Excellent Child Mental Health Video Series for Family Law Lawyers and Parenting Coordinators

I've just discovered an amazingly useful cache of videos from Alberta Human Services on children's mental health issues. The nine videos are recordings of the lectures presented in part one of their Children's Mental Health Series and are presented by a variety of psychologists, social workers and other professionals, and cover topics including:

• "The Core Story of Child Development" (video);
• "Healing the Traumatized Parent and Child" (video);
• "Ameliorating Psycho-social Risk among Mothers with Intellectual Disabilities and their Children" (video); and,
• "Promoting Social and Emotional Well-Being in Children" (video).

The lecture series is aimed at professionals as well as caregivers and families, and is presented in generally accessible language as a result. After the usual housekeeping and introductory presentations, which frankly could have been edited out with no loss of content or quality, the lectures run for about an hour to an hour and a quarter. Each video includes a powerpoint presentation which can be downloaded separately, and a list of links to related online resources.

These videos will provide a helpful supplement to the knowledge base of anyone working as a parenting coordinator or providing non-evaluative views of the child reports, as well as family law lawyers whose practice includes an emphasis on children, mediation or collaborative settlement processes. They make an excellent companion to the animated video on children's brain development and reactions to stress provided by the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative that I have written about previously.

Part two of the Children's Mental Health Series will emphasize the adolescent brain and mental health and wellness challenges for youth and begins soon. You can get more information about the series and register through the website of the Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research.

New Book for Parenting Coordinators and Referring Practitioners

The American Psychological Association has just published Parenting Coordination in Postseparation Disputes: A Comprehensive Guide for Practitioners, put together by editors Shirley Ann Higuchi and Stephen J. Lally. Ms Higuchi is a lawyer and the executive director of the APA's legal and regulatory affairs department; Dr. Lally is a professor of psychology at Argosy University and a clinical practitioner.

This book is an absolute must-read for anyone who works as a parenting coordinator or who is thinking of including parenting coordination as a part of their practice, and is something I would have love to have had when I first started working as a parenting coordinator six years ago. The book includes the work of many leaders in the development and practice of parenting coordination, including Joan Kelly, Robin Deutsch and Matthew Sullivan, and covers the basics of parenting coordination and more advanced practice issues in depth. Topics covered include:

• parenting coordinators' training and core competencies,
• establishing and maintaining a parenting coordination practice,
• balancing parenting coordinators' caseloads,
• ethical issues unique to parenting coordination,
• managing risk,
• including children in the parenting coordination process, and
• parenting coordination in the context of family violence.

This book offers and excellent soup-to-nuts overview of parenting coordination and offers practical, pragmatic advice that both new and experienced parenting coordinators will find useful.

Order the book through the APA's website or through Amazon.

CLE Unleashes Family Law Act Training

The training opportunities for the coming into force of the new Family Law Act are about to get rolling. The Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia has taken an outstanding leadership role in packaging courses on the new legislation for lawyers, mediators, arbitrators and support staff. Here's some of what's going on over the next few months...

The Family Law Act: Everything You Always Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask

This is a two-day practice-oriented course that will sink its teeth into the major areas of change under the new legislation — the division of property and debt, the care and control of children, and family violence and protection orders — each in a half-day slot, and address the changes to child support, spousal support and other issues in shorter segments in the last half-day.

Vancouver: January 31st, February 1st

Victoria: February 7th, 8th 

Kelowna: February 21st, 22nd

Early bird cost: $960 (students $485)

The New Family Law Act for Legal Support Staff

This is a one-day, comprehensive course designed for legal assistants and paralegals aimed at developing strategies to transition to the new legislation, including the revisions to the rules of court and court forms.

Victoria: February 14th

Vancouver: February 18th

Kelowna: February 19th

Early bird cost: $475 (students $225)

Family Violence Screening Training

This two-day course is designed to meet the practice requirements require by the Law Society and the Family Law Act Regulation for lawyers wishing to practice as parenting coordinators, family law mediators and family law arbitrators under the new act. The course will teach how to screen for family violence and how family violence can impact on different dispute resolution processes.

