Archive for July 20th, 2010

British Columbia eyes family law reforms – CTV News

VICTORIA — The B.C. government is proposing broad family law changes it hopes will discourage domestic violence while encouraging separated and divorced couples to settle disputes outside the courtroom.

After a four-year review of its Family Relations Act, the province released draft legislation Monday as part of a 180-page discussion paper.

It marks the latest effort to change how the province deals with legal disputes involving separating couples and domestic violence.

The proposed legislation — which would be called the Family Law Act — aims to discourage couples from seeing the courts as the first stop in resolving a dispute, instead calling for more options to resolve conflicts through co-operation and mediation.

The government hopes a less adversarial system will reduce the stress that comes with a divorce or separation, which is something the province’s attorney general notes is associated with an increased risk in domestic violence.

“There is nothing more emotional than the breakdown in a relationship, and you can amplify that statement when children are involved,” said Attorney General Mike de Jong.

“What you see is an attempt to provide a route to resolution that is less adversarial and less likely to invoke unpredictable emotional responses.”

Domestic violence is also at issue in how the law would settle custody battles.

The proposed legislation makes the best interests of the child the only consideration when it comes to settling parenting disputes, including asking children for their views.

Those best interests will now include a history of family violence, how children have been cared for in the past and whether there have been any civil or criminal proceedings relevant to their safety.

“It (domestic violence) goes from being a factor that was always given consideration to being explicitly set out statutorily in a case where there does need to be court intervention,” he said.

Domestic violence has been under a microscope in British Columbia since a horrific murder-suicide in Victoria in 2007, when Peter Lee killed his six-year-old son, his wife and her parents before finally killing himself.

There have been several reports since, including a coroner’s report and another from a government panel into domestic violence calling for changes, including fast-tracking domestic violence cases through the courts and ensuring better co-operating between police, the justice system and government departments.

The changes announced Monday also follow amendments last year to the rules governing civil and family cases designed to make it easier for ordinary citizens to access the courts.

Those included eliminating filing fees for parties that use mediation, limiting the exchange of documents that aren’t directly relevant to a case, and three days of free trial time.

Other proposed changes in the document released Monday include:

– Extending property rights for common-law couples who have lived together for two years or have children.

– Outlining how to determine a child’s legal parents when reproductive technologies are used.

– Removing adversarial language in the law by replacing terms such as custody and access to “guardianship” and “parenting time.”

The proposed changes will go to public consultation in the coming months prior to coming up in the legislature some time next year.

Please contact your local Knoxville divorce attorney at The McKellar Law Firm, PLLC at (865) 566-0125 for a free consultation.