MAKO LAW

05/10/2021

COVID-19: Emergency legal aid services set to change
Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) is setting new temporary financial eligibility thresholds for domestic violence and child protection matters that will come into effect May 3, 2021 until September 30, 2021 for non Indigenous applicants.
Financial eligibility criteria for these matters reflects an increase over the pre-pandemic threshold. The new eligibility threshold replaces the emergency waiver of financial eligibility requirements introduced during the early stages of the COVID 19 crisis.
Temporarily increased eligibility thresholds effective May 3, 2021-September 30, 2021
Number of family members The amount of money your family makes in a year
1 $32,131
2 $39,352
3 $45,440
4 $50,803
5 $59,440

Continued support for Indigenous people and communities
The waiver of financial eligibility requirements will continue for Indigenous people experiencing domestic violence or facing a child protection issue until September 30, 2021.
LAO is committed to ensuring First Nation, Métis, and Inuit people and communities have access to justice given Canada's staggering rates of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people, and the overrepresentation of Indigenous families within the child protection system.
Continued special supports for domestic violence survivors
LAO continues to offer two hour authorizations that do not require financial eligibility testing for anyone impacted by domestic violence. (Up to five two hour authorizations in a year and one certificate per legal issue.)
As part of its COVID 19 emergency response, LAO continues to waive eligibility requirements for up to 20 minutes of free legal advice over the phone for people who have a family legal matter, including issues involving a Children's Aid Society. This program can be accessed by calling 1-800-668-8258.

02/19/2021

02/19/2021

We would be happy to assist you with your family mediation! Call 416-880-1919 for free evaluation.

03/12/2020

Я адвокат по семейному и наследственному праву. Помогаю решить любые вопросы, включая разрешение высоко-конфликтных споров и международных разводов.
Звоните! Я адвокат с двойной лицензией и образованием в российской и канадской правовых системах. Все обьясню на доступном вам языке и помогу справиться с любыми проблемами.
Бесплатная консультация первые 30 мин.
Unbundled Legal Services, Coaching for self- rep clients, Fixed Fees (for certain services)
4580 Dufferin Street, Suite 310 (Dufferin and Finch)
Toronto, ON M3H 5Y2
OFFICE: +1 (416) 880 1919
FAX: +1 (647) 946 6556
[email protected]

02/16/2020

If there is a young child at the date of separation, the SSAGs also suggest that significant consideration be given to the the age of the youngest child.

If the child is not in school full time, the “durational limit” (length of time spousal support is payable) can range anywhere from the number of years until a child is in school full time (age six is assumed as being school age) to the date that the child turns 18. For a couple who had a three-year relationship and a child age two at separation, the SSAGs suggest that spousal support may be payable for anywhere from three to 15 years after separation: up to five times longer that the relationship itself!

One of the most vexing issues in family law in Canada

02/04/2020

Even brief separations can impair the brain development of a young child or infant. Read more: https://to.pbs.org/2tnfALD NOVA on Facebook: https://www.faceb...

02/04/2020

https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/a-broken-system-fighting-to-be-a-dad-bbab/

Stephen Krasner knows first-hand the uphill battle for father's rights in the court system.

02/04/2020

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-a-simple-divorce-checklist-can-keep-you-from-making-these-10-common-mistakes_b_8271322?ncid=engmodushpmg00000003&fbclid=IwAR3ryHnOR4pU1GYNYC_OYcl93NF2O61u90gDLiOB0j62u0EKgOB55de7LMc

Few life events are as complicated or overwhelming as divorce. It is not surprising, then, that while you are trying to rearrange your life and ride the...

01/21/2020

Important differences in different types of contract promises are well explained here.

It's quite common in a contract to find representations, warranties and covenants grouped together as if they are a single concept, for example, "ABC represents, warrants and covenants to XYZ that ..

01/20/2020

The full Miglin release of spousal support in the separation agreement was put under fire in the recent case considered by the Ontario Court of Appeal. The court took a supervisory role in this case and set aside the full spousal support release in the separation agreement.

The court found that the agreement failed on the 2nd part of the 2-stage test developed by the Supreme Court in Miglin v Miglin to analyze the enforceability of the spousal support provisions after the agreement was signed by the parties. This is of no surprise. Most challenges to the domestic contracts center around the 2nd part of the test which directs the courts to look at the circumstances of the challenging party at the time when they go to court.

This case shows quite clearly what kind of a) dire financial circumstances and b) roles adopted during marriage of the party seeking spousal support would attract the court's intervention with regards to spousal support agreements.

Here we have the husband who was seeking spousal support from his wife 3 years after the separation agreement was made, in which he gave his wife his share in the house in exchange for the release from his obligation to pay child support. Other important considerations:

- it was an 18-year marriage and a 26-year relationship;
- husband failed to obtain independent legal advice at the time of making the agreement;
- both parties were professional accountants and husband was an investment advisor at RBC;
- they exchanged unsworned financial statements and knew about each other's financial situation and abilities to become self-supportive;
- the father lost his job 15 months prior to separation and did not find another one for 3 years;
- the father had to vacate the matrimonial home 30 days after the signing of the agreement; he had no other place to live and mother knew about it; he lived with his parents after living the matrimonial home;
- the mother took over $300K in debts made by her husband during marriage (he was making risky financial investments).

When awarding spousal support to the husband, the Court of Appeal reasoned its decision as follows:

- the wife had the ability to pay (assets and good income) and she knew the husband could not support himself when they made the agreement (he already had no job and no place to stay, lots of debt);
- the Agreement did not provide relief of economic hardship for the father or for the father’s ability to become self-sufficient
- there was a change in the circumstances of the parties from the time of the ex*****on of the Agreement. The parties anticipated that the father would be able to become self-sufficient given his ability to earn income in the past. He had not become self-sufficient. Also, neither party really considered the ramifications of the termination of the father’s career as an investment advisor at RBC.
- In the result, the court found in addition to the Agreement’s lack of substantial adherence to the factors and objectives of the DA, the circumstances at the time of the application warranted overriding the father’s waiver of spousal support in the Agreement. He awarded the father a relatively modest lump sum amount of support calculated from the date of separation in the amount of $143,933.

The decision can be found here: https://www.canlii.org/…/…/2019/2019onca710/2019onca710.html

https://business.financialpost.com/personal-finance/why-your-seemingly-perfect-separation-agreement-may-not-be-written-in-stone

Husband, jobless and homeless three years after divorce, challenges the deal — and the courts agree