Oshawa Family Law Blog

People work hard to establish a solid pension. In the event of divorce, however, family law in Ontario has certain rules when it comes to the sharing of those pension funds. When it comes to federal pension plan funds, much depends on whether the couple was married or in a common law union. Common law couples can apply to have Canada Pension Plan (CPP) funds divided as long as the couple had been living together for at least a year.

Married couples actually have the right to share pensions, unlike their common law counterparts. In a common law relationship, the holder of the pension fund usually gets to keep those funds in the event of separation. If there is a cohabitation agreement in existence, that may not hold true. If such an agreement makes mention of pension funds or if one partner has a court order or if the matter has gone through arbitration with the decision that pension funds should be shared, then by law, they must be.

One possible contentious issue in a divorce case for couples who have kids is determining who will become their primary guardian. If parents can't agree on child custody, they may need to get the help of an assessor who will provide an Ontario family court judge with a report after his or her findings. Assessors are usually those in helping professions such as social workers, psychologists or psychiatrists, or other mental health experts. 

A family court judge will always make decisions from the standpoint of what is in the best interests of any children involved. So, he or she will take an assessor's opinion to heart when deciding on custody matters. A couple can agree to have an assessor evaluate the situation or a court may appoint an assessor. An assessment can take place before or during a family court case.

No one deserves to be abused, nor should they be expected to stay in an abusive relationship. There are steps to take under family law in Ontario to leave such a relationship and get a court order to allow a judge to make some decisions about the situation. If abuse is part of the problem, getting a temporary order for protection of self, children and financial rights may be the first place to begin.

The situation might call for a restraining order to keep an abusive partner away from an estranged spouse and children. A supervised access order may also be needed so that a parent can only see his or her children when someone else is present. A non-removal order stipulates that a parent can't take a child out of a designated area within Ontario. These orders all serve to protect the safety of an abused partner and children.

FOMO parenting is apparently a real thing. FOMO or fear of missing out, is impacted by social media sites like Facebook. Parents begin to track the familial photos of their friends and family members on such social media sites and try to keep up. Although family law in Ontario always has the best interests of children at heart, this kind of social media frenzy becomes like a parental competition as to who is the best parent, who spends the most time with their kids, and ultimately someone begins to have that new FOMO feeling. 

Social media can make a person feel like he or she is under a magnifying glass. The ironic thing is that a parent who fears missing out is doing exactly that by spending too much time on social media and not enough with his or her kids. An Ontario mother has said that she bases her idea of what a good parent should be by what is posted on social media sites by way of photos, comments, links and news feeds that flood her own feed. Some parents have even decided not to engage in discussion on social media sites because they end up feeling inferior.