FDRIO March Webinar: Fact-checking claims regarding alienation: Implications for dispute resolution professionals
Concerns of alienation continue to challenge dispute resolution professionals. While the evidence of alienation continues to accumulate, there remains great debate about whether the current research is sufficiently robust to accurately make assertions about the etiology, prevalence, assessment, consequences and appropriate interventions of alienation for children and families. This workshop will highlight the current state of the evidence and will review the current controversies. The workshop will include a fact checking of the various statements that have been made regarding alienation on both sides of the polarized debate. The workshop will also provide practical ways to integrate empirical research into…
Read MoreFDRIO February Webinar: Bankruptcy And Matrimonial Matters: BAMM!!
How does bankruptcy work? Difference between bankruptcy and insolvency Predicting bankruptcy How to go bankrupt, and when? ADR when one spouse is near the precipice of insolvency Separation Agreements Void: the 12 mo. preference problem The Thibodeau problem Designing the agreement Wording Ethics ADR when one spouse is bankrupt Pension/RRSP issues Negotiating with the Trustee was last modified: January 19th, 2021 by Tricia Wong
Read MoreFDRIO January Webinar: Top Ten Things that FDR Professionals Should Know About Death and Incapacity
Presenters: Ian M. Hull and Nick Esterbauer Webinar Description: Join Ian Hull and Nick Esterbauer as they review issues relating to estates and capacity law relevant to a family law practice and family dispute resolution. Topics will include the impact of marriage, separation, and divorce on estate planning and estate-related entitlements, considerations relating to the use of life insurance, and tools available to assist family law professionals in working through capacity issues. was last modified: October 14th, 2020 by Sina Admin
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FDRIO’s Annual General Meeting
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…
Read MoreFDRIO December Webinar: Introducing Settify: The New AI-enhanced Family Law Intake System
Speaker: Edward Kirk Webinar Description: Introducing a new approach to client intake that has changed family law practice internationally, and has recently been adopted by Goldhart & Associate, Epstein Cole, Bales Beall and other top Ontario practices Demonstration of Settify – the AI-enhanced system that gives instant, helpful service to new and enquiring clients, gathers their background information, and briefs lawyers Actionable insights drawn from over 60,000 family law clients regarding the optimal ways to enable them to get started on their matters was last modified: October 14th, 2020 by Sina Admin
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Case Law Review: Moore v Sweet and Life Insurance: Implications for Family Dispute Resolution Professionals
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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Book Review “Intensive Mothering: The Cultural Contradictions of Modern Motherhood” (Demeter Press)
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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Foundations to Mastery Conference Highlights of the Experts – Keynote: Moya Teklu
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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Race and Religion vs Child Marriage in the United States
“Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.” Toni Morrison, Beloved We live in a time where women are more liberated than ever, but have we truly claimed ownership of that freed self? Are we truly free or are we just benefitting from the freedom that our mothers gave us? While our sisters stood in solidarity, are we now watching our daughters get tied down in shackles, entering marriages when their bodies can barely take the burden of bearing children? Why are we standing back and allowing issues like child and forced marriage to exist…
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An Update from the Office of the Children’s Lawyer
Legislation and case law in Ontario recognize the importance of a child’s right to have a voice in decisions that are being made about their lives, reflecting Canada’s obligations under The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Office of the Children’s Lawyer (OCL) has a significant role in placing that voice at the center of decision making in the family justice system. Our ability to offer this assistance, however, was and continues to be, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Expectedly, in the early months of the pandemic there were far fewer referrals to the OCL as…
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What We Meant When We Said “Secondary Arbitration”
was last modified: September 11th, 2020 by Tricia Wong
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Cooperative Communication through Constructive Conflict Management Coaching
After practising primarily as a family law trial lawyer for over twenty years and having recently completed my Masters of Fine Art in Voice Training and Coaching at the Royal Central school of Speech and Drama in the UK, I am now limiting my practice to mediation, parenting coordination, and communication coaching. What a joy it is to be able to “pivot” and refocus my energy in a supportive, rather than adversarial way at this stage of my life and career. Coaching Self-Awareness In family law, we meet our clients when they are in a heightened state of anxiety, fear,…
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Cliff’s Notes: A Right of First Refusal
A Right of First Refusal A right of first refusal is an issue that arises in many separations between spouses. It involves a request by one party to purchase the other’s interest in the matrimonial home. It is a common request, mostly in cases where the property is held in joint tenancy. Some of the reasons for wanting to exercise a right of first refusal are obvious – a desire to maintain stability, a tactical manoeuvre to gain advantage in a custody dispute, and, of course, the desire to achieve sole ownership of a valuable asset. Clients are often surprised…
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unConference 2020 – Culture Shift: FDRIO’s 1st Online unConference a Success!
Attendees raved about our 3rd Annual unConference: “I loved it. Seamlessly presented.” “Great quality content, organized, breaks, non-DR related content (yoga, cooking)!” With the rapid COVID-19 shutdown in March FDRIO planned to postpone the bi-annual unConference event planned for May 5th until September 2020. But feeling the emptiness left by this postponement, FDRIO quickly decided to embrace the new virtual world of conferences. And keeping with the spirit of the unconventional format of the unConference, we moved to a fully virtual full-day format. And so on June 2nd, 2020, FDRIO hosted 85 participants and over 20 presenters from across Canada…
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The Disclosure Clinic ─ A New Service Offered by Shmuel Stern: A FDRIO Conversation with Matilda Kissi
Shmuel Stern is a family law lawyer currently on sabbatical obtaining his LLM in Family Law and running a limited scope practice at Disclosure Clinic – Ontario Family Law Financial Disclosure. Done Right. Follow his family law caselaw twitter feed @corrollaryrelief Shmuel, what is the Disclosure Clinic? The Disclosure Clinic is a limited scope service that fills a specific, and I’d say vital, gap in available family law services. It assists individuals to take a proactive approach to their financial disclosure, helping them fully disclose relevant information, including information not asked for directly on a Form 13 or 13.1 Financial…
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