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The Law
I have heard a rumor that there are changes coming to the Canada Divorce Act. Is this true? (by L of Coquitlam, BC) The short answer to your question is "not exactly." There are currently no *government* bills before the House of Commons this session to amend the Divorce Act. There is one private member's bill on the schedule, however, put forward by Grant Hill of the former Reform Party, Bill C-237. Mr. Hill wants, in a nutshell, to amend the Divorce Act so that the courts are obliged to award joint custody unless there is evidence that to do so would not be in the best interests of the child. Since the liberal government has a majority of seats in the House of Commons and our parliamentary system employs party whips whose job it is to compel uniform voting by the members of each whip's party. Mr. Hill's bill doesn't stand a snow ball's chance of becoming law unless there is either a free vote (each member is allowed to vote according to his or her own conscience rather than the party ine) or the government thinks that Mr. Hill's bill is a good idea. All of this means that there MAY be changes coming to the Divorce Act IF Mr. Hill's bill passes all three readings and is approved by the Senate. It is more likely that there are NOT changes coming to the Divorce Act. Click here to visit the English language version of Mr. Hill's bill. NOTE: This question was posted and answered about a year before the federal government tabled Bill C-22. Changes are pending to the Divorce Act, which are discussed in the "Breaking News" section of this website. Since this bill has been tabled by the federal government, it will in all likelihood pass, unless it is not dealt with in this session of Parliament and falls off the agenda; Mr. Hill's bill, on the other hand, was a private member's bill and brought without the backing of a party holding a majority in the House of Commons (the government) and therefore less likely to succeed. Click here to go to the top of the page. How do I find and how do I purchase the services of Legal Researchers, particularly to find case law precedents in relation to unique family structures? (by J of Vancouver, BC) The following are some Vancouver legal researchers who sell their services: Ellen Gregory 604-737-1980 OnPoint Legal Research 604-879-4280 Damon Legal Services 604-904-6501 The Research Associates 604-291-8472 You might also thinking about the faculties of law at UVic and UBC. Both will have a sort of job board where lawyers and non-lawyers looking for help can post notices. A law student will be a hell of a lot cheaper than the commercial services. Click here to go to the top of the page. My husband asked me for a divorce and we have been amicably seperated for several months. We will be seeking an uncontested divorce once our year is up. I am involved with someone else, who's buddy has told him that my new partner can be sued by my EX for "breaking up his marriage". Is this true? (by B of Burnaby, BC) Is it true that your new partner can be sued by your ex for breaking up the marriage? Absolutely not. I do wish that people would get more legal advice from lawyers than buddies. Way back in the dawn of time (actually, more like 30 years ago), a spouse could sue someone for "enticing" the other spouse to leave the marriage, "loss of consortium" (meaning lack of sex), harbouring the spouse who left the marriage, and so on and so forth. These old common law principles have been expressly overruled by the provincial Family Relations Act. Curiously, some of them are still on the books in Alberta, if you can believe it. The only relief left that a spouse can claim against someone who's had an affair with the other spouse is for an order that the person pay the spouse's cost of the divorce action, but only if the divorce action is based on adultery. See s. 123(4) of the Family Relations Act. I have never heard of a case within the last twenty or so years in which the party to adultery was ever sued for costs. In any event, you're separated from your spouse. Your new relationship is irrelevant to your marriage and the uncontested divorce application you'll be making on the anniversary of your separation. Click here to go to the top of this page. My (Canadian) friend was divorced in the US, and part of the divorce settlement stated that land she inherited in Canada from her uncle remain with her. But the BC Land Title office says they can't recognize divorce papers that are not from Canada. The problem is that her ex refuses to sign papers the Land Title office needs to transfer the ownership from joint ownership. How do you get Canadian recognition of US divorce papers? (by C of Victoria, BC) Actually, what is probably going on is that the Land Title Office is saying that the US order isn't binding on it. And it's right. While the US divorce order is valid in Canada, the problem is that the courts of other jurisdictions (including other Canadian jurisdictions) do not have the authority to deal with real property located in this province. What your friend should do is start an action here for an order that the property be transferred as per the US order. She would do so on the basis that she and her ex came to an agreement that she seeks to enforce. Your friend's situation isn't all that complicated. What it comes down to is this: if she can't secure her ex's agreement to transfer the property according