Vancouver: January 21st, 22nd or January 24th, 25th

Cost: $1,100

Family Law Act Transition Guide

This book contains the Family Law Act annotated with commentary prepared by leading family law counsel and explanatory materials released by the Ministry of Justice, and includes a table of concordance between the old and new legislation. The first chapter provides an overview of the new act and is particularly well-written.

Cost: $195

Families Change: A day with Professor Patrick Parkinson

The BC Parenting Coordinators Roster Society, in conjunction, I understand, with Collaborative Divorce Vancouver and Mediate BC, are hosting a seminar with the renowned family law expert Patrick Parkinson of the Sydney Law School at the University of Sydney. The talk is billed as:

"A full day educational opportunity for mental health professionals and lawyers to hear an internationally recognized expert on children and divorce, and to dialogue with a family law professional who brings a perspective of many years as a legal scholar, researcher, and family law reformer." 

Professor Parkinson has written extensively on various aspects of the enduring responsibility of parents to meet their children's needs after separation. He will be speaking on topics which include:

• the results of a five-year longitudinal study on the impact of relocation;
• what research says about the post separation arrangements for children under the age of four; and,
• the myths, perceptions and realities of family law reform. 

The seminar will be held from 9:00am to 4:30pm on Friday 15 February 2013 in Vancouver at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art. The early bird cost of registration is $201.60. 

For more information contact Phyllis Kenney at pcadmin@shaw.ca. A registration form will shortly be posted on the website of the BC Parenting Coordinators Roster Society at www.bcparentingcoordinators.com.

Out With the Old, In With the New: Changes to plan for in 2013

The last few years have welcomed a range of important reforms affecting the practice of family law in British Columbia, including the new Supreme Court Family Rules, recalculated child support tables, the extension of the Notice to Mediate Regulation to family law matters and the expansion of the family law justice centre court model beyond Nanaimo. 2013 is going to be no different. In fact, in 2013 we are going to undergo reforms of a scope and magnitude not seen in the last thirty years. If the changes implemented in 2010, 2011 and 2012 were not your cup of tea, you are going to hate 2013. Read on.

The Family Law Act

The coming-into-force of the new Family Law Act will be the major event of 2013, no doubt about it. The new act will replace the Family Relations Act, which has been at the core of the law on domestic relations in British Columbia since 1972. 

Here are the highlights of the changes to expect on 18 March 2013:

• Family violence: Under the new act, family violence will be a factor which must be considered when the court is making decisions about children. The court will also be able to make protection orders to protect children and adults who are at risk of family violence.
• Parentage: We will have a complete code for determining a child's parentage, including when a child is conceived as a result of assisted reproduction. When assisted reproduction is used, a child may have more than two legal parents.
• Children's best interests: The list of factors that parents and the court must consider when making decisions about children will grow significantly, and will include family violence and a presumption that children's views should heard.
• Guardianship: The new act will give us a new definition of guardianship which takes us back in time to the old common law meaning of the term. Under the new act, subject to some exceptions, parents will usually be a child's guardians during their relationship and after separation. A guardian will be able to appoint a person to act as guardian in the event of his or her illness or death.
• Parental responsibilities: The decisions a child's guardians must make about raising the child will be called parental responsibilities, and will cover everything from where the child goes to school and how the child's health care is managed to signing permission slips for field trips. Only guardians will have parental responsibilities.
• Parenting time and contact: The time a guardian has with a child will be called parenting time. The time that someone who isn't a guardian has with a child will be called contact.
• Child support: Under the new act, the child support duties of a stepparent will be secondary to those of a parent, and the amount that the stepparent must pay will be determined considering the length of time the child and stepparent lived together and the child's standard of living during that time. A person paying support may also be required to carry life insurance to secure his or her obligation.
• Spousal support: People who have lived together for less than two years and have had a child together will be eligible for spousal support. Orders and agreements for spousal support may be reviewable. A person paying support may also be required to carry life insurance to secure his or her obligation.
• Property and debt: The new act will let people keep the property they owned going into to the relationship but require them to share any property or debt acquired after the date of marriage or the date they began to live together, whichever was first, plus the increase in value of any property brought into the relationship. People will also be able to keep other kinds of property they acquire during the relationship, such as inheritances, court awards and insurance payments. The property and debt provisions of the new act will apply to married and unmarried spouses.

