Precedents One Update Details

New Clauses/Schedules

• Authorization & Direction for Information from Third Parties (eg. children's teachers, school officials, doctors, dentists, health care providers, summer camp counsellors or others involved with the children)
• Mobility Restriction not intended to restrict travel - helpful in obtaining passports
• Child's Contribution to Post-Secondary Education Costs - in light of Lewi v. Lewi,
• Annual Adjustment of Child Support - "after the fact" adjustment of child support, based on hindsight (i.e. the parties' actual incomes) re: L. (R.E.) v. L. (S.M.), 2007 CarswellAlta 690 (Alta. C.A.)
• Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Acknowledgement and Registration - requiring parties to file child and spousal support arrangements with CRA
• Acknowledgement of Full and Final Satisfaction Of All Claims In Outstanding Court Application
• Obtaining Divorce Judgment on uncontested basis - withdrawal of answer
• No clauses to be incorporated into Divorce Judgment
• Independent Legal Advice (ILA) clauses in BC Agreement

Significantly Revised Clauses/Schedules

• Dispute resolution clauses and draft Arbitration Agreement incorporates recent changes to the Arbitration Act, pursuant to the Family Statute Law Amendment Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 1
• Child support for children over the age of majority
• Interest on late payments
• Updated spousal release clauses
• Review provisions set out in the SSAG for the "With Child Support" Formula incorporated into the spousal support review provisions
• Sanctions in the event of default of spousal support

New Commentary

• Confusion in Ontario re: joint parenting in high conflict cases
• Obtaining passports, particularly in light of mobility restrictions
• Dispute resolution
• Recent changes to the Arbitration Act, pursuant to the Family Statute Law Amendment Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 1, re: family arbitrations
• Rotation of UCCB benefits in shared eligibility situations
• New fitness tax credit
• Child support for children over the age of majority
• Lewi v. Lewi - contribution by child to post-secondary education expenses
• D.B.S. v. S.R.G. - retroactive child support, recipient's need to make formal requests for information & payor's obligation to notify of materially increased income
• Financial disclosure, in light of LeVan v. LeVan
• Redpath v. Redpath - standard of appellate review should be reformulated to permit intervention where spousal support order outside the SSAG
• Leskun v. Leskun - limited role of review orders
• Filing/not filing with Family Responsibility Office (FRO)
• Confusion in Ontario re: implied duty of disclosure of a payor's increased income (Ont. C.A. in Murray v. Murray and Baldwin v. Funston)

FYI: We are presently working on a "Marriage Contract" agreement which we are planning to add to our Precedents One offering in 2008. Please watch for it.

Tools One Update Details

• Tax rate changes pursuant to various provincial budgets
• Enhanced handling of shared/rotated UCCB
• Expanded support for high resolution and widescreen displays

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Ontario Family Law Case Management Rule and Form Changes
Effective September 1st 2007

A regulation to amend the Family Law Rules (O. Reg. 114/99) has been approved by the Attorney General and filed with the Registrar of Regulations. The main effect of the regulation is to amend the case management rules set out at rule 39, 40 and 41 and to make consequential amendments to the application forms (8 and 8A) and the notice of approaching dismissal form (39). The amendments to the case management rules and to these forms come into effect on September 1, 2007.

The full text of the Regulation can be found here.

The DIVORCEmate One Fall 2007 Update discussed above incorporates the form changes prescribed by this regulation.

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Our 2009 Vision of the Future

IMPORTANT: This is our vision of the future for DIVORCEmate One. If you have any comments, I would be pleased to hear them. Please email me at markharris@divorcemate.com.

Our vision is to move DIVORCEmate One software from individual computers to the Internet, this means that you will be using only your web browser and hi-speed Internet connection to open and use DIVORCEmate One in 2009. The advantages are as follows:

