When Martha Shea summoned up the courage to ask former Madam Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dubé her take on collaborative law in Quebec at a family law conference six years ago, little did the Montreal family lawyer realize that she had sown the seeds to an organization that is now drawing attention from French-speaking nations.
Family law
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Youth protection authorities admonished by appeal court
Admonished by the Quebec Court of Appeal for single-mindedly trying to place a child before giving an opportunity to the parents to fulfill their parental responsibilities, youth protection authorities now face a more stringent test before envisioning adoption as a “solution to a difficult situation.”
In overturning a lower court ruling that authorized youth protection authorities to proceed with the placement of a child for adoption, the appeal court also provided guidance to courts of first instances, reminding them that they have a responsibility to question decisions made by youth protection, as is foreseen by the Youth Protection Act (Act).
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Mother wins battle to move to France with children
A lower court ruling that prohibited a French mother of two from moving from Quebec to her native country under penalty of losing custody was recently overturned by the Quebec Court of Appeal.
In a unanimous ruling, the appeal court issued a warning to courts of first instance that they must be cautious when weighing the “undeniable contribution” of expert’s opinions and bear in mind that “questions over custody and the criteria of who should have right to custody are issues that also call for legal notions,” said Quebec Court of Appeal Judge France Thibeault.
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Appeal court takes tougher line on spousal support
When the Quebec Court of Appeal recently overturned an order that compelled a financial analyst to pay his ex-wife spousal support for an indefinite period, it caught family law experts by surprise.
Even though s. 15.2(3) of the Divorce Act, which came into force in 1985, allows judges to make an order requiring a spouse to secure and pay his ex-spouse sums for a definite period or until a specified event occurs, the appeal court has traditionally shunned from applying such orders and almost always have overturned lower court rulings that issued that time-limited support orders, particularly if children are in the picture and the spouse – usually women – have been out of the workplace for a long time.
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Surrogacy agreements illegal in Quebec
A woman who sought to be legally recognized as the mother of a child borne by a surrogate mother was thwarted by a Quebec Court judge who held that, unlike in the rest of Canada, surrogacy agreements are illegal in Quebec.
“This child does not have a right to maternal filiation at any cost,” said Judge Michel Dubois in his 11-page ruling.
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Federal government overstepped its authority, says Quebec Court of Appeal
In a ruling hailed as a victory for federalism, the Quebec Court of Appeal struck down dozens of provisions of the federal Assisted Human Reproduction Act it deemed to be unconstitutional because it encroached on provincial jurisdictions.
“If we want to demonstrate that federalism is capable of working, then it must be capable of respecting the jurisdiction of provinces – this was a wise ruling,” remarked Jocelyne Provost, the Quebec Crown prosecutor who successfully argued the case before the appellate court.
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Cuckold loses bid to strike his name off child’s birth certificate
A man who discovered that he was not the biological father of a child lost his bid before the Quebec Court of Appeal to strike his name off the child’s certificate and invalidate his bond of filation with the child.
The Rimouski businessman, who had a seven-year common-law relationship that lasted between December 1998 and June 2005, discovered from acquaintances, shortly after being separated, that it was unlikely he was the father of the child born in 2002. On January 2007, a DNA test concluded that, with a probability greater than 99.99 per cent, that he was not the biological father of the child.
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Sudoku will is valid, rules court
During the Christmas holidays Fernande Aubé, while suffering from the ravages of cancer, kept herself busy playing Sudoku as she lay in a hospital bed in Hull, Quebec. The former teacher also lined several of the pages of the puzzle book with her last will and testament, with instructions that had changed the notarized will she had signed in 1991.
“Please accept my apologies with all the paperwork I have left you,” wrote Aubé, who gave the document to a nurse with instructions to pass it on to Aubé’s daughter Gina before she passed away on Christmas Eve in 2007. “I have been thinking of doing it for months but destiny was quicker than me.”
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Alimony rights for common-law spouses at stake in wealthy couple’s battle
A legal battle pitting a Brazilian aspiring model against a wealthy Montreal businessman may have all the ingredients of a riveting soap opera but at stake lies a constitutional challenge that strikes at the heart over the financial duties of common-law partners in Quebec.
The 35-year-old woman, who mothered three of the man’s children, is challenging the law that mandates spousal payments for couples who only have been legally married. Before Quebec Superior Court, she is seeking $56,000 in alimony and a share of his wealth. The identities of the protagonists are protected by the court, as is the case in Quebec when family law cases involve children. (more…)