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A spouse has certain spousal support rights but if you are not married, one way to qualify as a spouse is cohabitation “continuously” for at least three years. But what does cohabitation mean? You may be surprised to learn how the courts interpret it… In Ontario, a spouse has certain support rights. If you are…

It may be tempting to try to resolve issues arising from your divorce without a lawyer. However, people often end up being bound by Agreements that are different than what they wanted or thought they were agreeing to, and which do not reflect their entitlement under law. There was a recent case whereby an arbitrator…

Bill C-78 encourages parties to attempt to resolve family law matters through alternative family dispute resolution processes. At the end of the movie The War of the Roses, divorce lawyer, Gavin D’Amato (played by Danny Devito) advises a client who is contemplating divorce that he has two options: either move forward with the divorce with…

Separation can be a highly emotional and conflictual journey and it is possible the court can order you to attend therapy.  Differences in opinions or values that led to arguments during the marriage are often magnified during separation. Separating individuals often find themselves in struggles for power and, sadly, children are used as pawns in…

An online divorce service in the United Kingdom recently noted that more than 200 couples who filed for divorce in 2018 cited video game addiction to Fortnite or other video games as a reason for the divorce. Fortnite, which is a popular online game wherein players around the world engage in a battle royale, has grown in popularity…

The exchange of financial disclosure with your spouse is the most important step in resolving all the financial issues during a divorce. When a person is going through the breakdown of their marriage or marital relationship, disclosing details of their personal finances is the last thing they want to do. What are the consequences of…

We are often asked: “Will I have to pay child support if I have shared custody?” The only time you probably won’t have to pay child support is when the children reside equally in each parent’s home and both parents earn the same annual income. If children reside with the parent who pays child support…

Have you ever wondered what the difference between marriage & common law is?  Over one-fifth of all couples (21.3%) were living common law in 2016, more than three times the share in 1981 (6.3%) according to Statistics Canada. Couples in common law unions will often say that they do not need a document to prove…

The Ontario court for your divorce or custody case will be started in the municipality where you or the other party live. If you are asking for custody of or access to a child, the case must be started in the municipality where the child ordinarily lives. If you bring your case forward in the…