More than 80,000 people are unrepresented in family court proceedings in Ontario every year. You see many women who don’t have lawyers and, often, their former partner is also unrepresented. As we have discussed in the past, while the lack of legal representation is a challenge for any family court litigant,
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It is not uncommon for a woman to experience difficulties with her family law lawyer.
The lawyer may not understand the unique dynamics in a case involving family violence. They may be good at the legal aspects of their work but not so good at communicating. They may not explain their fee arrangement well.
As of April 1st, 2019, the Ministry of the Attorney General (MAG) has implemented increases to some of the fees payable in a family court case. Most, but not all, of these fees are related to divorce applications.
MAG has also increased the financial eligibility ceiling for someone wishing to seek a waiver of family court fees.
The family court process can be long and difficult. By the time it is over, many women are often exhausted and sick and tired of dealing with their former partner. Many also assume the battle is over; that the court order will keep them and their kids safe and that their ex will move on from harassing and threatening them.
Many thanks to Miranda Brijlall, articling student at Luke’s Place, who prepared this response with assistance from Legal Director, Pamela Cross.
In circumstances of family violence, children as well as their mothers need to take care of themselves by developing a safety plan containing steps to increase and maintain their own safety,
The more a woman can protect her children from the negative emotions she may be feeling towards and about her former partner, the better for them.
Negative feelings towards her former partner
Her fear of her former partner may be justified but, unless she has fears for the children’s safety when they are with him,
The Virtual Legal Clinic serves women in rural and remote communities of Ontario. Foundation grants and lawyers providing freely of their time have allowed Luke’s Place to continue to offer this unique service to isolated women who have been subjected to abuse in their relationships.
The Virtual Legal Clinic uses video-conferencing to connect women in low population areas to family law lawyers based elsewhere.
The Family Responsibility Office (FRO) is a program of the Ministry of Community and Social Services that collects and distributes court-ordered child and spousal support payments. If the person paying support fails to do so, FRO can enforce the court order in a number of ways.
Its authority flows from the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act.
Workers in Ontario’s shelters for women and children fleeing abuse have been providing support to women involved with family court for decades. Occasionally funded through short-term grants, sometimes with resources provided by community fund-raising and often just tacked on to an already-lengthy list of responsibilities, this support has made an enormous difference for women who access shelter services.
How can a woman make the most of her time with a lawyer? How can she know if a lawyer is a good fit for her case? What can she do if she doesn’t feel that her lawyer is serving her well?
We’ve posted three new resources on our site, FamilyCourtAndBeyond.ca,