to the settlement, she's got no choice but to apply for an order that the property be transferred. She'll probably be successful, since her ex will have to argue that the divorce settlement was somehow unfair, which begs the question of why he agreed to it in the first place or failed to appeal it after the order was made. Tell your friend that the simple act of filing the action (which should include a claim for her costs of the matter) might suffice to get her ex's consent to the transfer. Click here to go to the top of this page. I would very much appreciate it if you could answer my question regarding Alienation of Affection as it pertains to a married couple rather than one parent trying to alienate the affection of a child towards the other parent. Here is the question. What happens in law when an individual attempts to alienate the affection of one spouse towards the other spouse? In other words, is there some relief in law when a person deliberately attempts to step in-between a happily married couple in order to alienate the affection of one spouse towards the other? It is very unfortunate but my husband and I are facing a real life version of the film, "Fatal Attraction," and we are at a loss over what to do about it. It has not become ugly or violent yet but this person is being very persistent in the attempt to alienate the affection of my husband towards me. We've tried speaking to her about it and have told her that there is no way she can step in and magically take my place but she refuses to stop. Is there any relief in law for her behaviour? I believe that if she knew there was legal recourse for us, there is a good chance that she might stop. If there is some legal means of handling this, I would greatly appreciate it if you would direct me to the correct section of the Criminal Code or the Civil Code if this kind of situation falls under that category. In short... I don't want to find a rabbit cooking in a pot on my stove nor do I want to have to face the prospect of selling our home and leaving town. (by G of Toronto, ON) Your question is an interesting one. As a matter of law, no civil law suit can be founded on your claim. Curiously, it wasn't that long ago that "alienation of affection" would have allowed you to sue the pants off your husband's stalker. That antique idea vanished some time in the sixties or seventies, and was an old divorce action that allowed an aggrieved party to sue the person who had lured a spouse away from the marriage. For now, I think your best bet is to think about whether this woman's conduct fits within the criminal law concepts of stalking and harassment. At worst, if the police can't help, you might want to think about applying for a civil restraining order keeping this woman away from you and your husband. Click here to go to the top of this page. I'm a Hindu, Indian citizen. I got married to a Hindu lady who is a British citizen according to Indian laws in India. We had a son born who is [age] now. We got divorced from an English court on grounds which are not recognized in India. The court also gave the custody of the child to the mother and visitation rights were given to me. One weekend I took the child to India but now the mother also has come to India and filed a case for the custody of the child. Can I challenge the decree of the English court with regard to divorce and custody of the child? (by A of Delhi, India) I can't answer your question particularly well because I practice law in Canada, and don't know a thing about the laws of England or India. This is what I suspect is the case. First, I you won't be able to apply to set aside the divorce order. That's because you voluntarily accepted the jurisdiction of the English court. If it is true that the ground of your divorce isn't recognized in India, that might (but probably won't) allow you to challenge the divorce part of the order. Even if you were able to upset the divorce order, you probably wouldn't be able to upset the custody aspect of that order. The courts of most countries are very respectful to the decisions of the courts of other countries. In Canada, for example, our courts will presume that foreign divorce orders are properly made and valid, including orders that deal with custody. Our courts generally won't interfere with a foreign custody order unless the order was made in circumstances that are contrary to the principles of fundamental justice, such as the right to a make a full defence to a claim. Second, the bigger problem you've got is your decision to essentially abduct the child in the face of a valid order. The court is never happy with a parent who does something like that, unless the child's health and welfare were in immediate peril. Your wife would probably be able to secure the return of the child under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction if she didn't decide to launch a case in India. Finally, the English order will be strongly persuasive to the Indian court. That does not stop you from asking the Indian court to make a different order and it doesn't stop you from challenging the order. I make no guarantees about the prospects of your success, but you still have those rights. I strongly encourage you to see a family law barrister in your neighbourhood immediately. Click here to go to the top of the page. Site Navigation Go back to the Q&A Index. Section Menu
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