Some amendments are likely planned to fix the very small number of problems in the new legislation that were overlooked in the drafting process. However, the next session of the Legislative Assembly, which will probably not begin until February or so, is going to be somewhat preoccupied with matters leading to the mandatory provincial election in May. As a result, it is very unlikely that the Family Law Act will be amended until the fall sitting.

You can read more about the Family Law Act in my Family Law Act Information & Resources page or in the helpful website on the new act put together by the Ministry of Justice.

The Regulations to the Family Law Act

Two main regulations will come into effect with the Family Law Act, the Family Law Act Regulation and the Family Law Act Pension Regulation. There are a few dozen other regulations that will come into effect at the same time, but these are largely housekeeping regulations that change other regulations to refer to the Family Law Act rather than the Family Relations Act.

The Family Law Act Pension Regulation deals with, well, pensions. No surprises there.

The Family Law Act Regulation covers a number of important subjects including:

• the roles and responsibilities of Family Justice Counsellors
• the training and experience people will have to have to work as Family Law Mediators, Family Law Arbitrators and Parenting Coordinators under the new act
• adopting the federal Child Support Guidelines as the Guidelines for the Family Law Act and translating the new act for the purposes of those Guidelines

The Ministry of Justice has written a helpful guide to the Family Law Act Regulation (PDF). You can find links to the new regulations in PDF format in my post "Regulations to Family Law Act Published."

The Family Relations Act

The Family Relations Act, and the regulations made under the Family Relations Act, will all be repealed when the Family Law Act comes into force on 18 March 2013. The repealed regulations include the Child Support Guidelines Regulation, the Division of Pensions Regulation and the Family Relations Act Rules and Regulations Regulation.

The Divorce Act

I am not aware of any changes planned for the Divorce Act. However, it's worth saying that among the things that will be staying the same under the Divorce Act are:

• Custody: The right to physical possession of a child and certain rights, almost like those of a guardian, to make decisions regarding the care and upbringing of the child.
• Access: The time a person has with a child under an order or agreement.
• Child support: The obligation of a spouse or stepparent to contribute to the costs of raising a child, as determined under the Child Support Guidelines.
• Spousal support: The obligation of a spouse to contribute to the living expenses of the other spouse, where that spouse has demonstrated an entitlement to receive it.

As a result, when the Family Law Act comes into force, married spouses will be subject to two slightly different rules for determining child support and spousal support, and to two very different schemes for the care and control of children.

The Child Support Guidelines

I am not aware of any changes planned for the Child Support Guidelines. The Guidelines tables were last amended on 31 December 2011, which means that the next amendment is unlikely to occur prior to 2016.

The Rules of Court

Both the Supreme Court Family Rules and the Provincial Court (Family) Rules will be amended on 18 March 2013 to accommodate the Family Law Act. Both sets of rules will be updated to:

• implement the new terminology used by the Family Law Act (for example, parental responsibilities, parenting time and parentage tests)
• address the new concepts introduced in the act (for example, parenting coordination, conduct orders and protection orders)
• address new processes established by the act (for example, the enforcement of orders and applications to enforce or set aside the determinations of parenting coordinators)
• delete reference to concepts not carried forward by the act (for example, restraining orders, parental support and declarations of irreconcilability)

The changes to the Provincial Court rules were somewhat more extensive given their antiquity, however the Minister of Justice has promised a complete overhaul of the rules for sometime in 2013 or 2014.

I expect that further updates to both sets of rules will be announced in the next few months to address the requirements of s. 51(2) of the new act concerning applications to be appointed as a child's guardian:

"An applicant under subsection (1) (a) of this section must provide evidence to the court, in accordance with the Supreme Court Family Rules or the Provincial Court (Family) Rules, respecting the best interests of the child as described in section 37 [best interests of child] of this Act."

An overview of the changes can be found at the Ministry's website on the new legislation. I have also discussed the updates to the rules in my post "Family Law Act: Changes to Rules of Court."

The Limitation Act

A brand new Limitation Act will come into force on 1 June 2013. Among other things, the new act exempts arrears of child support and spousal support from any limitation period, which means that once arrears have accumulated under ss. 148 or 163 of the Family Law Act, or the equivalent sections of the Family Relations Act, they can always be enforced.