• Imagine, all of your DIVORCEmate Software forms, tools and precedents available anywhere, anytime, delivered to you quickly and easily over the Internet.
• All you will need to do is login to our secure server(s), and away you go!
• No installation headaches, no software updates.... Your DIVORCEmate One is always current with the latest release!
• You could be at home, you could be in the office, you could be in court, you can be at your client's office or home... you could even be at the cottage or on vacation.
• You can use your laptop, your personal computer and probably even your Palm or Blackberry!
• You could share certain documents and calculations with your client or the other side... collaboratively over the web!
• No worries about compatibility of new versions of Word or Word Perfect, we will provide you with our own familiar word-processing interface emulator.
• You can even have your client "start up DIVORCEmate" and input all necessary client information for you to merge into your forms, tools and precedents.
• Hardware requirements will be minimal... hi-speed Internet with your own web browser... Mac, PC, terminal emulator... virtually anything!
• No worries about security or backing up critical files... we will do it all in a state-of-the-art electronic environment.
• We will be encouraging all law firms to use the Pay-Per-Use option which will give you free DIVORCEmate One 2009 software, as the cost will be paid by your clients, as disbursements!
• And, we will be improving all of our DIVORCEmate One modules to incorporate many of the changes that have been suggested by our users and staff...

We need your feedback...tell us what you think? If you have any comments about our vision for the future of DIVORCEmate Software, please email me directly.

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The Spousal Support Guidelines in B.C. - The Next Generation

Recently Professors Rollie Thompson and Carol Rogerson addressed family lawyers in British Columbia at a CLE program and presented an updated paper on the current and future status of the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines... we have that paper for you here.

We especially like the following regarding "restructuring":

"... The calculations provided there are very simplified and do not take into account the time-value of money, the various future contingencies that could affect the value of awards over time, or tax consequences. In practice, more sophisticated calculations may take such factors into account. Computer software programs may assist in some of the calculations required by restructuring. See for example DIVORCEmate's new SUMmate Quantum v. Duration Analyzer."

Here is the paper's conclusion:

"As we scramble to complete this paper, we have to remark on the richness of the British Columbia case law using the Advisory Guidelines. Lawyers and judges have tried to use the Guidelines to achieve sensible results in a wide range of cases. But the cases so far still reveal a lack of consistent reference to entitlement, restructuring, duration and exceptions as ways to maintain flexibility within the general scheme of the Advisory Guidelines.

Our purpose in this B.C. paper has been to encourage lawyers to go beyond the ranges for amounts, beyond the formulas, to boldly go where no lawyer has gone before. In this next generation of use, lawyers should make use of these four "useful tools" - entitlement, restructuring, duration, exceptions - to analyze hard cases and to make more sophisticated arguments under the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines."

This latest paper is a must read for all family law professionals!

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Legal Aid Ontario Refuses to Approve Pay-Per-Use Disbursement

LAO has once again refused to approve the payment of the $100 PPU fee as a LAO file disbursement. LAO views software as an overhead expense and does not cover overhead expenses for lawyers who do family law funded by a legal aid certificate. We will continue our efforts to have this disbursement approved.

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Ontario's FLIC Offices
by Ann Volpe, Consultant to DIVORCEmate Software Inc.

Over the past several years, Family Law Information Centres, or "FLIC", have been springing up in many courthouses throughout Ontario. However, the Family Law Information Centre in your area probably differs greatly from a FLIC office in another area. Why?

The FLICs in areas that have a Family Court (17 in Ontario) generally have more extensive physical facilities and are better staffed. Each has, or should have (some don't), an Information and Referral Coordinator to provide information about community resources and alternate dispute resolution, court staff to provide general court information, guides to procedure and court forms, and advice lawyers funded by Legal Aid. In addition, they offer mediation services.

FLIC offices in non-family court locations offer court staff assistance and "advice" lawyers only. Some FLIC offices, in non-family-court areas, are little more than a space where a "client" can obtain pamphlets, forms and guides to procedure.

In all offices, Legal Aid lawyers are available, but will offer case-specific advice only to those who qualify. The financial threshold is quite low, leaving others able to obtain only very general information, i.e. "You will need to start an application. Here are the forms."

While staff at some FLIC offices have computer and internet access (some have neither), generally there is no computer access for clients. Some FLIC offices provide very limited computer access to "clients", i.e. to prepare a Divorce Order, while others provide either no access or offer a typewriter (yes, a typewriter - apparently some still exist!) for those needing to complete a document that cannot be handwritten. Most often, clients must fill in their forms by hand.

Hampered by what FLIC staff can, and cannot do, and in some instances, by the numbers of people looking for help, the service unfortunately is not yet what it could and should be. Court staff are only able to give general information as to procedure and forms, while legal advice is available only to those who meet the very low income thresholds. Those who are over the Legal Aid threshold, but can't afford a lawyer, continue to have limited resources to draw on when faced with the task of bringing or defending a court application.

