Family

  • August 22, 2024

    The succession rights of unborn children: Under a will

    As we discussed in the first article in this series, an unborn child has for many purposes been recognized and accorded varying degrees of protection by the law. This article continues the summary of the legal rights of an unborn child under wills, on intestacy, as dependants or other testamentary documents.

  • August 21, 2024

    15 years on, court restores Indian status of mother and daughter who died waiting for recognition

    The Indian status of a mother and daughter, both of whom passed away before a court could decide their appeal, has been affirmed 15 years after they were removed from the Indian Register without notice.

  • August 21, 2024

    B.C. class action launched for alleged negligent misrepresentation of ‘safe’ opioid program

    The families of two teen girls, one deceased, who became addicted to opioids have brought a class action against the B.C. government and Health Canada. The class action claims that they became addicted due to the province’s Safe/Safer Supply Program, a publicly funded prescription medication program. Health Canada shared responsibility for its implementation through its Substance Use and Addictions Program.

  • August 20, 2024

    Poisoning the well

    In R. v. Shaw, (ONCA 119, Feb 16, 2024), the appellant was acquitted of a homicide conviction because of a flawed lineup procedure that was part of the evidence used at the first trial.

  • August 21, 2024

    The succession rights of unborn children: Future heirs

    An unborn child has for many purposes been recognised and accorded varying degrees of protection by the law. This article begins our discussion of the legal succession rights of an unborn child.

  • August 21, 2024

    Non-disclosure of child’s birth via ‘illegal surrogacy’ leads to denial of permanent residence

    A Chinese investor has been denied permanent residence in Canada because he misrepresented that his son was his biological offspring — only admitting after the visa officer requested a DNA test that the 3-year-old boy born via surrogacy is not biologically related to either of his parents.

  • August 20, 2024

    To reunify or not to reunify, that is the question | Marlene Kazman

    We are going to follow Shakespeare’s lead in how we frame the question. Let’s start with the definition of reunify. The good people at Merriam-Webster define reunify as follows: “To unify again: to bring (people or things) or to be brought into a unit or a coherent whole after a period of separation.”

  • August 20, 2024

    Coercive control bill should tackle familial elder abuse | Heather Campbell Pope

    Bill C-332 is a noble attempt to protect domestic abuse victims from escalating violence. However, the proposed law does not help seniors who are harmed by adult children and other relatives like grandchildren, once again banishing elder abuse to the hinterlands of the criminal justice system.

  • August 20, 2024

    Disclosure revisited | Gary Joseph

    In my non-deliberate efforts to almost constantly be on the wrong side of many family law issues over my years of practice, I have often railed against overly broad disclosure requests in high-conflict cases. With respect and cautiously, I have not been a cheerleader for the “non-disclosure is the cancer of family law” team. Don’t get me wrong, proper disclosure is essential to fair family law dispositions, but when the issue of disclosure takes over the litigation, as it often does, I have very real concerns.

  • August 16, 2024

    Federal Court rules in two immigration cases on ‘compassionate’ review, impact of divorce

    Divorcing your spouse “willingly” — with the resulting loss of your permanent resident status in a foreign land — is not the same as “voluntarily” losing or relinquishing your permanent resident status, thereby excluding you from refugee protection in Canada, Federal Court Justice Janet Fuhrer has ruled.

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