We are proud to share a major victory for McQuarrie’s Family Law team, led by David Halkett, Partner, and Krystin Wang, Associate.

In a recent international family law matter under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, our team successfully defended a mother’s right to remain in Canada with her children.  The case spanned three international jurisdictions and raised highly complex issues involving family violence and child protection.

Our team successfully argued that returning the children to the requesting jurisdiction would expose them to a serious risk of harm under Article 13 of the Hague Convention. The Court agreed, allowing the mother and children to remain in Canada. As a result, custody and guardianship proceedings will now move forward here British Columbia, ensuring that decisions concerning the children’s best interests are made locally – providing them with stability, safety, and continuity.

This was truly a team effort. We extend our sincere appreciation to our lawyers, David Halkett and Krystin Wang, as well as to our exceptional legal support staff, Christine Cain and Shay Janzen, whose contributions were instrumental in achieving this outcome.

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At McQuarrie, we are dedicated to protecting our clients’ rights with compassion, skill, and determination – particularly in sensitive and complex cases involving cross-border disputes and allegations of family violence.

If you or someone you know requires assistance with custody, guardianship, parenting rights, property matters, or international family law disputes, our experienced Family Law team is here to help and guide you every step of the way.

Contact Our Family Law Team Today at 604.581.7001.

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Disclaimer: This blog post is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. While we strive to provide accurate and up-to-date information, every legal situation is unique. For personalized legal advice tailored to your specific case, please consult with a qualified lawyer. We are happy to assist you with your legal needs, but this post should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional legal counsel.

The post McQuarrie’s Family Law Team Achieves Significant Hague Convention Victory appeared first on McQuarrie Legal Services.

When your relationship ends, you and your ex-partner will need to make arrangements for any dependent children you have. This includes making parenting arrangements and maybe even contact arrangements for other relatives and important people involved in the child’s life.

My name is Aman Kahlon and I’m a family lawyer at McQuarrie. We have helped many clients in British Columbia create flexible child custody arrangements and make a divorce as smooth as possible for their families. In this article on flexible child custody arrangements, I share the top tips about making a child custody arrangement work for you instead of against you.

What is a child custody arrangement?

When parents are separating, there are several important issues to work out. During a divorce, you may want to address the issues of guardianship, parental responsibilities, parenting time, parenting arrangements, and contact with the child.

When making the decision on child custody, BC courts consider the child’s physical, emotional, and psychological safety, security, and well-being. Under the Divorce Act, a Judge makes decisions based only on the best interests of the child. This means that when a Judge is deciding on parenting arrangements, they must think about what’s best for the child and how well the parents will be able to provide a healthy and safe environment for the child.

What are co-parenting agreements?

If you are separating from your spouse, it is a good idea to get a co-parenting agreement. A co-parenting agreement is a written document that outlines how you and your ex-partner will raise your children after a separation.

Some key things that a co-parenting plan may define are the residential arrangements, health care, communication between parents and other family members, travel and accommodation, education and related expenses, language, religion, and cultural traditions in which the child is brought up.

Making a co-parenting agreement that suits you

When deciding on parenting arrangements, courts often use the same template for custody and parenting terms. We understand that each family is different and a parenting arrangement that works for one family may be completely impossible for yours.

When practicing family law in BC, we’re always conscious of the wide diversity of people living here. Different cultures have different customs and social norms around family. Our goal is to make sure that the transition associated with divorce happens as smoothly as possible for the kids and minimizes the damage to the quality of their life.

This means that here at McQuarrie, we are not afraid to offer unconventional solutions to child custody and parenting arrangements.

Conclusion

Divorce is one of the most challenging moments your family may go through. Apart from being stressful and emotional for the couple, a marriage breakdown can also significantly affect kids. If a divorce turns into an ugly process in which the child witnesses the content of their parents, it can leave long-lasting emotional scars.

However, divorce doesn’t have to be so traumatic for children. An experienced family lawyer will be able to work with you to forge individualized and tailored parenting arrangements that work best for your family.

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For over 50 years, McQuarrie has advocated for and helped clients throughout B.C. deal with the complex issues that arise in family law matters.

