Family and Estate Law Blog
French v. French | Spousal Support for a Party Unable to Work for Medical Reasons
Summary On January 15, 2021, the B.C. Court of Appeal issued reasons for judgment in the case French v. French, 2021 BCCA 30. In French, the issue was the amount of income to be used to calculate spousal support for Ms. Cindrich (formerly Mrs. French). She...
Why Young People Should Have a Will
"I am Healthy and Young, Should I Still Consider Making a Will?" Absolutely yes. The answer is always yes. No matter how young you are, unless you are minor, it is always better to have a will than not. Many young people think that they don’t need a will...
What is Intestacy? – Dying Without a Will
What is intestacy? When someone dies “intestate”, it means that person died without having a valid will. If someone dies without a valid will, then their assets are distributed according to the rules of Wills, Estates, and Succession Act (“WESA”). When do...
When Can a Judge Refuse a Divorce?
When must judges refuse to grant a divorce? In a previous article I explained that Canadian law requires that there has been a breakdown of the marriage before a divorce can be granted. I also explained the three ways to prove that a marriage has broken down. In this...
Grounds for Getting a Divorce in British Columbia
What do you need to prove in order to get a divorce? In order to get a divorce in Canada, a spouse has to prove that there has been a breakdown of the marriage. You can prove this in three ways: Living separate and apart for at least one year when the divorce case was...
Overview of Judicial Case Conferences
What is a Judicial Case Conference? One of the first steps in any Supreme Court of British Columbia family law case is to have a Judicial Case Conference (JCC). A JCC is a private hearing with a judge or master and the public is excluded. Only the judge or master,...
What qualifies as a section 7 expense for a child attending post-secondary?
What are section 7 expenses? Child support is normally ordered in the form of a basic monthly amount (sometimes called the "table amount") plus an amount for section 7 expenses (often called "special or extraordinary expenses"). The table amount of child...
Spousal Support: General Principles
Overview Section 14.2 of the Divorce Act and Division 4 of Part 7 of British Columbia's Family Law Act allow a court to order spousal support. Spousal support in Canada is very discretionary. The legislation describes four objectives of spousal support. The...
Does a child who is 19 years old or older attending post-secondary school have an obligation to contribute to the cost of their education?
As explained in a previous article, a child who has reached the age of majority may still be entitled to child support, if they are unable to withdraw from the charge of their parents or otherwise obtain the necessaries of life. If the child is entitled to...