Ontario Family Law Podcast

In Canada, monthly child support is based on the payor's income and keeps going up as the payor's income goes up. Unlike in some US states, there is no cap on monthly child support payments. For high income earners, monthly child support can be many thousands, even many tens of thousands of dollars each month. Often it can seem that the amount of child support far exceeds what a parent cou...

Spouses and parents who feel their marriage or relationship is trouble, frequently ask about how go about getting a legal separation. But some of them may be legally separated already, even if they do not know it! There are no formal steps that anyone has to take to separate from their spouse. However, the date of a couple separates can be very important, especially for married couples and can rea...

What types of child punishments are against the law? The answer is surprising. There are many perspectives on the appropriate way to discipline children. But, in Canada, not all forms of child discipline are allowed.  Using some forms of discipline can get parents, caregivers, or teachers into serious trouble.  They can be sent to jail or a children’s aid society, or parents can have their childre...

Certified Specialist in Family Law,  John Schuman , looked at separation agreements sold online and found they were full of basic errors in law.  People buy these agreements looking for a quick and easy way to bring finality and certainty to their separation.  But instead, these agreements contain many serious legal errors that can render the agreement useless and put the separated spouses, and th...

A lot of information posted on the internet about Family Law is simply wrong, often posted by people who lost their case. There are clearly a lot of serious misconceptions about Family Law out there from how property is divided to what being common law means, to parenting to support matters. People who have bad information can make bad decisions. So, in this episode of the Ontario Family Law Podca...

This episode explains what parents need to know, from a legal persepctive, when signing their kids up a private school in Ontario. In choosing a private school, parents are choosing an education that is very different from that provided by public schools. Many parents incorrectly assume that Ontario private schools take all the standards that are supposed to apply to public school and build on the...

There can be a lot of anger and other emotions in separation and divorce.  Some separated spouses head to a lawyer’s office, or to Family Court, in the hope that they can force their ex to live in a box under a bridge.  Some even expect that if they spend exorbitantly on legal fees for an aggressive lawyer, they can force their wives and children into homelessness.  Ironically, using aggressive, o...

After separating, many spouses and parents try to work out the issues between them on their own, and to make sure that what they decide “stays decided” they put it into a written separation agreement.  The recent changes to the Family Law Legislation encourage people to work out their issues without going to Family Court .  But, if the parents or former spouses do not do their agreement...

After separation, many parents feel it is just simpler to agree there should be no child support than follow the law. Child support is often a point of controversy after parents separate.  Even though the Federal Government designed the Child Support Guidelines in 1997 to bring objectivity and predictability to setting the amount of child support, and has updated the support tables several ti...

If you are stuck with a house full of your ex’s stuff, or even with your ex’s stuff taking up valuable space in your home, you are not alone! Family Lawyers very frequently hear the question: “When can I throw out my ex’s stuff?”  Many “exes" seem to like to use their former partner's home as free storage for months, or even years, as they think Ontario’s Family Laws requi...

Separating from a spouse or partner is, without a question, a very difficult and busy time.  It can seem like there are lots of things to do.  But what are separated spouses legally required to do first when they separate?  Since the answer is different from what may people think, in this episode of the Ontario Family Law Podcast , Certified Specialist in Family Law, John Schuman go...

 One of the things grandparents fear the most is being cut off from their grandkids. Often other family members such as aunts, uncles, and cousins, feel the same way.  Some stepparents dread the thought of being denied contact with their step-kids if they separate from the parent of those children.  When the Ontario government made changes to the Family Law legislation in 2021, it m...

People engaged in Family Court litigation often express enormous frustration when their former spouses breach Family Court Orders.  Those breaches can mean the kids don’t have a relationship with a parent, can cause financial hardship, or, can drag family court proceedings to a standstill meaning nothing gets finished or finalized.  Judges repeatedly say that a court order is NOT a sugge...

Parents who pay child support, and some parents who receive child support, are can be very surprised, when a judge, arbitrator, or lawyer acting as a family law mediator , say that a parent’s income for child support is NOT the same as the total income on their tax return on which they pay taxes.  This is particularly true when the parent is self-employed , or earns their incom...

When parents do not separate on good terms, they often have concerns about the other parent’s priorities – particularly when very young children or infants are involved. When a separation is going to be high conflict, Family Lawyers  frequently hear from a parent who needs to start court right away, without trying any of the better ways to work things out , because the kids have been complete...

One of, if not the most, frequent calls that family lawyers get from a panicked parent comes when a vacation is days away and the other parent won’t sign the required consents or travel documents.  That can mean that some pretty exciting trips to Disney World , or the Caribbean, or elsewhere are in jeopardy for the kids and travel insurance probably won’t cover the trip.   Sometimes the...

With the prices of everything going up, especially the costs of first time homes, but also care, furniture and even diapers, may parents of adult children may find it necessary to help out their kids as they “get started” and are having trouble making ends meet, making financial plans for the future, or getting that first home to get into the real estate market.  While many older parents want...

Getting an uncontested or simple divorce is thought by many to be a straightforward process.  As a result many people who try to do their divorce on their own are surprised when a judge refuses to grant the divorce. There is no absolute right to a divorce. Ontario Family Law sets out several reasons that a judge must refuse to grand a divorce, even when the couple needs it quickly t...

The housing market, with its rapidly rising real estate prices, has been a topic of conversation across Canada.  It has also been a subject of interest in Family Courts, mediations and arbitrations.   Separated and divorcing spouses either want to make sure they continue to share in the rapidly increasing value of the home, or to make sure their former spouses do not.   When spouses...

There is no question that child abuse and neglect is a terrible thing that can have long lasting impacts, even ruin the entire lives of child victims. While everyone should want to protect children from child abuse and neglect, Ontario Law has made it mandatory for everyone in a job that relates to children to report suspicions of child abuse and neglect to a children’s aid society. But, many have...

Expulsion is the most serious punishment available within the school system and it can have long lasting consequences for expelled students both for their education and for their lives more generally. Although Board’s deny it, most expelled students have some identifiable characteristics.  They are more often racialized, have special education needs, are socially awkward – nerds, geeks and su...

After they separate from a spouse or partner, most people expend considerable effort protecting their financial situation.  People want to protect what they have, either for themselves or for their children.   They also do not their exes to get more than necessary.  Everyone wants their own money that they can use, or give away, free from interference.   After separation, nearl...

The big questions asked by people who are struggling in their marriage are "how easy it will be to get a divorce in Ontario?" and “How long will it take?"   People looking for a “new me” don’t want to have their ex hanging around like an anchor.  Especially, as getting a divorce is a prerequisite to getting remarried.  In this episode of the  Ontario Family...

Child Support is one of the hottest topics on this podcast.  It rouses a LOT of emotions. Separated parents frequently think that the amount of child support is wrong right from the start.  But, over time, changes in parent’s incomes and changes in parenting schedules can mean that the amount of child support DOES become wrong.  In this episode of the  Ontario Family Law P...

One of the ways the most frequent ways kids get into trouble in school is by not having their unique needs met.   It is well know that when a school fails to meet a student’s education needs that can lead to all kinds of problems – not just the student failing to learn the curriculum.   It can lead to the student being frustrated, sometimes to the point of dropping out, having behaviour...