Family Law
Family law journeys can sometimes feel like a maze filled with emotions and challenges. At Judd Law, you will find passionate representation, with understanding staff who safeguard your rights. We have your best interests top of mind, throughout this complex time.
Serving Barrie, Orillia, Midland, Wasaga Beach and surrounding areas.
Why Judd Law.
Experience: With extensive knowledge of Ontario's family law processes, we are your trusted partner in all family law-related matters.
Areas of Family Law: Our office handles legal situations including:
• Facilitating Mediation, which is cost-effective and efficient
• Divorce, uncontested or contested
• Parenting Orders
• Child Support
• Spousal Support
• Property Division
Client-Focused: We prioritize your needs, ensuring every decision aligns with your best interests.
Kathleen has been instrumental in helping me navigate the family law system. Her consultative expertise as well as her guidance on when legal representation is required has been appreciated. You can tell she really puts my best interests in mind when dealing with the bullying tactics from my ex.
Addressing Concerns.
Separation and Divorce: Navigating the end of a marital union and the legal processes that accompany it.
Child Decision Making: Determining the rights and responsibilities of parents regarding the care and upbringing of their children post-separation.
Spousal Support: Financial assistance one spouse may be obligated to provide the other after a divorce or separation.
Parenting Orders: When parents separate, the requirement to resolve how they will continue to parent their children, including having contact and making decisions, is paramount.
Family Law Services Offered.
Covering the array of specific concerns that surface throughout the various family law issues, we are prepared to navigate through these with you as your trusted legal counsel.
Separation
Legal Recognition: Separation is acknowledged when partners live apart and at least one has the intention to end the relationship.
Financial Implications: Separation can affect property division, spousal support, and other financial matters.
Child-Related Decisions: Issues like decision making, parenting time, and child support often arise during separation.
Documentation: While not always mandatory, a separation agreement can clarify terms and protect both parties' interests.
Divorce
Legal Termination: Divorce is the formal dissolution of a marital union, ending the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage.
Grounds for Divorce: The only ground for divorce in Canada remains “breakdown of the marriage”.
Impact on Children: Divorce can lead to decisions on child custody, parenting orders, and child support arrangements.
Child Matters
Child Decision Making Laws in Ontario:
Know your rights and responsibilities as a parent.
Understand the difference between decision making and parenting time.
Strategies to ensure the best interests of the child are prioritized.
Modifying Child Support Payments:
Procedures to adjust child support based on changes in circumstances.
Legal avenues to ensure fair financial contributions.
Parenting Time Concerns:
Addressing concerns when a parent denies access.
Legal remedies when a parent is in contempt of a court order.
Spousal Support
Financial Assistance: Spousal support refers to payments made by one spouse to the other after a separation or divorce to help maintain their standard of living.
Calculation Factors: Amount and duration are determined by factors like length of marriage, financial need, and earning capacity.
Variability: Support can be temporary, long-term, or lump-sum, depending on the circumstances.
Review and Modification: Spousal support agreements can be revisited if there's a significant change in either party's situation.
Parenting Orders
Seeking a Parenting Order:
Parenting arrangements vary. They can involve how children divide their time.
Decision Making: Decision making may be shared or exercised by only one of the parents.
The allocation of decision-making responsibility may not be consistent with where a child resides.
Special Concerns
Allegations of Abuse or Manipulation: Addressing claims of harm or undue influence is crucial for the safety and well-being of all involved parties.
Concerns about Tracking, Recording, or Interrogating Children: Protecting a child's privacy and emotional health is paramount, especially against invasive actions like surveillance or unwarranted questioning.
Mediation: It is not only essential to discuss mediation, it is a legal responsibility to encourage mediation and settling matters between parties. At Judd Law, we encourage collaboration between the parties and encourage cooperation in order to avoid the need to attend court.
Legal Remedies When a Party Doesn't Abide by an Order: Non-compliance with court directives can be addressed through legal channels to ensure justice and adherence to the rule of law.
TAKE THE NEXT STEP...
Book A Consultation.
When you book a consultation with us you can expect an open mind, a listening ear, and direction on next steps.
Frequently Asked Questions.
Do you provide consulting if I choose to self represent?
Yes, we provide unbundled services which allows you to obtain legal advice and guidance for times when you do not know the next steps or how to move the case forward. A lawyer cannot be the Lawyer of Record in these cases, but they can be your agent and provide assistance.
We guide you on how to draft court materials and provide commissioning and uploading to court portal services. This will save you time driving into the courthouse.
How do you handle communication?
At Judd Law, we are able to respond to your inquiries very quickly. In times of crisis this can be very important. It is important to remember that a lawyer cannot act on anything over a weekend, when the courthouse is closed. Sometimes time is of the essence and it is important to be realistic as to what a lawyer can and cannot do. If you are feeling threatened, please always call the police who can action problems immediately.
We do not believe in sending updates weekly when there has been no progress on your file. We do not want you to incur billing for emails that are unnecessary. We, however, provide updates when the case has a development right away. Family courts can move very slowly at times and very quickly at other times. As such, it is important to respond to communication with the lawyer right away.
How much does a family law case cost?
At Judd Law we endeavor to keep costs as low as possible. It is important to remember that family law cases can become quite costly, as such we provide ways to keep costs low:
1. Make a concise list of concerns and questions for the lawyer.
2. Restrict emails and phone calls to matters of importance.
3. Make appointments with the lawyer to discuss aspects of the case rather than sending several emails.
4. Ensure that when forwarding emails, you send the last email of the chain and not every email individually.
5. When asked for documentation for preparation of court materials, send in one email and not individually. If possible, provide everything in one file/usb.
6. When possible, restrict the amount of photocopying and printing required by the law office.
7. If you have a person who can serve the other party, it may be less expensive to use that person rather than a process server.
8. Remember, your lawyer has your best interests in mind at all times. As such, when given advice on your matter, it is important to act on that advice promptly. Repeated requests only cost time and money.
Appearing in court has become less expensive since the court process has gone virtual. The cost for a lawyer to appear in court is for the time they are actually in the courtroom and not for travel and waiting in the courthouse.
How do I book a consultation?
At Judd Law, we can provide a consultation to you once we have our intake form completed. The intake form will ask for information about all parties involved in the case and request identification to be sent.
Consultations are booked by the hour and require prepayment in order to book the scheduled time.
During the consultation, we will be able to provide you with advice regarding your case and also an estimate of expected costs. We will discuss possibilities of you representing yourself with our assistance. We will discuss services we offer and what an estimated timetable will be. We will review best case scenarios regarding your case and what is involved in negotiating a resolution. We will help you see the bigger picture in a time of turmoil with kindness and empathy. Most importantly, we will be honest with you about your situation and what the court process looks like.
From The Desk of Judd Law.
Read about settlements, case law, perspectives and guidance we offer as part of our ongoing mission to educate and empower our clients on legal matters that matter.