With the rise in non-represented litigants and the ensuing drain on court resources, the availability of a FLIC where litigants can get information and help is a necessity. The existing FLIC offices, especially those in family court locations, are a great start. Hopefully this service will continue to expand into all courthouses and will someday, somehow offer the assistance of advice lawyers to those who meet a higher financial threshold than that currently used.

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DIVORCEmate Gaining Momentum on the East Coast

We have recently signed up many new DIVORCEmate One users in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. Although our Pay-Per-Use option is very strong, we have also signed up firms to our Annual Subscription option.

We are especially proud to announce that the Newfoundland and Labrador Legal Aid Commission has recently standardized on our DIVORCEmate Tools One.

We sincerely appreciate your business and are trying to make a trip East to train our many new users. Please watch our website for information regarding a Fall 2007 training schedule.

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Time Matters, Amicus Attorney, Timeslips Merge Option in DIVORCEmate...
Are You Interested?

Are you interested in having your Time Matters, Amicus Attorney, or Timeslips client information automatically feed into your DIVORCEmate One Client Merge Information File? This merge option means you would not need to enter client and/or lawyer information more than once! You would be able to transfer information from your practice management software directly into DIVORCEmate One and visa-versa. Please email me if this feature is of interest to you; we are thinking of adding it.

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CSG Guidelines on Palm and Blackberry

If you are interested in running the CSG Table amount calculations on your Palm or Blackberry, please contact me at markharris@divorcemate.com.

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Charitable Endeavours

This summer, DIVORCEmate Software was a major contributor to Gilda's Club "Summer in the City" camp for children affected by cancer. As well, we were a major sponsor of the Gilda's Club 8th Annual Cutler Classic Golf Tournament. www.gildasclubtoronto.org

We also support a small and worthwhile charity called, The People Bridge Charitable Foundation which funds small, yet essential projects around the world. www.peoplebridgecharity.ca

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Congratulations to Martha McCarthy and JP Boyd

We see that Martha McCarthy has earned the Ontario Bar Association's Award of Excellence in family law for 2007. This is in recognition of her contributions to the betterment of Canadian family law. Martha and her firm, Martha McCarthy & Co., is a long time user of DIVORCEmate Software.

JP practices family law with Aaron Gordon & Daykin in Vancouver, B.C. and was recognized by Pro Bono Law Ontario for his distinguished service in the pro bono field. JP is also a long time DIVORCEmate user.

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IMPORTANT: Pay-Per-Use Annual Minimums

This is a reminder that your minimum annual non-refundable deposit for our Pay-Per-Use option is equivalent to three (3) new client files per year. This means a minimum annual deposit of $350 including tax (ON, BC) or $175 including tax (other provinces) must be paid per 365-day period. We will hold all your deposited funds and carry them over year-to-year for your future use. However, if your minimum annual non-refundable deposit is not used within 3 years of payment, it will be forfeited.

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Did You Know...

• Did you see our new ads in the National Post newspaper? "What do 2500 Canadian Family law firms have in common... they all use DIVORCEmate One to process their family law needs"; "What do 5000 law clerks and support staff have in common.... they all use DIVORCEmate One to process their family law needs"; "What do 100% of Ontario's Family Law Specialists have in common... they all use DIVORCEmate One to process their family law needs".
• National Family Law 20th Anniversary Program will be held at the Deerhurst Resort and Conference Centre July 14 to 17, 2008 (registration & reception July 13) Muskoka, Ontario. We suggest you make your arrangements early, as this conference will be an early sell-out!
• You must visit our "Library" on the DIVORCEmate Website. It has lots of easy-to-read and interesting articles. Subjects include: Child Support, Documents of Interest, Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines, User Guides, and Websites of Interest. Click here to visit our library...

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What The Judiciary Has Been Recently Saying About DIVORCEmate...

"The wife's counsel has submitted that adopting a Guideline Income of $600,000 for the husband, it would be reasonable to award spousal support in the sum of $16,500, being the upper end of the range of $14,055 to $16,511 set out in the SSAG (Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines) CHEQUEmate Spousal Guidelines Calculator." E. (Y.J.) v. R. (Y.N.), 2007 CarswellBC 782, 2007 BCSC 509, (B.C. S.C.) per Boyd J.

