Heath Campbell of Flemington, N.J., likes unusual names for his children.

Not just unusual, but what some would call provocative. Campbell has four children: Adolf Hitler Campbell, 7, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell, 6, and, Honzlynn Jeannie Campbell, 5.

Campbell was in court today to determine whether he could visit his youngest son, Heinrich Hons, who is 2.  The older siblings had been removed from the home over allegations of violence.  Campbell attended the court in full Nazi regalia.

Campbell believes he is being targeted because of the children’s names and his beliefs, and denies the allegations of violence.

The legal magazine Law Times recently conducted a poll about unbundled services. More than 100 law firms participated in the survey, and the Law Times reported the following results.

• 55% of lawyers who offer unbundled services found that doing so has helped them to attract more business, while a third of those surveyed found that offering unbundled services did have a positive effect on business.
• Enthusiasm for unbundled services was mixed, even among lawyers who offered such services. Many lawyers reported concerns about liability and the risk of law suits. Others reported that unbundled services do not always make financial sense, and that the time spent on unbundled services often exceeds the compensation received from clients.
• A third of the lawyers who were surveyed practice in family law.
• There has been an increase in demand for unbundled services among family law litigants. Surveyed lawyers reported that a substantial number of family law clients are “unwilling to pay for full representation in litigation but want coaching instead.”

According to the Law Times, a number of lawyers consider the provision of unbundled services  to be a way of promoting greater access to justice.

The report’s findings include the following statistics about self-represented litigants (SRL):

• 30% – 38% of all litigants in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario are self-represented.
• 60% of all SRLs are involved in family law litigation.
• The majority of family law cases involving SRLs are heard in divorce court (Superior Court of Court of Queen’s Bench).
• 54% of SRLs who were interviewed reported that they had a lawyer at some point during their litigation.
• The most consistently reported reason for self-representation was financial constraint, and the majority of SRLs who were interviewed reported that they did not have a lawyer because they could not afford to pay legal fees.
• Many litigants reported that they became self-represented in the middle of their family law dispute because they ran out of funds and could not continue to pay a lawyer.
• Another frequently cited reason for self-representation was dissatisfaction with the legal services provided by lawyers.

Among the report’s main findings was that SRLs are seeking legal information and “guidance” rather than legal advice or “direction”m and that resources providing legal comprehensive legal information are not readily available.

My Support Calculator is working diligently to provide self-represented litigants with comprehensive information about family law. To learn more about family law and the legal process, visit: www.mysupportcalculator.ca/blog. For a free calculation of your own or your partner’s support obligations, visit www.mysupportcalculator.ca/Calculator.aspx.

Having the proper documents are absolutely essential, especially if a case appears as if it is going to court. But finding the original documents can often be a time consuming a frustrating exercise because people often don’t know what you need until someone tells you to look for it.

If parties are using represented, the lawyers will typically keep the originals of many of these documents. They are required to care for these documents properly, and will return them at the conclusion of the file or the termination of the retainer agreement.

One important exception to this is the pieces of identification you provide, which will be copied and returned to you immediately. Identification requirements are quite routine, and should not be taken as a sign that the lawyer does not trust you or thinks you are pretending to be someone else.

Click here to download or print this file.

Disclaimer: Although the checklist is very detailed, not all of the disclosure items listed will be necessary or relevant to your case. Furthermore, the checklist is not comprehensive and you may be required (or requested) to provide additional documentation that is not listed.

Any private information that you provide or receive in connection with your case should be used only for the purposes of resolving your family law case, and for no other purpose. Improper use of another person’s financial information may have legal consequences. This list has been compiled by My Support Calculator for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. You should always defer to a lawyer for legal advice.

Additional Documentation to Provide to Your Lawyer: Consider providing your lawyer with the additional information found in Information Required For Your Family Law Case. Ontario residents may also want to consider completing a draft Financial Statement: Draft 13.1 Financial Statement with Instructions (ON only)

There are lots of documents that you can identify and locate when planning your family law file. But there’s also lots of questions and details that can come up during a file which help fill in the blanks.

In addition to obvious questions such as details about the parties, their relationship, and the children involved, the court or lawyers involved will also want to know employment information about you and your partner, detailed assets and liabilities, and information about the matrimonial home.

Bringing several pieces of identification for a meeting with a lawyer, and a chequebook, is usually a good idea. Identification requirements are common across Canada, and should not be considered an insult or a sign that the lawyer mistrusts you. A cheque may be needed to establish a retainer fee to establish the lawyer-client relationship, and the lawyer may want any existing child or spousal support payments to go through the lawyer’s office.

Filling out the following document will save you a considerable amount of time at a lawyer’s office, and should help the lawyer prepare for your file.

Click here to download or print this file. 

Documents Required:
See list of documents to provide to your lawyer: Basic Documents Required For Your Family Law Case.
For Ontario residents, also complete a draft Financial Statement: Draft 13.1 Financial Statement with Instructions (ON only).

