Professor from Dalhousie raised some interesting items:
- no statistics from Stats Can on divorce since 2004
- no change to women being significantly economically disadvantaged from years ago
- settlement needs should be focussed at front end of divorce process rather than at the end.
- cultural expectations of expediency of resolution are unrealistic for those starting a divorce
- need for unified family court system
Too bad the discussion panel was so short in length.
Thanks to mcdreamy for alerting us to this very interesting CBC segment.
- no change to women being significantly economically disadvantaged from years ago
Is that because there's been no updated data since 2004 or is the condition still true?
- settlement needs should be focussed at front end of divorce process rather than at the end.
Currently, the only way to speed the support process is to be able to file an ex parte motion and you'd have to have a very specific set of circumstances to do that. I agree that the whole process for litigants requiring support takes far too long and is more complicated by all the cases with lack of disclosure problems. I don't see this getting fixed any time soon.
- cultural expectations of expediency of resolution are unrealistic for those starting a divorce
I remember when I first filed. The master during our CC said that the family law system liked to see cases start & finish in the timeframe of no later than 1yr after the first CC. I find that statement amusing now.
I remember when I first filed. The master during our CC said that the family law system liked to see cases start & finish in the timeframe of no later than 1yr after the first CC. I find that statement amusing now.
What a joke, my lawyer also promised it would all be taken care of within a year? Then he used the excuse that the other lawyer was stalling, courts are backed-up, priority goes to custody cases - all of which is probably true - I still would have been happy to have the truth of it from the get go.
The lawyer from Medicine Hat, AB spoke briefly on arbitration and collaborative law. IT would be interesting to have heard her speak more on that process. My situation was handled by a judge/binding arbitration. We went through 5 months of useless crap (meetings, correspondence). Once it was agreed upon by both of us to do binding arbitration we set the JDR date and were finished in less than 3 months for a total of 9 months from date I filed for divorce.
Professor from Dalhousie raised some interesting items:
- no statistics from Stats Can on divorce since 2004
- no change to women being significantly economically disadvantaged from years ago
- settlement needs should be focussed at front end of divorce process rather than at the end.
- cultural expectations of expediency of resolution are unrealistic for those starting a divorce
- need for unified family court system
This is a point of contention for me. Women are not economically disadvantaged from the divorce process. Women are still economically disadvantaged in society in GENERAL and it just shows up dramatically in the divorce process.
Women should be encouraged and expected to have and maintain good careers and be self-sufficient throughout their lives, including any marriage. Just as men are.
The underlying problem, which is that women are not earning the same as men overall, regardless of marital status, is not something that can be fixed by giving them special financial treatment in the divorce process.
Not to mention that if men got the same kinds of child access that women still tend to do, women would not end up with the bulk of the child care, which can be a hindrance to pursuing a career.
I think we're still several generations away from this one being fixed. Overhauls to family court are not going to to do it, and I'm afraid that when it fails, other needed reforms will also be dismissed.
Once it was agreed upon by both of us to do binding arbitration we set the JDR date and were finished in less than 3 months for a total of 9 months from date I filed for divorce.
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