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Mediation, News & Updates

The Problem with Partial Agreements at Mediation

Howard E. Warren, Warren Mediation Group Inc.
Posted on May 17, 2021 at 1:10 pm

  It appears to make sense to try to get the parties to agree on at least some if not all the terms at mediation. The usual areas in play are parenting decision -making (formerly custody), parenting-time (formerly access), child support, spousal support and equalization of net family property. When I first started my mediation practice, I strove for early settlement of the lowest hanging fruit, to get the parties into settlement mode, both to encourage settlement and for them to understand that deals were there to be had. A year or two into my mediation practice, I convened mediation…

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News & Updates

Self-Care is Not Selfish: Self Care for Mediators and Legal Professionals

Kayla M. Stephenson
Posted on May 17, 2021 at 1:04 pm

In the wake of everything that is COVID-19, this pandemic has changed the way we live with all the unknowns and stresses surrounding work, school, childcare, shopping, and our social lives. Self-care is a must, and as a mediator and legal professional we may often come up with reasons why we may not have the time, we may have other duties or responsibilities that require our attention, and of course focusing on trying to keep our mediation or legal practice afloat. COVID -19 has hit everyone in some way shape or form, and it sets unique challenges for all of…

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Family Dispute Resolution, FDRulings, News & Updates

Case Law: Pereira v Ramos, 2021 ONSC 1737

Avagene Skervin
Posted on April 19, 2021 at 3:09 pm

Pereira v Ramos, 2021 ONSC 1737: Family Violence including the birthing of the statutory requirement to consider “coercive and controlling behaviour” as integral to the determination of the best interests of a child. This case was decided on March 9, 2021, eight days after the coming into force of the March 1, 2021 amendments to the Divorce Act (the “Act”). Although the Father’s motion was brought prior to the March 1st date, Justice Jain was careful to apply the applicable recent amendments regarding parenting orders and family violence considerations.   This case contains a good analysis of the best interest…

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Family Dispute Resolution, FDR Updates, News & Updates

Bill C-78: Amendments to the Divorce Act…In A Nutshell

Vicky Ringuette
Posted on April 19, 2021 at 2:49 pm

The period between March 2020 and March 2021 will likely be recognized as the year of many changes in the family justice system. Those working with families in the context of separation and divorce will no doubt remember it as the year Bill C-78, An Act to Amend the Divorce Act, the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act and the Garnishment, Attachments and Pension Diversion Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act, 2019, c. 16 came into force. It may also be known as the winner of the longest name ever given to a Parliamentary Bill in…

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News & Updates

Article–Seeking Supervisors for the Mediators-In-Training (MIT)

Marie Nickle, Mary Lee and Rachel MacMurchy
Posted on February 25, 2021 at 3:05 pm

The journey to becoming a certified family mediator can be a cumbersome process. A main obstacle that aspiring family mediators come across is securing an internship to complete the required 100 hours of practical experience. With the growth of the family mediation profession, there is increased demand for aspiring Mediator-In-Training (MIT) supervisors. While there are organizations that offer internships to MITs, the waitlists can be long and it can take over a year to start the process. We want to help reduce this limbo period by encouraging family mediator professionals to offer supervision to MITs and help them complete their…

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News & Updates

The Top 10 Things FDR Professionals Should Know About Death and Capacity

Ian M. Hull and Nick Esterbauer, Hull & Hull LLP
Posted on February 24, 2021 at 7:07 pm

From time to time all lawyers and other professionals assisting families will encounter situations where a client or another party to a proceeding begins to suffer from capacity issues or dies while matters remain unresolved.  Litigants can and do die in the midst of legal proceedings and while separation or divorce proceedings, custody disputes, and disputes regarding support are being resolved.  We also frequently see issues previously addressed during separation or divorce negotiations emerge again following death. We take this opportunity to highlight and briefly summarize ten of the most important issues to keep in mind when assisting clients where…

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News & Updates

Access to Justice in COVID-19 – Counterpoint

Kayla M. Stephenson
Posted on February 24, 2021 at 6:55 pm

Access to justice? It is not controversial to say that there have been long standing issues with access to justice within our court system for clients. Even before COVID-19, the justice system was facing challenges for quite some time.  What is access to justice? There are a lot of variations and interpretations to what this means. Simply put- access to justice is an equal right to understand and participate in every situation where law is debated, created, found, organized, administered, interpreted and applied.   Having access to justice consists of having available options to prevent, address and resolve the legal problems…

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News & Updates

Access to Justice: Is this still an issue?

