Decision-making with an abusive ex-partner is never an easy or straightforward process. Even when the ex-partner has had little involvement in making decisions or planning for the children, many of them have plenty of ideas about what they think the mother should or should not do. For women with school-age children,
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Becoming fully competent in working in the spirit of reconciliation is a process. This tip sheet is intended to provide you with ideas to think about and for you, your colleagues and your organization to work towards over time.
Community
1) I know something about the territory and Indigenous communities where I work and live,
Family violence continues and often escalates post-separation. This webinar explores post-separation abuse and strategies for managing it, including restraining orders and safety planning.
What is a restraining order? How would someone get one? This webinar answers those questions and more.
This webinar is the latest in a series on family law issues when there’s family violence presented by Luke’s Place in partnership with CLEO,
There are significant differences between some cultural or religious family law and the civil family laws in Canada. It is important for women to know about these differences before they make any decisions about how they want to organize their intimate relationships or how they want to resolve the issues that arise when those relationships end.
This is the second installment of a two-part series
There are many ways a family can organize access even when one parent lives some distance away from the kids. Factors that need to be considered include:
Distance
The children’s ages
Finances
Extent of contact before the move
History of violence and ongoing safety issues
Generally,
This is the first installment of a two-part series
We are living in an increasingly globalized world, so it is not surprising that families move – often long distances – more than they used to. While this can pose challenges when the parents live together – finding new schools for the children,
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,
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.
Track the abuse throughout your relationship by thinking about what went on at key points. Write this down; point form is fine.
Take some time to organize this information before any meeting where you may have to talk about it; for instance, before you meet with duty counsel or a mediator or before your first appointment with your lawyer.
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.