Because every family is unique, McQuarrie’s lawyers bring a humanized, personal approach to addressing each situation.

In legal separation matters, our team of compassionate family lawyers will help you navigate divorce and ensure that your family’s interests are prioritized during the separation.

We are here to provide guidance and support needed to avoid making similar mistakes during the divorce process.

Contact us at 604.581.7001 to book a consultation with one of our Family Law lawyers today.

The post Flexible Child Custody Arrangements: Co-Parenting Agreements That Work for You appeared first on McQuarrie Legal Services.

When a relationship ends, you may be faced with some difficult decisions around property division. It’s commonly thought that family property is split 50/50 in divorce. However, property division in a divorce is much more nuanced and complicated than it may first seem. 

In the article below, our Family Law lawyers discuss the types of property in a marriage and how it’s divided in a divorce or a legal separation. 

How is property divided in BC during a divorce?

When spouses separate, all family property is shared equally unless the couple has an agreement that says something else. You can agree to something different from the rules, but a judge can disallow an agreement if it’s “significantly unfair” or unfairly negotiated. A judge can also decide to divide property unequally if following the rules would be significantly unfair.

When assessing whether an unequal division of family property is necessary, the court will consider:

• The duration of the relationship
• The terms of agreements between the spouses
• A spouse’s contribution to the career or career potential of the other spouse
• Whether family debt was incurred in the normal course of the relationship between the spouses
• The ability of each spouse to pay a share of the family debt and if the amount of family debt exceeds the value of family property 
• Whether a spouse, after the date of separation, caused a significant decrease or increase in the value of the family property or family debt beyond market trends
• Whether a spouse substantially reduced the value of the family property or transferred it to someone else
• Whether a spouse incurred a tax liability due to a transfer or sale of property or as a result of an order

Family property

Family property is everything that you or your spouse owned separately or together on the date you separate. Family property is shared equally when a couple goes through a divorce. Even if one spouse’s contribution to the property was much greater, each spouse is entitled to half of the interest in all family property, subject to it being significantly unfair to divide that family property equally. For example, a house owned by the spouses on the date they separate is considered family property regardless of whose name is on the title of the house. 

Family property includes:

• The family home
• RRSPs
• Investments
• Bank accounts
• Insurance policies
• Pensions
• An interest in a business
• The amount of any increase in the value of the excluded property since the relationship started.

Excluded property

However, there is another type of property which generally isn’t divided in a divorce, and it’s called excluded property.

What can be considered as excluded property? Usually, it’s the property that a party brings into a relationship. It can also include gifts from others, inheritances you received during a relationship, court awards and settlements that only one spouse acquired during the relationship, and property held for a spouse in a trust.

What will be shared is the increase in value of the excluded property. If the value of the excluded property increased during a relationship, it will be divided equally in divorce.

However, just because a property is classified as the excluded property does not mean that the entire property is excluded from division. The gain in the value of your excluded property is subject to division.

In order to prove that something is an excluded property, you may end to trace it and show how it came from pre-marriage assets or gifts. Tracing a property can be difficult, especially because some documents may be long lost or hard to access many years after the marriage.

Conclusion

Asset division during divorce can be extremely complicated. With certain property excluded from family assets, you may need to prove that you acquired it before marriage or that it was a gift from someone other than the spouse. If you’re looking to protect your property or have questions over how your property will be divided, seek legal advice as soon as possible. 

Our lawyers know how deeply challenging property disputes during a divorce can be. With over five decades of legal expertise, we are proud to offer an empathetic and result-oriented service to clients navigating the legal separation process.

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For over 50 years, McQuarrie has advocated for and helped clients throughout B.C. deal with the complex issues that arise in family law matters.

Because every family is unique, McQuarrie’s lawyers bring a humanized, personal approach to addressing each situation.

In legal separation matters, our team of compassionate family lawyers will help you navigate divorce and ensure that your family’s interests are prioritized during the separation.

We are here to provide guidance and support needed to avoid making similar mistakes during the divorce process.

Contact us at 604.581.7001 to book a consultation with one of our Family Law lawyers today.

The post Types Of Property and How It Is Divided In A Divorce appeared first on McQuarrie Legal Services.