The Mandatory Information Program For Family Law Disputes – What Does It Mean For You?
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]September 15, 2011 By Fhara Pottinger The legal system in Canada is designed to deal with property and not people. As a result, family disputes are a poor fit, because even when they appear to be about property, they are mainly about people. In spite of various no fault reforms, emotions tend to run high in […]
What Is A Power Of Attorney For Personal Care And A Power Of Attorney For Property
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]August 15, 2011 A Power of Attorney for Personal Care delegates to your named attorney or attorneys the authority to make decisions regarding your care. Your attorney or attorneys can only exercise the authority under the Power of Attorney for Personal Care if one or more physicians determine that you are no longer capable of […]
Wills: Don’t Wait, Do It Now
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]July 21, 2011 By Brian Babcock Sometimes unexpected illness or declines in mental health occur before you can prepare your will or update it to reflect changes in assets or intentions. More often, however, delay is the result of inattention. The cost of this omission can be expensive court proceedings regarding the estate and unnecessary stress […]
Should I Transfer My House To My Children?
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]July 18, 2011 By Brian Babcock This question arises frequently during estate planning, either at a lawyer’s office or while consulting financial planners. There are often good reasons to transfer the house to adult children. This may avoid probate, which both speeds up a sale after death and reduces probate fees (taxes). If the parent is […]
Can Someone With Alzheimer’s Disease Make A Will?
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]June 2, 2011 By Brian Babcock There are many good reasons to make your will now, rather than putting it off. Accident and illness generally are always risks, but increasingly, diminished mental capacity is becoming an issue. Although diminished capacity does not necessarily mean incapacity, it can create confusion, increase costs, and increases the risk that […]
The Value of a Trademark
May 3, 2011 By Brian Babcock A 2004 Ontario Court of Appeal decision illustrates the value of trademark registration. Molson Breweries markets an ale called “ Export”. Another brewery, Oland, owned by Labatt’s has also for many years sold ale called “ Export”, previously only in Atlantic Canada. Oland has a registered trademark of its […]
A New Option For Separating Spouses
December 17, 2010 [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] “Love is a feeling, marriage is a contract, and relationships are hard” – Lori Gordon When relationships stop working and that contract needs to be dissolved, there used to be two options – either the parties came to an agreement, which became known as the separation agreement, or everyone went to […]
Employee Records: New Developments In Defamation
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]November 16, 2010 By Brian Babcock Words are not just the lawyer’s stock in trade – they are the building blocks of any legal dispute. Every document in an employee’s file is a source where a disappointed employee or former employee may find grounds for a claim for damages. Sometimes, the old adage “the less said […]
Changes To Ontario Accident Benefits Will Affect Your Next Renewal
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]November 2, 2010 By Brian Babcock Effective September 1, 2010 the Ontario standard form automobile policy changed, for the fourth – or perhaps fifth – time in twenty years, to conform to new regulations relating to statutory accident benefits (sometimes referred to as “no fault benefits”). These are the benefits paid beginning immediately after an accident […]
Child Support
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]March 30, 2010 By Brad Smith Child support, for married or unmarried spouses, is determined according to the Child Support Guidelines. Child support is the amount set out in published Tables according to the number of children, the income of the support payor plus “special or extraordinary expenses”. For example, according to the Tables, in Ontario, […]