Mind your business: Business Assets, Professional Corporations & Divorce

Business owners or the spouse of a business owner encounter unique considerations when facing a divorce. The Marital Property Act’s Treatment of Business Assets The New Brunswick Marital Property Act, RSNB 2012, c 107 [hereinafter the “Marital Property Act”] exempts business assets from division with a spouse upon the breakdown of a marriage. Business assets […]

This Month in NS Family Law – October 2021

Richardson v. Richardson, 2021 SCC 36 Justices Wagner C.J. and Moldaver, Karakatsanis, Côté, Brown, Rowe, Martin, Kasirer and Jamal Issues: Best interest of the child | Custody The parties have a 16-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son. The dispute revolved around custody of the two children and whether it is in their best interests to […]

November 9, 2021

The Value of Domestic Contracts: Avoiding Costly Legal Disputes

It is no secret that family law disputes resolved using the court process come at great personal and financial expense. Being proactive with the use of domestic contracts ensures that both your family and business assets are better protected from costly legal disputes. What They Are Unfortunately, there is great stigma against pre-nuptial agreements because […]

Contractual relationship impacted by COVID-19? Planning on initiating a liability...

In Nova Scotia, generally a person has two years from the date a claim is discovered to begin an action. Those who wait to achieve certainty regarding their claim may find the two year period has already elapsed. In a recent Supreme Court of Canada case the Province of New Brunswick brought a claim against […]

This Month in NS Family Law – July 2021

S.S. v. J.G., 2021 NSSC 228 Honourable Justice Pamela A. Marche Issues: Shared custody v Primary Care | Best interest test | Retroactive child support | Voice of child report | s.7 Health Insurance Premiums | Child support At a variation application, the mother sought primary care and final decision making, and the father sought […]

Recent Developments in Retroactive Child Support

The recent decisions in Michel v Graydon, 2020 SCC 24 and Colucci v Colucci, 2021 SCC 24 have changed how the courts address applications for retroactive child support and the rescission of child support arrears. The new approach to retroactive child support intertwines the principles of leading cases to create a simplified framework. The framework […]

This Month in NS Family Law – June 2021

Colucci v. Colucci, 2021 SCC 24 Martin J., Wagner C.J. and Abella, Moldaver, Karakatsanis, Côté, Brown, Rowe and Kasirer JJ. Concurring Issues: Retroactive child support | Rescinding child support arrears This Supreme Court of Canada decision created a new approach to retroactive child support and arrears. The parties had a nine-year marriage. The mother has […]

June 25, 2021

More than Just a Stamp: Proposed Vaccine Passports Raise Privacy...

Click here to view PDF version. As the number of Canadians receiving COVID-19 vaccines continues to rise, vaccine passports are now sparking discussion as a means to return to “normal”.  However, privacy commissioners and ombudspersons across Canada have stressed that these proposed tools raise a host of privacy and data security concerns, many of which […]

This Month in NS Family Law – May 2021

Our NS Family Law team provides summaries of the May cases which appeared in the Nova Scotia Supreme Court and the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.

April 12, 2021

Significant Changes to the Divorce Act RSC 1985 c 3

Parliament passed Bill C-78, an Act to Amend the Divorce Act, which received Royal Assent on June 21, 2019 and came into force March 1, 2021, amending the Divorce Act RSC 1985 c 3 (hereinafter referred to as the “Act”). The amendments to the Divorce Act are substantial, the first significant updates to the Act […]