I have briefly discussed the new new act in my post "New Legislation Will End Limitation Period for Claims on Arrears of Support." The old Limitation Act can be found on the excellent website of the Queen's Printer.

Family Day

Thanks to Premier Clark's ambitious families first agenda, our province's first Family Day will be celebrated with a day off on the second Monday of February; this year, on 11 February 2013. Huzzah!

New Practice Standards for Lawyers

On 7 September 2012, the Law Society adopted new practice standards (PDF) for lawyers wishing to practice as Family Law Mediators, Family Law Arbitrators and Parenting Coordinators when the new Family Law Act comes into force. The new standards are onerous but are, in my view, appropriately high.

I have discussed the new practice standards in my post "Family Law Act: Law Society Task Force Releases Practice Requirements, Government Announces No Fall Sitting."

People who are not lawyers and wish to practice as Family Law Mediators, Family Law Arbitrators and Parenting Coordinators must meet the training requirements set out in the Family Law Act Regulation; lawyers who wish to practice in these areas must meet both the requirements of the regulation and the standards set by the Law Society.

New Code of Professional Conduct for Lawyers

The Law Society has implemented a new Code of Professional Conduct (PDF) to replace the old Professional Conduct Handbook, effective today. The code covers most aspects of lawyers' ethical obligations, including confidentiality, conflicts of interest and advertising, and is part of an effort to promote greater uniformity among the practice codes of the various provinces and territories.

I have discussed the new code in my post "New Code of Professional Conduct in Force in January." You can read more about the new code in the Law Society's Bencher's Bulletin newsletter.

Designated Paralegal Pilot Project

Beginning on 1 January 2013, the scope of practice allowed to paralegals under the Law Society's pilot project will expand to allow designated paralegals to appear in court.

In the Vancouver, New Westminster and Kamloops Supreme Court registries only, designated paralegals may apply for a wide variety of uncontested orders, largely concerning procedure and file management, and may make contested applications for the following orders:

• compelling the production of documents
• changing the place of an examination for discovery
• the payment of child support where the children are below the age of majority and the payor's annual income is less than $150,000

In the Caribou/Northeast District and Surrey Provincial Court registries only, designated paralegals may apply for the same sort of uncontested orders and may make contested applications for the following orders:

• compelling the production of documents
• compelling the production of financial statements and financial documents
• the payment of child support where the children are below the age of majority, the payor's annual income is less than $150,000 and the application does not involve situations of shared or split custody or a claim of undue hardship

For more information, see the paralegals page on the Law Society's website.

Provincial Sales Tax

Remember the PST? It's back on 1 April 2013. Lawyer's fees are subject to PST and GST; fees charged by lawyers acting as mediators are subject only to GST.

Happy new year.

Regulations to Family Law Act Published

The orders in council implementing the regulations required by the new Family Law Act were made on 23 November 2012 and published on 26 November 2012.

The regulations will, as of 18 March 2013, the day the Family Law Act comes into force, repeal the regulations under the old Family Relations Act and replace them with the Family Law Act Regulation (PDF) and the Family Law Act Pension Regulation (PDF). A host of regulations to other statutes, from the Contaminated Sites Regulation to the International Business Activity Regulation, are amended to accommodate the Family Law Act by orders in council 798 to 846 (PDF).

The Family Law Act Regulation deals with:

1. the provincial employees able to work as family justice counsellors and the information and documents required for their work;
2. the minimum training standards required for professionals working as mediators, arbitrators and parenting coordinators under the Family Law Act;
3. the adoption and adaptation of the federal Child Support Guidelines for use in British Columbia under the Family Law Act;
4. the continuing work of the Child Support Recalculation Service out of the Kelowna registry of the British Columbia Provincial Court;
5. the forms required for the appointment of standby and testamentary guardians under ss. 55 and 53 of the act; and,
6. fixing $10,000 as the limit of the value of children's property which can be managed by a guardian without court order under s. 178 of the act;

According to the press release from the Ministry of Justice, the training standards required for professionals working as mediators, arbitrators and parenting coordinators consist of:

"At least 14 hours of in-depth training on how to identify and screen for family violence or power imbalances to determine whether, or what type of, dispute resolution process is appropriate. 