Separating or Divorcing in Canada

Q. What issues must I consider when I separate or divorce in Canada?
Q. What issues does this calculator address?
Q. What issues does this calculator not address?
Q. What if I cannot afford to hire a lawyer to represent me?
Q. Can I hire a lawyer for part of my case? What are “unbundled services”?

CHILD SUPPORT

Q. What is child support?

Who pays, and who receives child support?

Q. Who must pay child support?

Q. Who has the right to receive child support?

Q. Must a person pay child support even if his or her ex-spouse earns more money?

Determining the payor’s income

Q. How is the payor’s income determined under the legislation?

Q. How is the payor’s income determined for the purposes of this calculator?

Q. If the payor does not have a T1 General income tax return or Notice of Assessment, how can the payor determine his or her Total Income?

Q. I believe that I am entitled to receive child support, but I do not know the other parent’s income. 

Q. What happens if the child support payor’s income changes?

Q. If the payor’s income is much higher in some years than it is in others, does the child support payment also change every year? 

Q. Does it matter that the payor’s income is low because he or she is working part-time, or because he or she chose to leave a higher-paying job?

How much child support, and for how long?

Q. How is the basic monthly child support payment (“Table Amount”) calculated?

Q. For how long must the Table Amount be paid?

Q. What is the age of majority?

Q. Am I required to include the child support payments I receive in my income for tax purposes?

Q. Am I entitled to deduct the child support payments I make from my income for tax purposes? 

Q. Can child support be paid in one large sum to help a spouse get back on his or her feet after a relationship ends?

Q. Are there any special circumstances when child support would not be required to be paid in accordance with this calculator?

Special Expenses

Q. If there are “Special Expenses”, for example for the child’s education, health care, or extracurricular activities, do both parents need to contribute?

Q. What kinds of Special Expenses must be shared between the parties?

Q. What kinds of Special Expenses must be shared between the parties?

Q. Do the parties have to share the cost of all extracurricular activities? 

Q. Is the full amount of the Special Expense shared between the parties?

Q. How are Special Expenses shared between the parties?

What matters and What Doesn’t

Q. Does it matter where in Canada the spouses live? 

Q. If there was violence, abuse, or adultery in a relationship, does that change the amount of child support which must be paid?

Different Kinds of Families

Q. If the child spends about half of his or her time with each parent, must child support still be paid?

Q. If a spouse acted as a parent for a child, but was not the biological parent of that child, must that person still pay child support? 

Q. What if a person owes child support to more than one recipient?

What Child Support Does and Does Not Do

Q. Does child support give me rights over our family home or other property?

Q. Does child support entitle me to remain in our family home?

Q. Where can I find more information online about child support?

SPOUSAL SUPPORT

Spousal Support and the Guidelines

Q. What is spousal support?

Q. Is spousal support always payable if one person earns less money?

Q. How is spousal support determined?

Q. What are the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines?

Q. What is the difference between the Child Support Guidelines and the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines?

Q. How are the parties’ incomes determined under the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines?

Q. How are the parties’ incomes determined for the purposes of this calculator?

Q. How do the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines work?

Q. Do the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines apply in all circumstances?

How much spousal support, and for how long?

Q. For how long is spousal support payable?

Q. Am I required to include the spousal support payments I receive in my income for tax purposes?

Q. Am I entitled to deduct the spousal support payments I make from my income for tax purposes?

Q. What if I have already reached an agreement with my partner about how much support will be paid?

Q. I only need to calculate how much support should be paid for a limited period – eg. until we go to court, or until a more permanent arrangement can be made. Will this calculator still work for me?

Q. Can spousal support be paid in one large sum to help a spouse get back on his or her feet after a relationship ends?

What Matters and What Doesn’t

Q. My partner and I were never married. Does that make a difference in how much support should be paid?

Q. My partner and I are separating, but we are not getting divorced at this time. Does that make a difference in how much support should be paid?

Q. If there was violence, abuse, or adultery in a relationship, does that change the amount of spousal support which must be paid?

What spousal support does and does not do

Q. Does spousal support give me rights over our family home or other property?

Q. Does spousal support entitle me to remain in our family home?

Q. Where can I find more information online about spousal support?

Being prepared in your family law file will save you time – and money.

The following posts let you know how you can do some of the background work to collect the appropriate information and documents when planning for a family law case.

1. Overview of Information Required for Your Family Law Case
2. Overview of Documents Needed in a Family Law File
3. Instructions for Completing Financial Statements (in Ontario only)

Only one parent can claim tax deductions like the children’s fitness credit (line 365), tuition transfer (line 324) or  amount for an eligible dependent (line 305). During separation or divorce, parents need to communicate during tax season in order to ensure that both are not inadvertently claiming the same thing.

Some people try to claim legal fees under the Line 232 “Other deductions.”

All of these areas, if improperly addressed, could flag the attention of the CRA and lead to an audit.

