calculations are based on the Federal Child Support Guidelines and include both a basic amount for living expenses and special expenses for things like medical care and education. Payments are typically based on the paying parent’s gross income, and support is payable even in 50-50 custody arrangements.

Why High Net Worth Individuals and Celebrities Choose Mediation

Discover why high net worth individuals and public figures benefit from mediation during separation. Learn how mediation protects privacy, shields the digital footprint, and provides tailored solutions, using a compelling recent mediation example. Explore the advantages of keeping personal and financial matters confidential and secure.

Understanding the Cost of Divorce

Expenses associated with divorce can vary - anywhere from $5,000 for mediation to $30,000 for litigation. Understanding the factors that lead to this difference can help you take control of your separation, keep costs low, and avoid a prolonged court battle.

Date of Separation in Ontario: What is it and why does it matter?

The date of separation is not just about emotional closure; it has legal consequences that can shape the course of your divorce journey. When it comes to untangling the threads of a relationship in Ontario, the date of separation holds significant sway. It's not just a marker of emotional closure; it's a legal milestone that can shape the course of your divorce journey. So, let's delve into the specifics of why this date matters.

The Dangers of Putting Your Ex Down in Front of Children

Separation and divorce can be emotionally charged, leading some individuals to express their frustrations by putting their ex-spouse down, especially in front of their children. However, this harmful behavior can have lasting negative consequences for both the children and the co-parenting relationship. In this blog, we will explore the dangers of speaking negatively about one's ex-partner in front of children and highlight the importance of fostering a healthy co-parenting dynamic during and after separation.

Mediation: Know Your Options

Mediation has become very popular because it’s less expensive, more efficient and less antagonistic than the court system. Our team has diverse backgrounds and experience in mental health and family law. We will work with you individually or as a team, and will attend all sessions, review your documents, provide guidance, and help generate options for the best-possible outcome for your family.

Legal Advice: Why You Shouldn’t Skip It

No matter which path you take, ILA (Independent Legal Advice) is always encouraged. It protects you and your agreement. Once you have a separation agreement or before, you can spend a couple of hours with a family lawyer to make sure you understand your rights and obligations.Once you have a draft separation agreement, you can take that agreement to a family lawyer for ILA. This is not the same thing as hiring a lawyer for a “legal battle”. So, it is important that you choose the right lawyer who’s aligned with your goals to keep things as smooth as possible, cost-effective and timely.

A Cautionary Tale From a Divorced Father: What Really Happens in Ontario Family Court

Attending court obviously does not resemble anything like one sees on the TV screen and this is even more evident when attending Family Court in Ontario Canada (and probably everywhere else).This father, who wishes to remain anonymous for the sake of his children, shares his story on how he "spent 10 years and 500k only to learn that Family Court is a total waste of money with no way to gauge the cost while there are better alternatives with which you can know the cost."

How Divorce Affects Your Business

When a married couple separates in Ontario, they must disclose to each other the property they accumulated during the marriage. If you own a business or you're self-employed, there are extra steps you need to take in order to prepare.

Framing Mediation: Family-Centricity or Lawyer Protectionism?

The push for litigating divorce contributes to stonewalling the development of fundamental problem-solving skill-sets as well as the removing and stripping away critical elements that individuals need to resolve conflict in a healthier manner.

What is Your Lawyer Telling You About Divorce and Mediation?

Divorce mediation is becoming the popular choice for families who want to save money, time and their co-parenting relationship. The reality is, that if you have children, court should be your last resort. If you hire a lawyer, will they tell you that?According to their Rules of Professional Conduct, lawyers have an obligation to inform clients of the use of mediation ( or alternative dispute resolution (ADR)): “When appropriate, the lawyer should inform the client of ADR options and, if so instructed, take steps to pursue those options.”

The Cost of Going to Court: No One Wins

Lawyering up can be bad for your mental health. As a result of mass media, and TV and film in particular we have been very much conditioned as a culture to ‘lawyer up’ as soon as one partner declares the marriage isn’t working or is over. Let’s face it, the thousands of peaceful divorces that happen all the time do not make for interesting news or drama precisely because they are mostly free of any drama that can be monetized. So instead, after 5, 10, 15 or 20 plus years of marriage, many couples automatically just do as they see and move directly to their designated corner of the ring, ready to fight, determining how to prepare to sustain several rounds. According to Statistics Canada, the average duration of marriages in Canada remains steady around 14 years with 42% of the divorces occurring for marriages lasting between 10 and 24 years.

What is a Parenting Plan? Why do I Need One?

When a couple separates, they, typically, address two major things in their separation agreement: property division and parenting arrangements.

My lawyer told me not to mediate. After $67,000 in legal fees and 3 years in court, I’m broken.

When they decided to separate, Lucy and her husband wanted to go through mediation. But her lawyer told her it’s a “waste of time and money”.

Family Court: Well-known Judge Tells You What You Need to Know, Before You Head that Way.

Family Court Judge, Harvey Brownstone, warns families about going to court. Ask anyone who has ever appeared in family court as a litigant – even if they had a lawyer – and they are almost certain to describe their experience as unsatisfactory. Why? What can be done to help people so that their family court experience is more predictable, more positive and constructive, less time-consuming, and consequently more beneficial to themselves and their children? An even more important question is, What can be done to help people avoid going to court in the first place?