"A minimum level of family-related experience and training in their area of practice. 

"A minimum of 10 hours a year, per year, of ongoing training to ensure their skill set remains relevant. 

"Extensive training on the new Family Law Act."

These training standards must be met by 1 January 2014, giving everyone just over a year to get up to speed. Lawyers working as mediators, parenting coordinators and arbitrators will also additionally be governed by the training standards (PDF) required by the Law Society as they may be amended from time to time.

It is not entirely clear what fate will befall non-lawyers who have not taken the training required by the deadline. At a minimum, it seems to me that such people will not be "mediators," "parenting coordinators" and "arbitrators" to whom the court can refer people under the Family Law Act and, in particular, that the awards of people working as arbitrators and the determinations of people working as parenting coordinators will not be "awards" or "determinations" capable of enforcement under the act.

The Ministry of Justice has published a new page on its website explaining the new regulations.

Family Law Act: Law Society Task Force Releases Practice Requirements, Government Announces No Fall Sitting

Proposed Practice Requirements 

On Friday 7 September 2012, the Law Society's Family Law Task Force released its recommendations (PDF) on the qualifications lawyers should be required to have before being able to practice as family law arbitrators, family law mediators and parenting coordinators as provided under the new Family Law Act. The proposed qualifications are rigourous, and, I suspect, appropriately so.

Family Law Arbitrators

The Task Force recommends that lawyers practicing as family law arbitrators have 10 years of practice or experience as a judge or master, sufficient knowledge and skills to arbitrate family law matters in a competent manner, 40 hours of training in arbitration, 40 hours of training in mediation and 14 hours of training in family violence. Arbitrators should also be required to take at least six hours of continuing professional development per year in dispute resolution skills training and/or theory.

Family Law Mediators

Lawyers practicing as family law arbitrators should have sufficient knowledge and skills to mediate family law matters in a competent manner, 80 hours of training in mediation and 14 hours of training in family violence. Mediators should also be required to take at least six hours of continuing professional development per year in dispute resolution skills training and/or theory.

Parenting Coordinators

Lawyers practicing as family law arbitrators should have 10 years of practice or experience as a judge or master, sufficient knowledge and skills to act as a parenting coordinator in a competent manner, 40 hours of training in parenting coordination, 40 hours of training in arbitration, 80 hours of training in mediation and 14 hours of training in family violence. Parenting coordinators should also be required to take at least six hours of continuing professional development per year in dispute resolution skills training and/or theory.

The recommendations of the Task Force must be approved by the Benchers of the Law Society.

Fall Sitting

The CBC reports House Leader and former Attorney General Mike de Jong as saying that the provincial legislature will not sit this fall. As a result, no amendments to the Family Law Act can be tabled until the spring sitting in 2013; the act is scheduled to come into force on 18 March 2013.

Update: 17 September 2012

According to a newsletter distributed by the Law Society today, the recommendations of the Family Law Task Force were approved by the benchers at their meeting on 7 September 2012. Lawyers currently practicing as mediators, arbitrators and parenting coordinators are advised to look at the grandfathering provisions of the recommendations.

Reminder: Kelowna Seminars on Children, Separation and Divorce with Joan Kelly; Early Bird Pricing Ends 1 March 2012

The BC Parenting Coordinators Roster Society is presenting two seminars aimed at family law lawyers and mediators, registered mental health professionals helping separating parents, custody and access assessors, and professionals preparing views of the child reports. The seminars will be conducted by noted psychologist Joan Kelly in Kelowna, at the Manteo Resort.

On 18 April 2012, Dr. Kelly will be speaking on two topics, helping children cope with separation and divorce and alienated children. Over next two days, April 19 and 20, she will provide an introduction to parenting coordination, a child-focused dispute resolution designed to assist parents with a continuing history of high-conflict disputes, with additional presentations by members of the Roster Society.

Early bird pricing ends on 1 March 2012, be sure to register in advance. Contact pcadmin@shaw.ca for registration and further information.

Kelowna Seminars on Children, Separation and Divorce with Joan Kelly

The BC Parenting Coordinators Roster Society is presenting two seminars this spring with the renowned psychologist Joan Kelly in Kelowna, at the Manteo Resort. I've heard Dr. Kelly speak many times; she is an extremely informed, engaging speaker with an astonishing breadth of experience.