"Mrs. Kemp is totally disabled and has been unable to work since 1993. She continues to receive $1,666 per month in non-taxable long term disability benefits from the Nurses' Association and $950 per month CPP disability benefits. Her long term benefits will terminate when she reaches 65. Using SUPPORTmate (DIVORCEmate Software Inc.) to gross up the long term benefits results in a further $34 per month for a total gross income of $2,650 per month or $31,800 annually..." Kemp v. Kemp, 2007 CarswellOnt 1774, (O.S.C.J.) per J.A. Blishen J.

"There is no unfairness in the spousal support. Chequemate calculations were available and the middle figure in the range was chosen to be reviewed in four years. Setting a figure for purposes of final judgment was simply an administrative matter of looking at the Chequemate calculations." Clement v. Clement, 2007 CarswellOnt 2225, (O.S.C.J) per I.M. Gordon J.

"I have examined the CHEQUEmate spousal guideline calculations provided by both counsel and have considered their submissions on those calculations. In view of the continuing child care responsibilities shared by both parents this is a fitting case for accepting the mid range of the suggested spousal support advisory guidelines which will ensure that the children enjoy a consistent standard of living in the home of both their parents..." Fell v. Fell, 2007 CarswellOnt 1604, (O.S.C.J.) per M. Linhares de Sousa J.

"The reality is, of course, that there is, on Mr. Wettlaufer's imputed income, insufficient funds to support both parties without shortfalls. Using DIVORCEmate's calculations of "with child support" SSAG, if Mr. Wettlaufer were required to pay $1,033.00 spousal support and child support he would have a net disposable income of $2,474.00. That sum would leave a shortfall for him of approximately $450.00. Ms. Wettlaufer, on the other hand, would have a net disposable income of $2,703.00, and a consequent shortfall of approximately $625.00. It is perhaps axiomatic that it is impossible to perfectly equalize the economic difficulties caused by separation and divorce; I conclude therefore that spousal support of $1,000.00 is appropriate in the circumstances." Wettlaufer v. Wettlaufer, 2007 CarswellBC 179, 2007 BCSC 137, (B.C. S.C.) per Master D. Baker

"I find that the Respondent's 2006 total income was $92,600. The Applicant's 2006 income was $35,188. The Supportmate calculations for these incomes show that the lower range under the Spousal Support Guidelines would require a spousal support payment of $1,811 per month. The middle range would be $2,113 per month. The upper range would be $2,415 per month." Lewis v. Lewis, 2007 CarswellOnt 1134, (O.S.C.J.) per Aitken J.

"The spousal support guidelines are simply guidelines. The court cannot merely apply the guidelines; nor can it slavishly reiterate the sums generated by the CHEQUEmate spousal guidelines calculator. Both the guidelines and the software calculations are to be used as tools with which to apply all the principles of s. 38 and 39 of the FLA to this particular case." Celotti v. Celotti, 2007 CarswellOnt 4137, (O.S.C.J.) per Olah J.

"I stated the law that applies to spousal support when I filed my decision on October 24, 2006 and there is no need to repeat it here. I used the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines to assist me in setting the amount of Ms. Warren's interim spousal support, and did my calculations on the computer program -- DIVORCEmate One. I will use both tools again to set the amount and duration of the final spousal support which Mr. Warren will pay." Warren v. Warren, 2007 CarswellNfld 165, 2007 NLTD 103, (N.L.S.C. (T.D)) per G.A. Handrigan J.

"I have reviewed the financial statements filed by the parties, the evidence led and the Chequemate spousal guideline calculator application in respect of the spousal support advisory guidelines. The financial statements generally reflect the evidence, although I note that the $1,862 child care expense set out in L.G.'s financial statement is likely inaccurate and may be virtually eliminated at this stage with K.(2) now in her teens. Notwithstanding this, the calculation setting a monthly range for spousal support between $576 and $1,110 is generally reflective of the evidence. L.G. seeks an order in the amount of $852 per month as the middle range figure." G. (L.D.B.) v. G. (K.L.), 2007 CarswellBC 1028 (B.C. P.C.) per M.B. Hicks Prov. J.

"Effective Use of Settlement Conferences", July 5, 2007, B.C.'s Supreme Court Master Donaldson listed "laptop with DIVORCEmate" under Practical Tools.

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