Litigation

Most family law cases settle without going to trial, and often without starting a court action. Even where proceedings are commenced in court, the bulk of those cases also reach a negotiated resolution.

We ask new clients to complete an intake form. With that information, we can assess the best way to reach the client’s goals and plan for action at the first meeting. Where litigation is necessary or the best option, we are experienced in handling complex litigation, often for clients with significant assets. Many of our clients are people of ordinary means, dealing with the difficult issues arising from the breakdown of a relationship. We represent clients in Provincial Court, Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal on all family law matters. Services include without notice applications, interim applications, judicial case conferences, settlement conferences, trial management conferences, trials, variation applications and appeals.

These are some of the issues that we deal with:

• Divorce
• Parenting
  • Adoption
  • Child support
  • Denial of parenting time/refusal to return children
  • Guardianship
  • Parenting arrangements
  • Parenting time
  • Parenting responsabilities
  • Relocation
• Support
  • Child Support
  • Children's expenses
  • Spousal support
  • Imputing income
  • Security for support
• Family property and debt
  • Preservarion of property
  • Division of family property
  • Pension division
  • Division of family debt
  • Corporate and trust issues
  • Valuation issues
• Protection orders
• Applications to vary or enforce orders
• Applications to enforce or set aside agreements
• Procedural matters such as obtaining an order for costs or settling the terms of an order

Sometimes there is no way to avoid litigation, for example:

• If there has been family violence
• If there is a threat to remove children from British Columbia
• If children are being withheld from a parent
• If property may be depleted or hidden
• If one party is not responding to efforts to negotiate
• If it is clear that a party will not negotiate in good faith
• If one party refuses to provide financial information
• If court orders are being disobeyed

But there are many good alternatives to litigation, which we will recommend to you if appropriate to your individual circumstances.