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  • The family dog

    Just a few quick questions:
    1) If i have joint ownership of a house with my common law ex, and we can't come to an agreement, can a sale be forced? If so, how?

    2) I bought a dog intended to be the family pet for which I have maintained sole financial responsibility for, and now he wants joint custody. The license is in my name as are all receipts (vet, food, etc.) Would the courts award him custody of the dog? Or joint custody?

    He is threatening legal action, and I wanted to know where I stood on the dog and forced sale issue. Ideally, we would sell and I would get the dog...

  • #2
    Mandy,

    welcome to the forum,

    1) If i have joint ownership of a house with my common law ex, and we can't come to an agreement, can a sale be forced? If so, how?
    If you are in Ontario, You would have to bring forth an application with the court. Be sure to seek costs.

    2) I bought a dog intended to be the family pet for which I have maintained sole financial responsibility for, and now he wants joint custody. The license is in my name as are all receipts (vet, food, etc.) Would the courts award him custody of the dog? Or joint custody?
    Awesome question, see this case

    Warnica v. Gering, 2004 CanLII 50065 (ON S.C.)

    http://www.canlii.org/on/cas/onsc/20...onsc13126.html

    and affirmed at

    Warnica v. Gering, 2005 CanLII 30838 (ON C.A.)

    Paragraphs 4 - 7

    http://www.canlii.org/on/cas/onca/20...onca10589.html

    "[4] The case conference judge reviewed the file and expressed his concerns as to jurisdiction and whether this case deserved a full hearing in the Family Court. He gave the parties two weeks to make submissions. After receiving the submissions, he dismissed the application on the basis that the parties “deserve a just procedure; one that is fair to both parties; one that saves time and expense; one that is appropriate to the importance and complexity of the case and one that devotes appropriate court resources.” He added “three judges have now spent time in this file. That is sufficient. Short of a full-blown trial with contradictory oral evidence and findings of fact by a trial judge, nothing more can be added to allow the court to determine ownership.”

    [5] In his reasons, the judge alluded to paragraph 16 (12) (c) (iv) of the Family Rules, which allows the Family Court to dismiss or suspend a case because “the case is a waste of time, a nuisance or an abuse of the court’s process.” While he did not rely on that rule, his reasons make clear that he regarded the case as a waste of the Family Court’s time.

    [6] We agree and on the basis of the trial judge’s findings we would dismiss the claim under rule 16 (12) (c) (iv) of the Family Rules. Given the unusual nature of this claim and the material before him, the case conference judge was entitled to conclude that the claim would likely fail both on jurisdiction and on the merits, and that in view of the pressing workload of the Family Court the case did not warrant a full trial.

    [7] Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed. The parties may make written submissions on the costs of the appeal.

    I suspect that if you have receipts for purchase of the pet, vet bills etc, the pet belongs to you.


    lv

    Comment


    • #3
      Thank you so much

      I have been trying to end this amicably without involving lawyers and courts and everything, but I think that now is teh time to invest in alawyer. Thankyou for all of your help and the links. They were great, expecially concerning the dog....thanks again.

      Comment


      • #4
        Seek Costs?

        Okay, so I would go to my lawyer (when I find one) and say that I would like to force the sale of the house? and if I 'seek costs' then what? He would have to pay for the court order or something?

        Comment


        • #5
          Mandy,

          The first thing that is going to happen when you see a lawyer, is they are going to want to know the facts. To save time, have all pertinent documents or copies with you for the lawyer. You could write the background of the relationship to save time. Details of tile, mortgage etc are all relevant. The lawyer may want to know why the relationship broke down. The lawyer will most likely require a retainer up front. The lawyer will advise you fully of what rights you have and how to proceed. Perhaps the lawyer may try to write your ex a letter up front in a good faith effort to get settlement without litigating in court. This in turn will most likely generate a retaliation of your ex, by taking any correspondence from your lawyer to his lawyer. His lawyer will advise him of how to proceed. If they decide to contest, which I highly suspect they won't, I believe the matter will be settled on the home issue. Some back and forth negotiation may occur. If they choose not to settle, then your lawyer will most likely bring forth an application in Family Court on behalf of yourself to have the home sold.


          lv

          Comment

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