In April, 2019, the Ontario government introduced the Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses (CARE) tax credit, which provides tax savings to parents incurring childcare expenses that fall within section 7 of the Child Support Guidelines. These savings are in addition to the existing Child Care Expense Deduction (CCED) and the federal childcare tax relief. [...]
Over the past week, the issue of systemic racism has come to the forefront in the news with the most recent incidents of racism, police violence and reactions to them both here in Canada and in our neighbour to the south. While much of the focus has been on events in the United States, we [...]
As I write this, the Ontario Court of Justice has just expanded its operations to begin hearing previously adjourned Case Conferences. This is the first step to seeing a light at the end of the tunnel that is the Ontario courthouse Covid-19 response and restrictions on family law proceedings. On March 28, 2020, the [...]
Rusinek & Associates v. Arachchilage & Baliah, 2020 ONSC 1090 (CanLII) Following separation, the Husband filed for bankruptcy. Neither spouse commenced an application for equalization of net family properties. The Husband’s trustee in bankruptcy was appointed to discharge the Husband’s unsecured liability of $282,700. The Trustee in bankruptcy commenced an application for equalization of an [...]
Can a support payor be ordered to pay what in retrospect should have been paid annually? For example, if the support payor was ordered to pay support for two children in the year 2012 based on an income of $80,000.00 that would have produced a Child Support Guidelines payment of $1,172 per month. If the [...]
Common law relationships are increasingly becoming the new normal. According to a 2017 General Social Survey, more than 70% of Canadians between the ages of 25 and 64 were either married or in common law relationships. 15% of these Canadians are in common law relationships and, moreover, 39% of married 25 to 64 year olds lived in common law relationships with their current spouse before walking down the aisle. Yet, basic information about [...]
If you are separating from a spouse (whether married or common law), don’t forget to turn your mind to splitting of Canada Pension Plan credits. It is a sometimes overlooked issue. Credit splitting may result in you qualifying for benefits or increasing such benefits. If you were in a common law relationship that [...]
Beginning today, Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) is piloting special duty counsel authorizations in Family Law Information Centres to provide mediation clients with independent legal advice (ILA). Clients should contact the Client Service Centre at 1-800-668-8258 to determine eligibility for ILA services. The pilot will be available in this district and 13 other locations. LAO will [...]
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees recently released a report looking at trends in refugee litigation in Canada. The report examined 740 refugee and Pre-removal Risk Assessment cases litigated before the Federal Court of Canada from 2010-2012. Following are the study’s main findings: 1) in 60% of the cases, the Court upheld the lower [...]
The Supreme Court recently provided new guidance to appellate courts on how to use their discretionary powers to “do justice”, while maintaining impartiality. In a unanimous decision, R. v. Mian, 2014 SCC 54 [“Mian”], the Supreme Court pronounced a new test on when appellate courts can raise a “new issue”: where there is good reason [...]
