Category: Family Law

In the recent decision of Kennedy v. Smith, 2002 BCSC 1622 the court addressed this question. In this case, one party (Ms. Kennedy) claimed that she was in a spousal relationship for 20 years. The other party (Mr. Smith) denied that the parties were in a spousal relationship.

In a recent decision, the BC Court of Appeal has ordered the division of the decrease in equity of excluded property between the separating spouses. This decision is interesting as it appears to be a departure from the previous caselaw on the issue.

The success of an interim spousal support application can be critical to determining the trajectory and ultimate outcome of the case. If the recipient is successful, then it can take the alleviate financial pressure. In addition, the success…

This blog post will discuss the method of valuing a ranch. I will refer to the case of Jans v Jans (Estate), 2016 SKQB 275 (CanLII) to illustrate the principles. This case was an estate law case with the crux of the dispute being who would inherit the family farm.

How does the court value companies in family law cases? In most cases, it is the value of the shares of the companies that the spouse(s) own which may be subject to division of property and not the actual assets of the corporation. The reason this is so is because the corporation has its own…

‍This issue arises when the parties have multiple children, and the parenting plan/parenting schedule differ for some or all of the children. For example, a "hybrid" scenario would present itself if the parties have 3 children, but the parties…

There are circumstances when it may be inappropriate to simply use income from the previous taxation year for child support calculations. These circumstances commonly arise when (1) a party’s income tends to fluctuate from year to year; or (2) when a party has the ability to manipulate income such as by being self-employed in which…

A payor of child support may make an application to the court for a finding of undue hardship. If the court makes the positive finding, then the court may order a child support amount that is below what the Federal Child Support Tables indicate.

The court will first assess whether a simple set-off is appropriate. The set-off calculation is the calculation that is applicable in the split custody scenario. In many cases, the set-off amount will be appropriate unless one party brings sufficient evidence that this amount is inappropriate.

Split custody refers to a parenting plan or a parenting schedule where each guardian has the majority of parenting time with at least one child. This type of arrangement would impact on the amount of child support payable.