Vicky Ringuette
Posted on February 24, 2021 at 6:51 pm

For this edition of the newsletter, we thought it important to write about the two perspectives that have emerged in regard to access to justice in light of the COVID-19 global pandemic. I will be writing from the perspective of technological advances which have potentially eradicated many of the access to justice issues that have plagued our system for decades. My colleague, Kayla Stephenson, will offer you the other perspective that suggests access to justice issues continue to prevail in our Family Justice System despite recent advances made as a result of this pandemic. What is access to justice? I…

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News & Updates

Black History Month: Equality Diversity and Inclusion

Kayla M. Stephenson
Posted on February 24, 2021 at 6:33 pm

Black History Month is about honouring the enormous contributions that Black people have made, and continue to make, over the years in all sectors of society. It is about celebrating resilience, innovation, and determination to work towards a more inclusive and diverse Ontario—and Canada in which everyone has every opportunity to flourish. This February, we are honouring Black History Month and celebrating black history with this month`s theme:  Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at FDRIO. It is important that in our practice, that we are culturally competent when it comes to our profession in the ADR field. As FDRIO members, we…

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News & Updates

FDRIO’s Annual General Meeting

Posted on December 2, 2020 at 2:50 pm

Our Chair, Neil Maisel, opened up the meeting with a summary of the exceptional year we have had – including the entertaining humour we’ve all come to expect of Neil! FDRIO has, despite the pandemic, had an unexpected good year, a welcomed success considering the world changed back in March: Our membership increased by 25% because of the highly regarded events and programs we offer our members. We plan to continue on this trajectory for the year ahead! Our innovative unConference was moved to a virtual event offering an excellent program that was very well attended. We hosted a Town Hall open to all family dispute resolution…

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FDR Updates, News & Updates

FDRIO Response to Family Legal Services Provider Licence

Posted on December 2, 2020 at 12:57 pm

The Law Society of Ontario (LSO) released a consultation paper on a proposed licensing model for a Family Legal Services Provider (FLSP) licence and invited stakeholders to provide comment.  Over the past 4 months, a committee of FDRIO members has been meeting to analyze the proposed model and form an informed and comprehensive response from FDRIO.  We are thankful to the members of the committee who gave their time, energy and expertise to ensure that the response from FDRIO was representative of our membership.  The FDRIO submission is posted on the website and can be accessed here.

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News & Updates

Cliff’s Notes: The Importance of Screening for Intimate Partner Abus

Clifford Nelson
Posted on November 4, 2020 at 12:30 pm

Every time I write these “Notes” I often find several cases on which I might comment, but I can only cover a few. This time, I have chosen to focus on just one case because of its importance to the work we do. The Importance of Screening for Intimate Partner Abus On July 21, 2020, the Discipline Committee of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers released a decision about a social worker who failed to properly screen for intimate partner abuse. The decision is reported as Ontario College of Social Workers v. S. 2020 On first…

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News & Updates

Case Law Review: Moore v Sweet and Life Insurance: Implications for Family Dispute Resolution Professionals

Ian M. Hull & Nick Esterbauer
Posted on November 4, 2020 at 11:30 am

For many Canadians, whether the purpose is to fund payment of anticipated estate liabilities, to assist in the financial support of one’s dependants, to honour support payment obligations, to equalize the distribution of an estate between multiple children, or to provide a direct benefit to one or more designated beneficiaries, life insurance policies represent an important component of an estate plan. If the beneficiary designation of a policy cannot be honoured following the insured’s death, this may result in the complete frustration of his or her testamentary wishes and prevent the estate plan from being implemented in the manner that…

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News & Updates

Book Review “Intensive Mothering: The Cultural Contradictions of Modern Motherhood” (Demeter Press)

Dr. Linda Ennis
Posted on November 3, 2020 at 4:52 pm

Dr. Linda Ennis, who is moderating a panel on “Differentiating Between Coaches & Mental Health Professionals” at the upcoming FDRIO conference, shares one of her books with us today on “intensive mothering”. She will be offering an online course on this subject on Dec 10th-11th, which will elaborate upon how it impacts the parenting process throughout marriage and divorce (drlindaennis.com). It is recommended that this book on intensive mothering be read in conjunction with her book entitled “After the Happily Ever After: Empowering Women & Mothers In Relationships” (Demeter Press) to fully understand the role of mothers and parents in…

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News & Updates

Foundations to Mastery Conference Highlights of the Experts – Keynote: Moya Teklu

An Interview by Kayla Stephenson
Posted on November 3, 2020 at 4:43 pm

As you have already heard, the FDRIO conference is on November 16, 2020 and Moya Teklu is our keynote speaker this year, she will be discussing “Addressing Anti-Black Racism.” We have heard a lot about what she has done for the Judges, Justices of the Peace, Lawyers, Adjudicators and regulators across the province and country – over the past several weeks.  I was luckily able to get some of Moya`s time to get to know her a bit more. 1.   We understand that you have experience and expertise in delivering anti-oppression and anti-racism training to members of the justice…

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