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Showing posts with the label child support

Steps in the Family Law Court Process: Step 4 - Case Conference

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Step 4:  What Is a Case Conference? After you have started a court action in family law, the first major appearance that you can expect to have is a pre-trial hearing called a case conference. The case conference has been called the most important step in family law litigation. This hearing is held in front of a judge and allows both sides, either self-represented or with their lawyers, to obtain orders on procedural matters and possibly hear a judge’s view of the case at an early stage.  While a judge may offer preliminary opinions on the issues, no binding decision will be made on a substantive issue in your case. Obtaining a judge’s feedback can be helpful because it allows the parties to see their arguments from a different point of view and possibly reassess the strength of their claims. In turn, this may help to resolve matters through negotiation or mediation. Photo credit: Diane Webb What Can I Expect at My Case Co...

Motion to Change and Child Support

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Changing Child Support In a previous post I wrote about a motion to change. A person would start a court proceeding with a motion to change when they already have a separation agreement with an estranged or ex-spouse, but they want to change something that was agreed to.  In Ontario, the law allows for a change if the payor has experienced a major change in circumstances, such as reduced income or debilitating health problem that prevents them from working as they used to. Kevin Costner Case In the r ecent decision in California , actor Kevin Costner apparently had a marriage contract signed before he married his estranged wife, Christine Baumgartner. In their divorce process , the two disagreed about the amount of child support he should continue paying for their three children. Earlier in the court process, a judge awarded the amount of US$129,000 on a temporary basis. Recently, the pair returned to court to get a final decision. Ms. Baumgartner wanted US$161,592. In the end, t...

Steps in the Family Law Court Process: The Motion

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Family Law Court Process: The Motion A motion is a litigation tool that helps you manage the court process by allowing you to potentially get a result before a trial. The type of order you seek from a court on a motion is generally an order that temporarily deals with a major issue. It may be the real issue that brought you to court in the first place. If you succeed in your motion, the decision will usually have temporary effect. It is possible, however, that even though the motion may be in advance of a trial, the decision that you want the judge to make could permanently decide the issue. For example, in a vaccination dispute where one parent wants to vaccinate the child(ren) and the other wants to wait, if the pro-vaccination parent is given the decision making power and uses it, this would permanently deal with the matter because they can't un-vaccinate the child afterward. Motions are a major aspect of court proceedings and require much preparation on the ...