18 October 2013

The Essential Case Law on the Family Law Act to Date

The Family Law Act has been law in British Columbia for seven months now, and, as regular readers of my blog will know, the courts have released a number of critical decisions interpreting and applying the new legislation. Here is a list of the cases that I think are among the most important, and the main subjects addressed by each case.

The numbers and letters after the name of each case is the legal citation for that case. ("2013" is the year in which the decision was published, "BCPC" or "BCSC" means the British Columbia Provincial Court or the British Columbia Supreme Court, and the last number is the number of the decision among all of the decisions released by the court that year.) You can use the citation to find the case on CanLII if the hyperlinks stop working for some reason.
Child Support 
S.M.L. v R.X.R., 2013 BCPC 123: basic principles regarding child support under the old Family Relations Act continue to apply under the new act except that there are new grounds to vary a child support order 
M.A. v. F.A., 2013 BCSC 1077: when a minor child will be considered to have "voluntarily withdrawn" from the care of his or her guardians for the purposes of child support

Children: Best Interests 
Hadjioannou v Hadjioannou, 2013 BCSC 1682: the best interests of children are determined by a review of the facts and each of the factors listed in s. 37(2) of the new act 
G.B. v L.A.P., 2013 BCSC 1490: the best interests of children are determined by a review of the facts and each of the factors listed in s. 37(2) of the new act 
Children: Guardianship 
D.Q.L. v W.D.H., 2013 BCSC 1291: the rights and responsibilities of guardians under the act are enough for guardians to care for the child and an interim order under the Divorce Act may not be necessary 
Rashtian v Baragoush, 2013 BCSC 994: orders for custody under the Divorce Act may supplemented for orders for the distribution of parental responsibilities under the new act 
Van Kooten v More, 2013 BCSC 1076: the Joyce model of guardianship adapted for the new act 
G.P. v M.J.R.P., 2013 BCSC 746: the Joyce model of guardianship adapted for the new act 
C.K.B.M. v G.M., 2013 BCSC 836: the Joyce model of guardianship adapted for custody orders under the Divorce Act 
Hansen v Mantei-Hansen, 2013 BCCS 876: the Joyce model of guardianship adapted for custody orders under the Divorce Act 
Children: Guardianship Applications 
J.L.M. v. G.A.T., 2013 BCPC 96: Provincial Court may make orders declaring a person to be a guardian of a child 
T.C. v S.C., 2013 BCPC 217: parent may be made a guardian on an interim basis but must file required affidavit within 60 days 
Director and L.M.P., L.M.P. v K.P. and others, 2013 BCPC 206: the sort of criminal records check required of persons applying to be appointed as the guardian of a child 
S.T.H. v R.M.G., 2013 BCPC 114: new act does not allow applications for "sole guardianship," such applications are applications to remove a person as the guardian of a child 
D. v D., 2013 BCPC 135: a person should not be removed as the guardian of a child except in extreme circumstances 
Children: Relocation Applications 
Berry v Berry, 2013 BCSC 1095: the degree of impact necessary for a move to qualify as a "relocation" under s. 65 of the new act 
T.C. v S.C., 2013 BCPC 217: parent may be made a guardian on an interim basis to provide parent with standing to object to relocation 
T.C. v S.C., 2013 BCPC 217: one of two critical cases on relocation, the analysis of "good faith" under s. 69, and the analysis the court must undertake in deciding whether to allow or refuse an application to relocate 
L.J.R. v S.W.R., 2013 BCSC 1344: second of two critical cases on relocation and the analysis the court must undertake in deciding whether to allow or refuse an application to relocate 
M.K.A. v A.F.W., 2013 BCSC 1415: the amount of time a guardian must have with a child to be "substantially equal" time under s. 69 for the purposes of relocation applications 
S.B. v N.L., 2013 BCPC 233: what happens when someone opposing a relocation fails to object within the thirty days allowed; the degree of proof required to establish delivery of a notice of relocation 
Court Procedure 
J.L.M. v. G.A.T., 2013 BCPC 96: Provincial Court may make orders declaring a person to be a guardian of a child 
J.D.G. v J.J.V., 2013 BCSC 1274: the availability of fines under s. 213 of the new act when someone fails to produce a financial statement with the deadlines set out in the Rules of Court 
M.J.S. v A.D., 2013 BCPC 230: the availability of orders under s. 221 for fines and prohibiting a party from making further applications without leave; applications for intervenor status in family law proceedings 
Division of Property and Debt 
Reynolds v Huard, 2013 BCSC 1251: unmarried spouses cannot add property claims under the new act if they are not within the two year time limit set out in s. 198 of the new act 
Asselin v Roy, 2013 BCSC 1681: the first case on the division of family property and family debt under the new act 
Divorce Act 
D.Q.L. v W.D.H., 2013 BCSC 1291: the rights and responsibilities of guardians under the act are enough for guardians to care for the child and an interim order under the Divorce Act may not be necessary 
Hansen v Mantei-Hansen, 2013 BCCS 876: relationship between orders for the care of children under the new act and the Divorce Act; when orders must be made under the Divorce Act 
Rashtian v Baragoush, 2013 BCSC 994: orders for custody under the Divorce Act may supplemented for orders for the distribution of parental responsibilities under the new act 
Family Violence 
M.W.B. v A.R.B., 2013 BCSC 885: a party's conduct of a court proceeding may amount to family violence 
D.J.K. v J.J.K., 2013 BCPC 223: "family member" for the purposes of protection orders includes a parent's adult child 
N.P. v I.V., 2013 BCSC 1323: factors in making protection order 
L.M. v L.S., 2013 BCSC 796: factors in making protection order
I have written more extensively about many of these decisions elsewhere in this blog; click the "Family Law Act" label below to find them.