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Ascertaining Income for Support Purposes: Adding Back Business Expenses
“>Georgialee A. LangThe Personal Portion of Business Expenses A recent family law decision from the British Columbia Court of Appeal is instructive in regard to business expenses and their role in...
View ArticleARBITRATION APPEAL: Sorting out the standard of review and section 9 of the...
After 14 years of marriage and four children, between the ages of 8 and 14, Elisa and Christos Lekakis separated, and in July 2021 Ms. Lekakis filed a Notice of Family Claim. (Lekakis v. Lekakis 2023...
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Challenge of Varying a ‘Vague’ Spousal Support Agreement
“>Georgialee Lang The starting point for an application to reduce or terminate spousal support and cancel arrears is an examination of the original order or agreement, to allow the court to...
View ArticleDuplicity and Deception Abounds: Shen v. He
After a 10-day trial, Justice Ward Branch mused that the marital and financial relationship between Ying Zi Shen and Rongren He was likely designed, in whole or in part, to mislead Canadian...
View ArticleScam/Spam Legal Awards: Lawyers and Clients Beware
This post is directed to both lawyers and clients who wonder whether the “Awards” boasted by their favourite law firm or lawyer are legitimate or whether they are “scam”, ego, or pay-to-play awards....
View ArticleSocial Media: Free Speech? Defamation?
It is not unusual for parties in high conflict divorce to use social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to gain support for their cause or vent their frustration with their spouse or the...
View ArticleAVOIDING TRIAL BY AMBUSH
The problem? A 15-day family law trial with the claimant calling 21 witnesses. The answer? A trial management conference to discuss the trial process and review evidentiary issues. In Bartch v....
View ArticleCourt Denies Application for Limited Transcripts for Family Law Appeal
In JP v. KS 2023 BCCA 408 the court considered whether the registrar of the court had erred by denying JP’s application to submit limited portions of the oral transcripts from the court below for his...
View ArticleAnachronistic and Stereotypical Ontario Cases Rejected by BC Court
After five years together, the parties in McCann v. Barens 2023 BCSC 2000 separated on Sept. 15, 2015, and Shaune Barens obtained a protection order against his wife, Jennifer McCann, on Sept. 23,...
View ArticleCOSTS SUBMISSIONS INVITES JUDICIAL “OXYMORON OF THE YEAR” AWARD
On November 23, 2023, Justice Myers presided over a high-conflict estate case, Rai v. Rai 2023 ONSC 7182, where the applicant identified 23 heads of relief, against five parties, including the Public...
View ArticleAbuse Directed at Counsel is Grounds for Special Costs
It happens in family law. Your client’s husband or wife, enraged at their spouse’s independence, usually marked by their retention of family law counsel, levels unwarranted, abusive attacks on their...
View ArticleMED/ARB AWARD OVERTURNED TWICE
The Eldridge’s met on an archeological dig, married in 1977, and as archeologists worked together in their consulting business, Millenia, for several years. Four children...
View ArticleCHATGTP FOILS COUNSEL’S APPLICATION, LEADING TO COSTS AND A LAW SOCIETY...
In Zhang v. Chen 2024 BCSC 285 Ms. Zhang was successful in defending her husband Chen’s application for an order that the parties’ children, who lived with her in West Vancouver, be permitted to...
View ArticlePITHY LAW FIRM SLOGANS
1. Our Dress Code Does Not Include Stuffed Shirts 2. Talent Mandatory. Suit Optional 3. We Not Only Try Harder, We Try More Often 4. Your Success is Our Success 5. Minds Over Matter 6. We Can’t Protect...
View ArticleMay-December Marriage Challenged By Adult Son
“Marriages between the very old and the very young raise eyebrows and turn heads. In popular culture, a ‘May-December’ marriage invariably provokes the ire of adult children who deem the younger...
View ArticleFamily Violence Takes Centre Stage in Mother’s Successful Appeal
With the introduction of family violence provisions in British Columbia’s Family Law Act in 2013 and the recent amendments to the Divorce Act, domestic violence is no longer a taboo subject in family...
View ArticleCourt Allows Appeal Citing Trial Judge’s Incorrect Evidentiary Rulings and...
A high-conflict parenting situation led to a 10-day trial where despite the father’s primary care of their young daughter for over three years, custody was reversed and the father, who lived in...
View ArticleA Christian Response to Racism
One common thread throughout mankind is the endemic ugliness of racism. Human history is rife with examples: early Romans subjugated the Jews; slavery was rampant; India’s caste system ostracizes the...
View ArticleLove and Legal Fees are Incompatible
In 1990 Park Avenue family practice doctor, G.Peta Carrera, hired his girlfriend, Manhattan lawyer, Christine Anderson, to represent him in a civil suit where he was accused of sexually molesting a...
View ArticleCourt Refuses to Characterize Debt from Bankrupt Husband to Wife as Spousal...
In Davidson v. Davidson, 2024 BCSC 331, the parties separated after eight years of marriage. In a consent order in September 2020, they agreed that Allan Davidson would purchase the parties’ family...
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