On 18 April 2012, Dr. Kelly will be speaking on two topics, helping children cope with separation and divorce and alienated children. Over next two days, April 19 and 20, will provide an introduction to parenting coordination, a child-focused dispute resolution designed to assist parents with a continuing history of high-conflict disputes.

The seminars are aimed at family law lawyers and mediators, registered mental health professionals helping separating parents, custody and access assessors, and professionals preparing views of the child reports. Contact pcadmin@shaw.ca for registration and pricing information.

Parenting Coordinators Update Roster List

The BC Parenting Coordinators Roster Society has expanded its roster. The society now boasts a total of 34 accredited parenting coordinators and improved availability across the province, with members practicing in:

• Cranbrook
• Fort St. John
• Kelowna
• Nanaimo
  
• North Vancouver
• Port Coquitlam
  
• Richmond
• Surrey
  
• Vancouver
• Victoria

In August this year, the society announced its adoption of the Guidelines for Parenting Coordination (PDF) of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts as the practice standards of its members and published its criteria for admission to the society as a parenting coordinator.

Parenting Coordinators Publish Admissions Criteria

The BC Parenting Coordinators Roster Society has updated its website to publish the criteria for admission to the society as a parenting coordinator and application forms for download. According to the website, the minimum requirements for admission are:

1. membership in a self-regulating professional organization
   
2. maintenance of professional liability insurance
3. significant experience in a family practice focusing on separation and divorce
4. training in parenting coordination
5. training in mediation, arbitration and other dispute resolution processes
6. awareness of a variety of psycho-social issues relevant to parenting coordination

The society has also announced its adoption of the Guidelines for Parenting Coordination (PDF) of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts as the practice standards of its members.

Parenting Coordinators Group Expands Roster

The BC Parenting Coordinators Roster Society has updated its website, and, along with it, posted an expanded roster of parenting coordinators, bringing the total number of members to 29.

The Society, first established as an unincorporated association in 2007, has finally been incorporated as a non-profit society under the provincial Society Act. The directors of the Society will shortly be establishing a variety of committees to promote parenting coordination in British Columbia, and will be hosting the Society's first Annual General Meeting in the late fall of 2010 or early spring of 2011.

2008 In Review, Part 2: Non-Governmental Initiatives

Two of the more important developments in family law in 2008, outside of government-driven legislation and law reform, involved the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines and the BC Parenting Coordinators Roster.

The Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines

Professors Rollie Thompson and Carol Rogerson released the final version of their paper, Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines, in July, three and a half years after the release of their Draft Proposal.

Frequent browsers of BC Family Law Resource will recall that the Advisory Guidelines describes a few formulas that can be used to calculate how much support should be paid and how long support should be paid for, once someone is found to be entitled to receive spousal support. The courts of British Columbia have embraced the Advisory Guidelines since their draft release in January 2005 with a level of enthusiasm not seen in all other provinces. In fact, our Court of Appeal, in a case called Redpath v. Redpath, made it an appealable error for a trial judge not to consider the result of the Advisory Guidelines when determining a spousal support claim!

The final Advisory Guidelines makes only modest changes from the draft release: the final version emphasizes that "indefinite" awards of spousal support aren't meant to be permanent awards of support; the ways that the formula results can be restructured have been highlighted and the exceptions to the formulas have been clarified and expanded; and, a new formula has been developed to address situations where all of the children receiving child support are adults.

More information about the final Advisory Guidelines paper can be found at www.bcfamilylawresource.com in the Spousal Support > Advisory Guidelines chapter.

The BC Parenting Coordinators Roster

The BC Parenting Coordinators Roster formally launched in September 2007, and awareness of parenting coordination as an alternative to the court process for high conflict couples increased dramatically among judges and lawyers in 2008. A significant number roster members were appointed as parenting coordinators, through agreement and by court order, last year.

The roster is presently in the process of incorporating as a non-profit society, and its inaugural annual general meeting will likely be held in the early spring of 2009.

Up to date information about the roster and the law about parenting coordination as it develops in British Columbia can be found at the roster's website, www.bcparentingcoordinators.com.