If you aren’t having sex with your husband and yet your medication list at the pharmacy (or on your health insurance records) indicates that your spouse is taking erectile dysfunction pills such as Viagra, chances are he may be cheating.

Conversely, if you can’t keep up in the bedroom since your husband started taking Viagra, you are also at risk. Many fifty- and sixty-something couples are finding that this “sex enhancing” drug has made them sexually incompatible.

The parties resided in Sudbury during the marriage and the mother was the primary caregiver of the children.  After separation the mother moved to Mississauga with the parties’ 18 year-old daughter, but the father did not allow the twins move.

The mother applied for sole custody and an order allowing her to relocate the twins to Mississauga. The father applied for joint and shared custody and an order requiring the twins to remain in Sudbury.

The judge trial concluded that it would be in the children’s best interests to remain in Sudbury.  He granted sole custody to the mother on the condition that she returns to Sudbury, and if the mother decided to remain in Mississauga the father would have sole custody. Both parents appealed.

Neither party objected to the relocation condition in the custody order; both parents argued that the order should be set aside entirely, and each parent sought the relief he/she originally asked for at trial. In a jointly-written decision by a 3-judge panel, the Court of Appeal dismissed both parents’ appeals and upheld the trial decision.

By deciding to uphold the trial judgement in Decaen,  the Court of Appeal accepted (at least tacitly) that judges in Ontario can make custody orders that are conditional on a parent’s willingness to relocate, and this decision of the Court of Appeal is very noteworthy.

While section 16(10) of the Divorce Act  empowers judges to “impose any terms, conditions, and restrictions” on custody orders that they see “fit and just”, case law indicates that judges rarely use this discretion when making custody orders. In mobility cases, judges do  restrict a parent’s ability to move to another jurisdiction (by prohibiting that parent from relocating with a child to another jurisdiction.  It is very uncommon to see orders that place a positive obligation on a parent to move to or from a jurisdiction as a prerequisite to being awarded custody of a child.

The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal has found that requiring a parent to relocate as a condition of custody is permitted but unusual, and such orders should only be made in rare circumstances when it is the children’s best interests (see Reeves v. Reeves and MacRae v. Hubley). In contrast, the British Columbia Court of Appeal found  that courts “do not have the power to dictate where a parent must live, even if the result would be in furtherance of the best interests of the children.” (see Stav v. Stav).

The trial judge’s order in Decaen did not explicitly compel the mother to relocate to Sudbury, however in light of the mother’s interest in sole custody of the children, it could be argued that the actual effect of the order was compulsory from her perspective. It will be interesting to see how this decision will be used and interpreted in  future mobility (and custody) cases in Ontario.

In addition to raising an interesting point of law about conditions of custody, the Court of Appeal’s decision contains a helpful analysis of mobility issues and helpful comments about the weight that should be  accorded to children’s wishes in custody disputes. The mother in Decaen argued that the trial judge did not conduct a proper analysis of the children’s best interests with respect to mobility, and that he did not give sufficient weight to evidence that the children wished to relocate to Mississauga.

In finding that the trial judge properly conducted his analysis, the Court of Appeal cited the leading case on parental mobility, Gordon v. Goertz, [1996] 2 SCR 27:

[23]       In Gordon v. Goertz, Justice McLachlin (as she then was), writing for the majority, identified a number of factors relevant to a child’s best interests in the context of possible relocation:

(a) the existing custody arrangement and relationship between the child and the custodial parent;
(b) the existing access arrangement and the relationship between the child and the access parent;
(c) the desirability of maximizing contact between the child and both parents;
(d) the views of the child;
(e) the custodial parent’s reason for moving, only in the exceptional case where it is relevant to that parent’s ability to meet the needs of the child;
(f) disruption to the child of a change in custody; and
(g) disruption to the child consequent on removal from family, schools, and the community he or she has come to know.

[24]       At para. 50 of Gordon v. Goertz, McLachlin J. stated that, “[i]n the end, the importance of the child remaining with the parent to whose custody it has become accustomed in the new location must be weighed against the continuance of full contact with the child’s access parent, its extended family and its community.

In dismissing the mother’s argument with respect to the children’s wishes, the Court of Appeal listed the factors that are relevant to such a determination:

[42]        In assessing the significance of a child’s wishes, the following are relevant:

(i) whether both parents are able to provide adequate care;
(ii) how clear and unambivalent the wishes are;
(iii) how informed the expression is;
(iv) the age of the child;
(v) the maturity level;
(vi) the strength of the wish;
(vii) the length of time the preference has been expressed for;
(viii) practicalities;
(ix) the influence of the parent(s) on the expressed wish or preference;
(x) the overall context; and
(xi) the circumstances of the preferences from the child’s point of view: See Bala, Nicholas; Talwar, Victoria; Harris, Joanna, “The Voice of Children in Canadian Family Law Cases”, (2005), 24 C.F.L.Q. 221.

It is apparent that the trial judge considered all of these relevant factors.