By
Karen F. Redmond
Family Law Lawyer
If you need a reason to stay out of court, other than fear of emotional damage and financial ruin, here is something you need to read. In the case of a divorcing couple Ms. Wong and Mr. Li, they provided financial material to the Court in support of their various claims. The Judge found they had less than satisfactorily reported their income to Canada Revenue Agency. In a scathing Judgment, Justice Russell said neither party had properly paid income tax for many years, pointing out the "substantial unfairness to the Canadian people who meet their income tax and GST obligations from those who do not." The Judge went on to say that the parties seemed to have no hesitation in taking the benefits offered by society, while showing no sense of responsibility to contribute towards the cost of those services. Ms. Wong and Mr. Li had business and personal income reportedly close to $400,000 per year and the Judge made reference to the possibility that CRA may at some point in the future pursue the parties for unpaid taxes. While somewhat amusing to the reader, this case should give all potential litigants and their counsel pause to consider alternate forms of dispute resolution, before potentially opening the books of your family finances and having them appear on the CBC twitter feed.
Here is the link to the CBC story:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/divorce-taxes-court-canada-revenue-1.4664013
This blog provides updates on important developments in family law in British Columbia and news about changes to the legislation, court procedures and court rules applicable to family law cases and is curated by Collaborative Divorce Vancouver
